Final answer:
Poststructuralism is an approach that critiques universal structures in understanding reality, emphasizing the constructed nature of meaning and the influence of social and power dynamics. Deconstruction is a key aspect, advocating for multilayered interpretations and the role of language in shaping reality.
Step-by-step explanation:
Poststructuralism is a broad theoretical approach that investigates how meaning and reality are apprehended, arguing against the existence of absolute universal structures to interpret the world. This approach suggests that meaning is in perpetual creation, highlighting the role played by language and critiquing preexisting structures as human impositions reinforced by societal power dynamics. Associated with thinkers such as Jacques Derrida, Jean Baudrillard, Michel Foucault, and Judith Butler, poststructuralism contends that rather than there being a fixed human 'self' or a singular truth, what we perceive is shaped by cultural and social contexts as well as power relations. It emphasizes relativism, pluralism, and the idea that our understanding is always incomplete, influenced by diverse perspectives.
The concept of deconstruction, developed by Derrida, plays a crucial role in poststructuralist thought, questioning the primacy of authorial intent and advocating for the validity of multiple interpretations. This approach to critical analysis reveals the multiple layers and contending meanings within texts, suggesting that language forms the basis of reality and therefore, realities are constructed and subject to change.