DECONSTRUCTING BINARY OPPOSITIONS IN THE SHORT STORY DOKTER WRITTEN BY PUTU WIJAYA

Abstract

According to deconstructionists, a text possibly never has a single meaning because when it comes to the complex interpretations, it can bear several developing meanings. This qualitative study is aimed to deconstruct binary oppositions contained in the short story entitled ‘dokter’ written by Putu Wijaya using Derrida’s framework. The data were collected by reading the entire text of the short story, identifying the binary oppositions, reversing the hierarchy, and finding other meanings concealed in the text. The results of this study show that there are five binary oppositions in this short story; they are doctor – shaman, God-human, modern – traditional, rich – poor, peaceful – conflict. From the analysis of deconstruction theory, the hierarchical position changed from inferior to superior along with the storyline. Furthermore, the doctor as the main character and is initially marginal at the beginning of the story, changed into the center of attention. Nevertheless, every single word needs other words to complete its meaning in the text, despite being never genuinely complete.