[A term coined by the French critic Jacques Derrida.]
(aesthetics) A late twentieth-century theory of literature that concentrates on finding "ruptures" or inconsistencies which enable the critic to break down or "deconstruct" the text. Such deconstruction consists of asserting a personally or communally relative interpretation (usually focused on power relations or class conflict in society) without claiming that any text or interpretation has objective truth or meaning. Deconstructionism is a specific kind of postmodernism, and leans heavily toward subjectivism or even nihilism.