Forum for Linguistic Studies 2023; 5(2): 1658. Original Article 1 Regressus ET reflexivity: Belletristic semantique problematique, ET dissimulare Sharanpal Singh, Shilpi Goyal * Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, MMEC, Maharishi Markandeshwar (Deemed to be University), Mullana 133207, Haryana, India; shilpigoyal03@gmail.com ABSTRACT: The paper attempts interrogation of theoretics in the present: “theory in its selective tradition” (Williams, 1989), to highlight major departures of the said genre from the past writings in the domain, which were liberal, democratic, egalitarian, dialogic, and interacted to continue extended dialogue with earlier prevailing thought. Such writings interacted by attempting to comprehend the earlier insights and negotiated amendments, elaborations, and even transformations, where needed. However, in the “selective tradition” such features have receded and combative politics, coupled with irresolution, dissembling, with insurrectionary core are present predominantly. Eschewing telos, with mere negotiations, always (!) in the interstices, to proclaim genesis through rupture, wherein abstention from former insights is the prominent feature. This is not restricted to one or two theorists, but extends across the spectrum. There is recursivity and reflexivity, turning regressive, severed from praxis, wherein political remains restricted only to its articulation, without connecting with organization(s) so as to be transformative and melioristic. Here, there is theoretical rigour, per se. The intention in the paper is as Brandom (1994) says, to make it “explicit”. KEYWORDS: regression; interpretant; autopoiesis; transjunctural; dissensus 1. Prolegomenon The intention of the paper is to revisit to retrace the history of ideas vis-à-vis theory in the present time, since in the said discipline there were contingency and reflexivity in the Derridean theoretics that turned regressive later, followed by dissimulation. The earlier egalitarian that stressed verity, veracity and candidness turned into inane expressions where the effect was sought at the cost of the cogency of arguments, leading to the employment of rhetoric, janiformity, with the compulsion to hyper complexity. The aim and the effort of the paper throughout has been to (re-) trace the voyage of theory. Comparisons between the former and the latter versions, wherever needed, have been provided. The underlying thought has been influenced by “Theory Revisionism” throughout the paper unravelling present-day polemics, and employing jargon, which gives the feeling of déjà vu to the reader. The title of the paper and the opening lines make it clear. Hence, theory today lacks the participatory and the dialogic. The paper attempts to reveal this. Belles-lettres is in the throes of “Theory Revisionism” since recent theoretics seem to thrive on sheer polemics. Deconstruction came to be equated with destruction, and so is the poststructural, where Derridean “il n’y a pas dehors texte” took away the “structurality of the structure” to herald withering away ARTICLE INFO Received: 21 April 2023 Accepted: 29 June 2023 Available online: 5 September 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.59400/fls.v5i2.1658 Copyright © 2023 Author(s). Forum for Linguistic Studies is published by Academic Publishing Pte. Ltd. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/