In this passage, the word "criticism" is intended to refer to literary criticism i.e. critiquing literary works and their language.
The passage is focused on how the language of "the contemporary school of literary criticism" has evolved and what this language suggests about the discipline of literary criticism. We also learn that literary criticism is also popularly referred to as poststructuralism or deconstruction.
In lines 44 to 46, the author suggests that it is telling that literary critics prefer to describe their work as "deconstruction" as opposed to "criticism." The author then continues on to describe the different meanings suggested by "deconstruction" and "criticism."
In this way, the author is describing a contrast between two views of the discipline i.e. criticism v. deconstructionism. This is restated by answer choice (B), making it the correct answer.
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