A binary opposition (also binary system) is a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning. Binary opposition is the system of language and/or thought by which two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one another. It is the contrast between two mutually exclusive terms, such as on and off, up and down, left and right. Binary opposition is an important concept of structuralism, which sees such distinctions as fundamental to all language and thought.Baldick, C 2004. The concise Oxford Dictionary of literary terms, viewed 8 March 2011, http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1056-binaryopposition.html In structuralism, a binary opposition is seen as a fundamental organizer of human philosophy, culture, and language. Binary opposition originated in Saussurean structuralist theory.Fogarty, S 2005, The literary encyclopedia, viewed 6 March 2011, http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?pec=true&UID=122 According to

Ferdinand de Saussure Ferdinand de Saussure (; ; 26 November 1857 – 22 February 1913) was a Swiss linguist, semiotician and philosopher. His ideas laid a foundation for many significant developments in both linguistics and semiotics in the 20th century. He is wide ...

, the binary opposition is the means by which the units of language have value or meaning; each unit is defined in reciprocal determination with another term, as in binary code. It is not a contradictory relation but a structural, complementary one. Saussure demonstrated that a sign's meaning is derived from its context (syntagmatic dimension) and the group (

paradigm In science and philosophy, a paradigm () is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field. Etymology ''Paradigm'' comes f ...

) to which it belongs. An example of this is that one cannot conceive of 'good' if we do not understand 'evil'. Typically, one of the two opposites assumes a role of dominance over the other. The categorization of binary oppositions is "often value-laden and ethnocentric", with an illusory order and superficial meaning. Furthermore, Pieter Fourie discovered that binary oppositions have a deeper or second level of binaries that help to reinforce meaning. As an example, the concepts ''hero'' and ''villain'' involve secondary binaries: good/bad, handsome/ugly, liked/disliked, and so on.

Theory of binaries

A classic example of binary opposition is the presence-absence dichotomy. According to structuralism, distinguishing between presence and absence, viewed as polar opposites, is a fundamental element of thought in many cultures. In addition, according to post-structuralist criticisms, ''presence'' occupies a position of dominance in human society over ''absence'', because ''absence'' is traditionally seen as what you get when you take away ''presence''. (Had ''absence'' been dominant, ''presence'' might have most naturally been seen as what you get when you take away an ''absence''.) According to Jacques Derrida, meaning is often defined in terms of binary oppositions, where "one of the two terms governs the other." An example of binary opposition is the male-female dichotomy. A post-structuralist view is that ''male'' can be seen, according to traditional thought, as dominant over ''female'' because ''male'' is the presence of a phallus, while the vagina is an absence or loss. John Searle has suggested that the concept of binary oppositions—as taught and practiced by postmodernists and poststructuralists—is specious and lacking in rigor.

Deconstruction of binaries

The political (rather than analytic or conceptual) critique of binary oppositions is an important part of

third wave feminism Third-wave feminism is an iteration of the feminist movement that began in the early 1990s, prominent in the decades prior to the fourth wave. Grounded in the civil-rights advances of the second wave, Gen X and early Gen Y generations third-w ...

, post-colonialism, post-anarchism, and critical race theory, which argue that the perceived binary dichotomy between man/woman, civilized/uncivilised, and white/black have perpetuated and legitimized societal power structures favoring a specific majority. In the last fifteen years it has become routine for many social and/or historical analyses to address the variables of gender, class, sexuality, race and ethnicity.Dunk, T 1997, 'White guys: studies in post-modern domination and difference', Labour, vol. 40, p. 306, (online Infotrac). Within each of these categories there is usually an unequal binary opposition: bourgeoisie/working class man; men/women; heterosexual/homosexual. In critical race theory, the paradigm is known as the black–white binary. Post-structural criticism of binary oppositions is not simply the reversal of the opposition, but its

deconstruction The term deconstruction refers to approaches to understanding the relationship between text and meaning. It was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who defined it as a turn away from Platonism's ideas of "true" forms and essen ...

, which is described as apolitical—that is, not intrinsically favoring one arm of a binary opposition over the other. Deconstruction is the "event" or "moment" at which a binary opposition is thought to contradict itself, and undermine its own authority. Deconstruction assumes that all binary oppositions need to be analyzed and criticized in all their manifestations; the function of both logical and

axiological Axiology (from Greek , ''axia'': "value, worth"; and , ''-logia'': "study of") is the philosophical study of value. It includes questions about the nature and classification of values and about what kinds of things have value. It is intimately co ...

oppositions must be studied in all

discourse Discourse is a generalization of the notion of a conversation to any form of communication. Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as sociology, anthropology, continental philosophy, and discourse analysis. ...

s that provide meaning and values. But deconstruction does not only expose how oppositions work and how meaning and values are produced in a

nihilistic Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning. The term was popularized by Iva ...

or cynic position, "thereby preventing any means of intervening in the field effectively". To be effective, and simply as its mode of practice, deconstruction creates new notions or concepts, not to synthesize the terms in opposition but to mark their difference, undecidability, and eternal interplay.

In relation to logocentrism

Logocentrism is an idea related to binary opposition that suggests certain audiences will favor one part of a binary opposition pair over the other. This favoritism is often most strongly influenced by readers' cultural backgrounds. The strong patriarchal themes in 'The Women and the Pot', an Amharic folktale, would be one such example of logocentrism. This tells the story of two women who are upset at their diminished role in society, and who consequently go to their King for help. He effectively conveys the message that women cannot be relied upon to take on a greater role in society, which becomes the moral of the tale. Prasad explains this idea: "The logocentric value is seen through the 'Eternal Knowledge'—the naturalness of male superiority—that is conveyed through the folktale. The hidden a priori binary opposition is 'Man over Woman'." In relation to the cultural heritage of an audience having an influence on their unconscious preference for one part of binary opposition, Prasad says; "By way of studying a selection of Ethiopian folktales, the paper uncovers the presence of logocentrism and a priori binary opposition being at work in Ethiopian folktales. These two elements attempt to endorse and validate the 'given' subservient position of women in society".

In literature

Binary opposition is deeply embedded within literature as language, and paired opposites, rely upon a relation with adjoining words inside a paradigmatic chain. If one of the paired opposites were removed the other's precise meaning would be altered.Barry, P., 2009. ''Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory''. 3rd ed. New York, USA: Manchester University Press. In addition, binary opposition was explored in

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

and it was found that authors were reinforcing Westernized images and philosophies of feminism via the binary hierarchy.Varga-Dobai, K., 2013. Gender Issues in Multicultural Children's Literature – Black and Third-World Feminist Critiques of Appropriation, Essentialism, and Us/Other Binary Oppositions. Multicultural Perspectives, 15(3), pp. 141–147. Western authors were creating a representation of non-Western countries based on colonial discourse, using binary oppositions to categorize human behaviour into one term or another—not both. The non-Western woman, therefore, was "the opposite or 'other' to women and girls from the West".

Notes

References