Meaning as a Product of Play between ‘Privileged’ and ‘Marginal’: A Deconstructive Analysis of A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Muhammad Hanif

Abstract

The buoyant shift from form and structure to the fluid constructs of meaning turned discernible in Jacques Derrida’s Deconstruction. Meaning or reality that had so long been enjoying a fixed and definite status was worn out with the advent of the theory of deconstruction. The turnaround of what was considered real or true became subjacent while challenging all the existing binaries that had been hegemonizing human comprehension of the world (Derrida, 1997). Relying on the theory of deconstruction by Jacques Derrida, the study examines the shift from form and structure to the text itself regarding its privileged and marginal aspects of meaning with particular reference to the novel A Case of Exploding Mangoes. The study suggests that the interplay between privileged and marginal aspects of meaning can constructs multiple meanings and interpretations of a single text. It has further been added that the nature of the theory of deconstruction—change in the fixed status of meaning/reality—at the same time, is a representation of the indefinite nature of modern man who has experienced a bumpy ride of social and religious values resulted due to the political, industrial, economic and technological revolutions. The paper finds that the fluidity of meaning that is the sole characteristic of the theory of deconstruction traverses the contemporary Pakistani fiction in its dealing of the sensitive matters such as religious extremism and dictatorship etc., and Muhammad Hanif’s selected novel is the perfect example of it.