The Aporia of Authenticity: A Deconstructive and Foucauldian Analysis of Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People (Published)
Dale Carnegie’s self-help classic How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936) is celebrated as a foundational blueprint for interpersonal politeness and self-reinvention. However, underneath its superficial promises of genuine connection lies an unresolved tension between authentic interaction and manipulative persuasion. This paper examines Carnegie’s text through Jacques Derrida’s framework of deconstruction and Michel Foucault’s theories of power. By interrogating the text’s internal linguistic operations, the first part of this study exposes how Carnegie’s principles collapse into a state of aporia, where the ideal of authenticity is systematically subverted and reduced to a calculated, artificial performance. The second part applies a Foucauldian critique to demonstrate how the text’s signifiers reinforce strategic behavioural compliance and subtle power dynamics optimised for a society driven by influence. Furthermore, the paper extends this theoretical analysis to the modern digital landscape, exploring how social media influencers deploy these same rhetorical strategies. By filling a significant gap in formal literary analysis of Carnegie’s work, this study reveals how the text is destabilised by its own internal contradictions. Ultimately, this critique provides essential insights for re-evaluating language elements to foster genuinely supportive, non-exploitative relationships in contemporary personal and professional spheres.
Keywords: Aporia, Dale Carnegie, Digital Discourse, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, deconstruction