"The Old Dualities": Deconstructing Robert Kroetsch and His Critics

In this re-examination of the work of Robert Kroetsch, who has been hailed as one of the fathers of post-modernism, Dianne Tiefensee argues that Kroetsch's "deconstruction" fails to address, or even comprehend, the radical nature of Derrida's theory. Tiefensee contends that Kroetsch and his critics have, to some degree, misunderstood the implications of Derrida's "deconstruction" and adhere to a Bloomian "misreading" which is firmly grounded in traditional philosophy. She addresses the metaphysical presuppositions that govern Kroetsch's criticism, literary theory, and novels and considers the extent to which his theoretical pronouncements have determined his critics' readings of his work, concluding that Kroetsch reaffirms the very values, conventions, and attitudes he claims to resist.