DECONSTRUCTION OF DEATH IN ALFRED LORD TENNYSON’S IN MEMORIAM

Abstract

This study discusses the deconstruction of death in “In Memoriam” written by Alfred Lord Tennyson. This study tries to challenge the centralized meaning of the book of poetry “In Memoriam”, death is a scary experience for human. The author uses the deconstruction theory developed by Derrida. This deconstruction theory tries to replace the centralized-meaning contained in a literary work. There are three stages to apply the theory of deconstruction in this research. The stages are the reconstruction stage, the deconstruction stage, and the reinscription stage. The method used in this research is a qualitative method. The data that has been found comes from quotation in the poetry book "In Memoriam". The result of the deconstruction reading is the discovery of "another meaning", the author finds death is the beginning of immortality. This "another meaning" succeeded in refuting the position of centralized meaning in "In Memoriam".