déconstruire

Literally to take a physical structure apart, but its dominant modern use is intellectual: to critically dismantle an idea, a narrative, or an assumption — directly tied to Jacques Derrida's philosophical concept of déconstruction, hugely influential in literary and critical theory.

• L'article déconstruit méthodiquement les préjugés sur ce sujet. — The article methodically deconstructs the prejudices on this subject.
• Derrida est connu pour avoir théorisé la déconstruction des textes philosophiques. — Derrida is known for theorizing the deconstruction of philosophical texts.
• Il a fallu déconstruire l'ancien hangar avant de bâtir le nouveau bâtiment. — The old shed had to be taken apart before the new building could go up.

Don't confuse déconstruire (Derrida's careful, critical unpacking of assumptions and binary oppositions) with simply 'criticizing' or 'destroying' an idea — déconstruction is a specific, technical mode of analysis in critical theory, not a synonym for détruire.

• book La déconstruction — Jacques Derrida developed déconstruction as a foundational concept of his philosophy, first using the term in "De la grammatologie" (1967) — one of the most influential ideas in 20th-century literary and critical theory.