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Deconstruction: Difference between revisions
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The reason fictive deconstructions often turn out as they do is that fiction by its definition virtually ignores anything that isn't specifically included, while hiding anything that is included but not spelled out. Thus, for instance, a work in which gender, or sexuality, poverty, race, or politics etc. ''should'' have been important but were never dealt with adequately is ripe for a deconstruction in which the fact that nobody talks about these topics indicates that something is amiss. Contrariwise, a work that attempts to pre-emptively avert being deconstructed in this way by stating, perhaps frequently, that certain topics aren't dealt with because they are ''specifically irrelevant'' to the story/setting (especially if there's no good reason they ''should'' be irrelevant), is ripe for an ironic deconstruction in which the supposed insignificance of these topics doesn't stop characters from regurgitating contemporary [[Real Life]] attitudes about them. The Deconstruction process thus often reveals things we weren't thinking about for a reason, perhaps revealing a trope or a staple of fiction as false/unrealistic/[[Fridge Horror|horrifying]], which is why it ''tends'' to be depressing. (If a Deconstruction reveals a trope as beautiful truth it will probably be uplifting.)
Also note that '''[[Darker and Edgier]], [[Rule of Drama]] and [[Cynicism Tropes]] ''do not'' turn works into Deconstructions'''. There are plenty of dark, edgy and dramatic tropes that are used without ever exploring the meaning behind them, or their realistic implications. While some of the most acclaimed works in their respective genres are deconstructions, and many deconstructions do utilize dark, cynical and dramatic tropes in the setting, [[Tropes Are Tools|it is the careful use and analysis of them that makes them acclaimed, not because they just have those tropes in them]]. See '''[[All The Tropes:Not a Deconstruction|Not a Deconstruction]]'''.
[[Reconstruction]] is when the trope is then put back together, usually in a way that strengthens the trope. Think of it as Deconstruction taking apart your broken car engine, and Reconstruction puts it back together so it runs again. Deconstruction and reconstruction can become [[Cyclic Trope]]s. A set of conventions is established (the initial "construction" of the genre or ideas that are used in the story), this set of conventions is played straight until some author gets bored or frustrated with the implications the fantasy brings and decides to show us the unworkability of these conventions via a deconstruction of them. Atop the ruins, a more realistic narrative (i.e. one that accepts the criticisms of the earlier deconstruction) is then built via reconstruction, and in the future, this narrative gets deconstructed, etc. Cycles of deconstruction and reconstruction are basically how a genre or a trope evolves.
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