"Structuralism is an intellectual current and methodological approach, primarily in the social sciences, that interprets elements of human culture by way of their relationship to a broader system."
A literary theory that focuses on the underlying structures of narrative and language, and the way they shape meaning.
Theoretical Background: The theoretical background introduces the basic concepts and principles underlying Structuralism, including language, sign, signifier, signified, and the relationship between them.
Ferdinand de Saussure: Saussure is the father of modern linguistics and one of the key figures in the development of Structuralism. His work on the nature of language, particularly his distinction between the signifier and the signified, is particularly influential.
Claude Levi-Strauss: Levi-Strauss is an anthropologist who applied structuralist principles to the study of cultural phenomena. His work is particularly focused on the relationship between myth and culture.
Jacques Lacan: Lacan is a French psychoanalyst who used structuralist principles to develop a theory of the unconscious. His work on the symbolic order, the Imaginary, and the Real has had a significant impact on literary and cultural studies.
Roland Barthes: Barthes is a French literary critic who applied structuralist principles to the study of literature. His work on the death of the author, the reader, and the text has been particularly influential.
Northrop Frye: Frye is a Canadian literary critic who applied structuralist principles to the study of literature, particularly in his work on archetypal criticism. His approach emphasizes universal patterns and recurring motifs in literature.
Structuralist Analysis: Structuralist analysis involves the identification of underlying structures or patterns in literary texts, such as binary oppositions, narrative structures, and recurring motifs.
Narrative Theory: Narrative theory is the study of how narratives are constructed and how they function in society. Structuralist principles have been particularly influential in the development of narrative theory.
Semiotics: Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their use in communication. Structuralist principles have had a significant impact on the development of semiotics.
Poststructuralism: Poststructuralism is a theoretical approach that challenges the assumptions and methods of Structuralism. It emphasizes the instability and fluidity of meaning and highlights the importance of social and historical contexts in shaping interpretation.
Linguistic Structuralism: Focuses on the analysis of language as a system of signs and the ways in which language shapes thought.
Anthropological Structuralism: Views human culture and society as a set of interconnected systems.
Semiotics: Examines the relationships between signs and the meanings they convey.
Literary Structuralism: Applies Structuralist principles to the analysis of literary texts, focusing on the formal and structural elements of the text rather than on its content.
Feminist Structuralism: Applies Structuralist principles to the interpretation of gender and power relationships in literature and society.
Post-Structuralism: Criticizes Structuralism for its limitations and instead focuses on the ways in which meaning is constantly shifting and unstable.
"It works to uncover the structural patterns that underlie all the things that humans do, think, perceive, and feel."
"Alternatively, as summarized by philosopher Simon Blackburn, structuralism is: 'The belief that phenomena of human life are not intelligible except through their interrelations.'"
"Structuralism in Europe developed in the early 20th century, mainly in France and the Russian Empire."
"Along with Lévi-Strauss, the most prominent thinkers associated with structuralism include linguist Roman Jakobson and psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan."
"French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss was arguably the first such scholar, sparking a widespread interest in structuralism."
"The structuralist mode of reasoning has since been applied in a range of fields, including anthropology, sociology, psychology, literary criticism, economics, and architecture."
"By the late 1960s, many of structuralism's basic tenets came under attack from a new wave of predominantly French intellectuals/philosophers such as historian Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser, and literary critic Roland Barthes."
"These theorists eventually came to be referred to as post-structuralists."
"Many proponents of structuralism, such as Lacan, continue to influence continental philosophy."
"As an intellectual movement, structuralism became the heir to existentialism."
"Structuralism in Europe developed in the early 20th century, mainly in France and the Russian Empire, in the structural linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure and the subsequent Prague, Moscow, and Copenhagen schools of linguistics."
"After World War II, an array of scholars in the humanities borrowed Saussure's concepts for use in their respective fields."
"French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss was arguably the first such scholar, sparking a widespread interest in structuralism."
"Behind local variations in the surface phenomena there are constant laws of abstract structure."
"Structuralism in Europe developed in the early 20th century, mainly in France and the Russian Empire."
"The structuralist mode of reasoning has since been applied in a range of fields, including anthropology, sociology, psychology, literary criticism, economics, and architecture."
"The structural linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure and the subsequent Prague, Moscow, and Copenhagen schools of linguistics."
"By the late 1960s, many of structuralism's basic tenets came under attack from a new wave of predominantly French intellectuals/philosophers such as historian Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser, and literary critic Roland Barthes."
"Many of the fundamental assumptions of some of structuralism's post-structuralist critics are a continuation of structuralist thinking."