- "Post-structuralism is a philosophical movement that questions the objectivity or stability of the various interpretive structures that are posited by structuralism and considers them to be constituted by broader systems of power."
A theoretical framework that builds on structuralism, but emphasizes the limitations and internal contradictions of such systems, advocating for a more fluid and flexible approach to understanding and interpreting social and cultural phenomena.
Structuralism: The study of language and the underlying structures that shape reality.
Deconstruction: A method of textual analysis that seeks to reveal the hidden assumptions and contradictions in a text.
Power and Knowledge: A central theme of post-structuralism is the idea that power is not just something that is held by individuals or groups, but is also intertwined with knowledge.
Gender and Sexuality: Post-structuralist theorists have been particularly influential in the fields of gender and sexuality studies, helping to reveal the ways in which these categories are socially constructed.
Embodiment and Identity: Post-structuralism emphasizes the importance of the body and how it shapes our subjectivity and identity.
Foucault: Michel Foucault is one of the most significant post-structuralist thinkers. His ideas about power, knowledge, discourse, and resistance have been particularly influential.
Derrida: Jacques Derrida is another key post-structuralist thinker, known for his work on deconstruction and the limits of language.
Barthes: Roland Barthes was a French literary theorist who developed influential ideas about the relationship between language and culture.
Lacan: Jacques Lacan was a French psychoanalyst who developed an influential interpretation of the work of Sigmund Freud, emphasizing the importance of language and the symbolic order.
Postmodernism: Post-structuralism is often associated with postmodernism, a cultural movement that emphasizes the discontinuity and plurality of modern life.
The Author: Post-structuralist theorists have challenged the idea of the author as a unified, autonomous entity, arguing that texts are always embedded in larger social and cultural systems.
Agency: Post-structuralism emphasizes the limitations on individual agency and the importance of understanding how power operates in social and political systems.
Marxism: Post-structuralist thinkers have often been critical of Marxist theory, but have also drawn on some of its insights about power and ideology.
Language: Language is a central concern of post-structuralism, with theorists drawing attention to the ways in which language constructs reality and shapes our understanding of ourselves and the world.
Phenomenology: Post-structuralist thinkers have been critical of traditional philosophical approaches, including phenomenology, which they argue fail to account for the role of power in shaping human experience.
Deconstruction: This is the most well-known form of post-structuralist theory. It focuses on the analysis of language and the way in which it constructs meaning. Deconstructionists argue that language is not neutral, but is influenced by power structures and biases. It aims to reveal the hidden meanings and contradictions that exist below the surface of language.
Feminism: Feminist post-structuralism seeks to analyze and deconstruct patriarchal structures in society. It challenges the idea that gender identities are predetermined and instead explores how gender is constructed through language and culture.
Queer theory: Queer post-structuralism examines the social and cultural construction of sexuality and gender identity. It challenges heteronormative assumptions and normative gender roles. Queer theorists argue that sex, gender and sexuality are fluid and are constructed through societal values.
Psychoanalytic theory: Psychoanalytic post-structuralists seek to analyze the relationship between the psyche and social structures. They explore how structures such as family, language, and culture influence the way we perceive ourselves and others.
Critical race theory: Critical race theorists analyze race and racism as socially constructed concepts. They explore the ways in which racism is perpetuated and reproduced in society through cultural beliefs and social institutions.
Postcolonial theory: This type of post-structuralism analyses the relationships between colonizer and colonized societies. It explores the ways in which colonialism has had an impact on the culture, language and social organization of colonized people.
Phenomenology: Phenomenological post-structuralists take inspiration from existentialism and focus on the subjective experience of the individual. They explore how individuals experience the world and how this experience is mediated by language, society and culture.
- "Common themes among them include the rejection of the self-sufficiency of structuralism, as well as an interrogation of the binary oppositions that constitute its structures."
- "Post-structuralism discards the idea of interpreting media (or the world) within pre-established, socially constructed structures."
- "Structuralism proposes that human culture can be understood by means of a structure that is modeled on language."
- "A 'third order' mediates between the concrete reality on the one hand, and the abstract ideas about reality on the other hand."
- "A post-structuralist critique might suggest that in order to build meaning out of such an interpretation, one must (falsely) assume that the definitions of these signs are both valid and fixed."
- "The author employing structuralist theory is somehow above and apart from these structures they are describing so as to be able to wholly appreciate them."
- "The rigidity and tendency to categorize intimations of universal truths found in structuralist thinking."
- "Post-structuralist thought also builds upon structuralist conceptions of reality mediated by the interrelationship between signs."
- "Writers whose works are often characterized as post-structuralist include Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, and Jean Baudrillard."
- "Many theorists who have been called 'post-structuralist' have rejected the label."