✅ Statement A:
“Deconstruction is not synonymous with destruction...”
✔️ Correct – by Barbara Johnson
This is one of her most cited clarifications in relation to Derrida’s concept of deconstruction.
In her seminal essay "Writing", included in the book The Critical Difference (1980), Johnson emphasizes that deconstruction is not about tearing texts apart, but analyzing the internal tensions that already exist within them.
Quote (paraphrased and often cited):
"Deconstruction is not synonymous with destruction; it is not about dismantling a text but uncovering how it dismantles itself."
✅ Statement B:
“The deconstruction of a text does not proceed by random doubt or arbitrary subversion...”
✔️ Correct – by Barbara Johnson
This reflects her view on the rigorous and methodical nature of deconstructive analysis, contrary to common misunderstandings.
In The Critical Difference, she states that deconstruction requires intense textual attention, not arbitrary skepticism.
This mirrors Derrida’s own philosophy, but Johnson directly emphasized this in her own expository writing.
✅ Statement D:
“If anything is destroyed in a deconstructive reading, it is not the text, but the claim to unequivocal domination of one mode of signifying over another.”
✔️ Correct – by Barbara Johnson
This is a classic Johnson line, encapsulating the goal of deconstruction: not to destroy meaning, but to dismantle the hierarchy of meanings (binary oppositions like speech/writing, male/female, etc.).
She expresses this view notably in her introduction to Dissemination by Derrida and in The Critical Difference.
❌ Now, why the others are not correct:
❌ Statement C:
“Deconstruction is not a dismantling of the structure of a text but a demonstration that it has already dismantled itself.”
✘ Incorrect attribution – this is actually Jacques Derrida, often paraphrased.
While Barbara Johnson may echo this idea, the phrasing belongs to Derrida (or to critics paraphrasing him).
The wording is heavily aligned with Derrida’s own way of explaining how texts “self-deconstruct,” especially in works like Of Grammatology.
❌ Statement E:
“Deconstruction as a mode of interpretation works by a careful and circumspect entering of each textual labyrinth...”
✘ Incorrect – not Barbara Johnson’s formulation
This is more in the poetic style of Paul de Man or J. Hillis Miller, rather than Johnson’s characteristically analytical and clear expression.
It does not match her typical vocabulary or phrasing. While she talks about close reading and interpretative care, this specific metaphorical style isn’t hers.
✅ Final Answer: 1. A, B, D
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