STRUCTURALISM
Studies the systems of relationships that are
embedded in words and items, “and shows us the
ways in which we think” (Guerin 369).
Acknowledges the arbitrariness of assigning
certain series of letters to represent specific ideas.
Focuses on the opposites that often appear in
literary constructs.
Ferdinand de Saussure, (founder of semiotics) professor at
University of Geneva, Switzerland, developed structural
linguistics between 1906 and 1911.
This approach attempts to study literature from an objective
perspective.
Looks at the surface structure of the text.
describe the structure of language rather than the history of
particular languages and language forms.
It was more fully realized--in fact, the term "structuralism"
was coined--in the ongoing work in linguistics.
Claude Levi-Strauss (social anthropologist) wrote
Structural Anthropology in 1950s; introduced the
binary approach to structuralism.
Studying opposites and how they interplay in the text.
How these creep into works – sometimes intentionally, and
sometime unintentionally.
Searching texts for binary oppositions,
oppositions or paired
opposites, is a practical method of applying
structuralist analysis to a literary work.
Some fields in which Structuralism are applied are
anthropology, sociology, architecture, linguistics,
psychology, and literature.
The most famous thinkers associated with structuralism
include:
Anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss
Psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan
Philosopher and historian Michel Foucault
Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser
Literary critic Roland Barthes
Fairy Tales: Cinderella
Cinderella is pretty, while step-sisters are ugly
Cinderella is penniless, while step-sisters have money
Cinderella is good, while step-sisters are evil
Loses one slipper, but keeps the other
Cinderella has a complete reversal of fortune, as do
her step-sisters.
(DiYanni 1584)
The sequence of events from beginning to end
The rearrangement of the narrative to build
suspense or for aesthetic effects (The death of
Tessie in “The Lottery”)
Flashbacks
Unequal treatment of time
Shifts in viewpoints or speakers
Codes developed by Barthes:
1. The code of actions asks the reader to find meaning in
the sequence of events.
2. The code of puzzles raises questions to be answered.
3. The cultural code refers to all systems of “knowledge
and values invoked by a text.”
4. The connotative code expresses themes developed
around the characters.
5. The symbolic code refers to the theme as we have
generally considered it, that is, the meaning of the work.
(Guerin 375).
Structuralist Theory was the basis for Formalist
Theory.
Structuralist Theory is used by important French
philosophers:
Rationalists:
Voltaire
Jean-Paul Sartre
French terminology is often used in
Structuralism.
Late 1930’s - 60’s and advent of Post-Structuralism
By the mid 20th century there were a number of structural theories
of human existence.
In language, the structural linguistics of de Saussure (1857-1913)
suggested that meaning was to be found within the structure of a
whole language rather than in the analysis of individual words.
For Marxists, the truth of human existence could be understood by
an analysis of economic structures.
Psychoanalysts attempted to describe the structure of the psyche in
terms of an unconscious.
In the 1960s, the structuralist movement, based in
France, attempted to synthesise the ideas of Marx,
Freud and Saussure. They disagreed with the
existentialists' claim that each man is what he makes
himself.
For the structuralist the individual is shaped by
sociological, psychological and linguistic structures
over which he/she has no control, but which could be
uncovered by using their methods of investigation.
Originally labelled a structuralist, the French philosopher and
historian Michel Foucault came to be seen as the most important
representative of the post-structuralist movement. He agreed that
language and society were shaped by rule governed systems, but
he disagreed with the structuralists on two counts
Firstly, he did not think that there were definite underlying
structures that could explain the human condition and…
Secondly he thought that it was impossible to step outside of
discourse and survey the situation objectively.
1. What are the elements of the work – words, stanzas, chapters, parts, for
example – and how can these be seen as revealing “difference”?
2. How do the characters, narrators, speakers, or other voices heard in the
work reveal difference?
3. How do the elements of the work’s plot or overall action suggest a
meaningful pattern? What changes, adjustments, transformations, shifts
of tone, attitude, behavior, or feeling do you find?
4. How are the work’s primary images and events related to one another?
What elements of differentiation exist, and what do they signify?
5. What system of relations could be used to link this work with others of
its kind?
6. What system of relations could be used to link this work with others of
its kind? What system of relations could be used to link this work with
different kinds of things with which it shared some similarities?
(DiYanni 1585)
DiYanni, Robert. Literature Approaches to
Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Boston: McGraw-
Hill, 2004. Print.
Guerin, Wilfred L., Labor, Earle, Morgan, Lee,
Reesman, Jeanne C., and Willingham, John R. A
Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature.
5th ed. NY: Oxford UP, 2005. Print.
