Abstract This paper examines Philip Larkin's poem "Church Going" from a deconstructionalist perspective. It also looks at how deconstruction is, a mode of literary criticism and how first advocated by Jacques Derrida, this literary theory has spread like wildfire throughout Western humanities departments. It begins with an overview of deconstructionalist theory, followed by a brief history of "The Movement" (the group to which Larkin was classified) and concludes with an extensive analysis of the poem.
From the Paper "This poem is indicative of both Larkin and the poetry group categorized as "The Movement" to which Larkin, albeit reluctantly, was assigned. Following World War II in Britain, there was a general sense of disillusionment that accompanied imperial decline. In its wake, a group of lower-middle-class white poets emerged that have since been labeled ?The Movement.? This group consisted of such poets as Kingsley Amis, Elizabeth Jennings, Philip Larkin, Donald Davie, Thom Gunn, Robert Conquest, John Halloway, and John Wain, among many disputed others. The poetry from these individuals tends to reflect everyday life, with a (at the time) newfound emphasis on clarity, democratic values, religious decline and intellectual detachment."
