Opposite of Deconstruction

What is the literary opposite of Deconstruction? Affirmation.

Let's start with what makes something a Deconstruction. Deconstruction seeks to target the foundation of a given genre, it's fundamental tropes, and then to twist or alter them in a way that makes people rethink many of the basic assumptions that go into consuming that genre. The goal is to highlight contradictions, instabilities, or oversights that underscore a particular literary form.

(I am here only discussing Deconstruction as it applies to works of fiction, not the broader philosophical form.)

Three famous deconstruction works are Huckleberry Finn, Time Machine, and Watchmen. Huckleberry Finn deconstructed the "boy hero" genre in its last half, where Finn and Tom Sawyer move to rescue Jim. That genre often features boy heroes overcoming unrealistically huge odds to save friends or accomplish goals. Mark Twain skewers this by having Tom Sawyer deliberately create obstacles to their planned rescue to increase the danger and thrill. In so doing, he highlights the tendency of the genre to make things so difficult no actual person would ever succeed.

Time Machine dealt with the utopia/dystopia genres. Many had a protagonist go the future or some other world and find a utopia/dystopia. The lead would then find why the world was the way it was over the course of the book. This became a thinly veiled attempt by the author to recommend some kind of policy or political stance they saw as bettering or worsening mankind. Often, the time frame would be soon, as a way to show that either the utopia was achievable in the reader's lifetime or to warn them of impending dystopian doom. Time Machine took that concept and pushed it by sending its main character into the far future, so that the world he ran into was utterly dissimilar to our own.

Watchmen is probably the most widely known deconstruction of its respective genre, that of superheroes. Many superhero comics are set in slightly altered forms of our own Earth. In DC and Marvel comics, the presence of superheroes tends to do little to change history or politics. The same presidents come to power and many of the same events, such as 9/11, occur. Watchmen rejected that premise, instead having Dr. Manhattan and the Comedian altering the course of history widely. There are many other examples, too. Moore uses Manhattan to represent what he sees as the behavior of a true "superman" and reflects on the psychology of those who would wear masks to fight crime.

Each of these works takes an aspect of the genre they belong to and alters it, usually to create something more "realistic" but also as a form of literary criticism.

What, then, is an Affirmation?

An Affirmation, like a Deconstruction, is about the fundamental tropes of a genre. Affirmations deal with the common elements or underlying meanings that make a type of show or book belong to a general class of work. However, instead of seeking ways to subvert expectations, Affirmation takes one or more expected elements and makes them central to the story. It bolsters and reinforces a central element, calling attention to it by trumpeting it in its story.

Gurren Lagann is one of the best known works of Affirmation. It takes a single aspect common to the mecha genre of anime: the hot-blooded hero. The concept of hot blooded-ness then becomes central to the story. The entire mechanism of spiral power is based on will and determination. The entire coming of age story of Gurren Lagann is made by Simoun acquiring power and agency by powering through every obstacle using a philosophy of being increasingly determined to succeed.

Simply having a hot-blooded hero would not be enough to make something an Affirmation. Just featuring that character archetype puts a show in the same middle-ground category as others. Gurren Lagann affirms the trope of a hot-blooded lead character by both featuring one and by making that trait central to that character's growth and means of conflict resolution. That is what makes Gurren Lagann a special case of its use, rather than "just another show with a hot-blooded lead."

Contrast this with Neon Genesis Evangelion (EVA). EVA deconstructs mecha shows by making its main pilot a relatively weak and depressed young man, Shinji Ikari. It highlights the kinds of emotional trauma such world-saving stress would induce in someone. One of EVA's themes is to undermine the image and viability of a character who grows by sheer force of will and to make viewers question them as realistic. This provides stark contrast between the goals of a work that seeks to deconstruct versus one that seeks to affirm.

An Affirmation does not seek to alter the fundamental tropes of a genre by introducing a twist or variation. Where a deconstruction seeks to call attention to a trope by changing it, an Affirmation calls attention to it by emphasizing it strongly. Watching Gurren Lagann makes the viewer aware of the hot-blooded trope by stressing it so strongly, allowing them to identify it in other works, such as Kill la Kill.

This awareness can lead to critical thinking, the same as deconstruction, but it can also be used as a refutation to deconstruction. Evangelion portrays piloting a mecha as a horrifying and draining experience. Gurren Lagann refutes that portrayal by showing it as an uplifting character builder. Many viewers repulsed by the dark tones of EVA embrace Gurren Lagann as a result, preferring Lagann's portrayal of an idealized reality where determination brings victory.

Now with knowledge that Affirmation can be a distinct approach like Deconstruction, how can this be applied? What genres would lend themselves well to an affirmative story? What relationship and similarities might there be between Affirmation and Romanticism?