“Binary opposition offers a way of understanding the complex ways that our minds work when they are presented with language and the need to understand what that language means. When we make meaning – and take feeling – from language, much of that meaning and feeling is generated in the mind because the mind is aware – very aware – of the ‘opposite’ aspect of the thing you are making meaning from.” (Campsall, S)
In a more simple way of putting it, we understand what things are, because we know what the opposites are. We know what it is to feel happy because we know what being sad feels like, if we didn’t then we wouldn’t know what being happy is. This is what binary opposition is all about; it is a structuralist term and has been studied by Jacques Derrida, Ferdinand de Saussure, Claude Propp and Claude Levi-Staruss. Deridda developed deconstruction also known as post structuralsim. His critical theory analysed western texts and was a set of rules for reading, interpreting and writting.
Binary opposition is however more complex than this; the theory is very focused on ideologies and is conceptual to one’s personal values. What we see, hear and what we believe are all culturally determined.
| Good |
Zone of Anomaly |
Bad |
| Life | Death | |
| Light | Dark | |
| Land | Sky/Sea | |
| Day | Night | |
| Male | Feamle | |
| White | Black | |
| Human | Zombie, Monster, alien etc… | Non Human |
Based on this scale, we understand what things are and also we have been able to further explore theories because we are aware of what the opposite is. Something I found interesting was that one side has been traditionally more honoured over the other, although this isn’t so apparent in modern times.
Figure 1: Ok, So it is not very educational but it is a good example of white and black binary opposites.
The zone of anomally is often used in texts in which myths and stories come into play, in a debate which throws them in the middle but lets viwers assign them closer to a side.
“According to Derrida, it has been a characteristic of the western philosophical and scientific tradition since the classical times to think in binary oppositions. Presence opposes absence, speech opposes writing, philosophy opposes literature, the literal opposes the metaphorical, the central opposes the marginal, life opposes death, the real opposes the imaginary, the normal opposes the pathological, etc.” (Appendix 1)
http://www.englishbiz.co.uk/extras/binaryopposition.htm Here is a good overviw of the subject with links to key theorists. It’s a very short account on the matter however it is worth reading to help understand and further devlop your knowledge.
Finally I thought I would share something which I have done in response to my lecture of “Two Sides to Everything (and a bit in the middle)”. Whilst watching Frankenstein (1931) we were asked to write down all the binary opposites that were presnet in the clip. One that I thought was interesting was the Male Female opposite. I asked myself, in film where mythical creatures are given a sexual identity should it not fall into the zone of anomally. Afterall your sex is defined by your chromosomes and your sexual organs . These creatures are abnormal and it is conventional to question whether they are human or non human and whether they are good or bad so why shoudn’t it be questioned as to whether they are male or female?
Bibliography
Apendix 1. Strategies of deconstruction. Available at: http://www.cobussen.com /proefschrift/200_deconstruction/ 210_hierarchical_oppositions/hierarchical_oppositions.html [Accessed on 18 November 2011]
Campsall, S. (2011) Binary Opposition. Available at: http://www.englishbiz.co.uk/extras/binaryopposition.htm [ Accessed on 18 November 2011]
Figure 1. Available at: http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2009/12/4/129044438117707959.jpg [Accessed on 18 November 2011]
CulturalMedia 
