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Quote :"Nothing Fails Like Success" in A World of Difference
Therefore, the one imperative a [deconstructive] reading must obey is that it follow, with rigor, what puts in question the kind of reading it thought it was going to be. A reading is strong, I would therefore submit, to the extent that it encounters and propagates the surprise of otherness. The impossible but necessary task of the reader is to set herself up to be surprised.
"Rigor" is one of those deconstructionist favorites; those dudes and dudettes were really into doing everything exhaustingly rigorously. Especially close reading texts. But Johnson was always a bit sunnier than de Man, and so she makes rigorous reading a matter of "surprise" as well as insight and responsibility.
This quotation sheds light on Deconstruction's ideal reader. The ideal reader is not merely a receiver of information; she is willing to take the risk of changing her preconceptions, of "put[ting] in question the kind of reading" she thought she was going to do.
Sounds kind of gloomy, huh? Not like anything that'll really get people onto the dance floor? But Johnson makes the prospect of deconstructive reading sound exciting, since it's supposed to be about surprises. And who doesn't love a good surprise (party)? Just remember that preparing one's self to be open to surprises won't be easy. It may be both "impossible" and "necessary," actually. Now that's vintage Derrida for you.