Sometimes deconstructive analyses closely study the figural
and rhetorical features of texts to see how they interact with or
comment upon the arguments made in the text. The deconstructor
looks for unexpected relationships between different parts of a text,
or loose threads that at first glance appear peripheral yet often turn
out to undermine or confuse the argument. A deconstructor may
consider the multiple meanings of key words in a text,
etymological relationships between words, and even puns to show
how the text speaks with different (and often conflicting) voices.
Behind these techniques is a more
general probing and questioning of familiar oppositions between
philosophy (reason) and rhetoric, or between the literal and the
figural. Although we often see the figural and rhetorical elements
of a text as merely supplementary and peripheral to the underlying
logic of its argument, closer analysis often reveals that metaphor,
figure, and rhetoric play an important role in legal and political
reasoning. Often the figural and metaphorical elements of legal
texts powerfully support or undermine the reasoning of these texts.
