Criticism and Pathology of the Proverb "You don't want to be shamed, be the same color as the group": A Deconstructive Approach

Proverbs are one of the leading cultural elements in societies that can support intellectual and cultural currents. The practical charm, as well as the accumulation of meaning and the broad and comprehensive meanings in proverbs, make their influence. However, the inspiration uniqueness and the audience's intellectual struggle toward them is not investigated yet. "You don't want to be shamed, be the same color as the group" is a proverb that can be criticized and interpreted in sociological, economic, historical, etc. perspectives. Contrastive structure, musical language, as well as the overt and hidden actions such as condition, command, warning, and threat in deep structure have made this proverb effective and popular. According to the deconstruction approach and the focus of this theory on reversing reciprocal pairs, a different reading of this proverb can be achieved, a reading that highlights and glorifies "individualism", creativity and the resulting talent in opposition to "collectivism" by shifting the authority and centrality of the structural dual poles. In this article, an attempt is made to provide a different and more modern reading of this proverb by applying deconstruction theory as well as qualitative and pathological analysis. The need to change the structure and context of this proverb shows the mobility and cultural dynamics of our society today.