- "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 approach that critiques and expands upon structuralism, by emphasizing the instability and ambiguity of language and meaning.
Structuralism: This is the theoretical foundation of post-structuralism, which concerns the relationship between language, meaning, and structure. It proposes that language is a system of signs and symbols that give meaning to the world and that meaning is determined by the rules of the system.
Jacques Derrida: Perhaps the most influential philosopher associated with post-structuralism, Derrida developed a method called deconstruction, which aims to show how language produces meaning through the exclusion of other possible meanings.
Michel Foucault: Another key figure in post-structuralist theory, Foucault developed the concepts of power and knowledge to analyze how culture and society operate to produce certain forms of knowledge and subjectivity.
Subjectivity: This term refers to the construction of subjectivity within language and discourse, and how individuals are constructed as subjects through linguistic and cultural structures.
Language: Post-structuralism emphasizes the importance of language in the production of meaning and knowledge, and how language itself is subject to social and political forces.
Deconstruction: The method of analyzing and destabilizing the hierarchical structures of language and culture to reveal how they operate to exclude other possibilities.
Intertextuality: The theory that all texts are interconnected and part of a larger linguistic and cultural system, and that meaning is produced through the relationship between texts.
Power: The concept of power is central to post-structuralism, which posits that power operates through discourse and the construction of knowledge.
Gender and sexuality: Post-structuralist theory has been influential in analyzing the construction of gender and sexuality, and how social and linguistic norms shape our understanding of these categories.
Ideology: Post-structuralism has been critical of dominant ideologies, which it sees as naturalizing social and political hierarchies and suppressing alternative ways of thinking and being.
Postmodernism: A broad cultural and philosophical movement associated with post-structuralism, postmodernism challenges the traditional notion of objective truth and embraces the notion of multiple, subjective perspectives.
Narrative: Post-structuralism has been influential in analyzing the construction of narrative and how storytelling shapes our understanding of reality and the world around us.
Representation: The idea that language and discourse shape our understanding of reality, including how we perceive and represent different people, objects, and concepts.
Ethics: Post-structuralism has engaged with ethics, exploring questions of responsibility, agency, and power in relation to language and discourse.
Hegemony: The concept of hegemony refers to the dominant social and cultural forces that shape our perceptions of the world and dictate which forms of knowledge are privileged and accepted.
Deconstructionism: Developed by Jacques Derrida, deconstructionism aims to demonstrate the ways in which language is used to create meaning and, consequently, how this meaning is contested and open to interpretation.
Postmodernism: A broad term that encompasses a wide range of theories and practices, postmodernism often seeks to challenge traditional notions of authorship, artistic form, and aesthetics.
Feminist Post-structuralism: A branch of post-structuralism that focuses on the ways in which gender is constructed through language and cultural practice.
Psychoanalytic Post-structuralism: Drawing on Freudian theory, psychoanalytic post-structuralism explores the ways in which language shapes our understanding of the self and the Other.
Marxist Post-structuralism: Combining Marxist theory with post-structuralism, this approach seeks to examine the ways in which power is distributed unequally within society and how this distribution affects cultural production.
Queer Theory: Queer theory emerged in the 1990s as a way of challenging traditional notions of sexuality and gender. It draws on both post-structuralist and feminist theory to explore the ways in which sexual identities are constructed through language and culture.
Cultural Studies: Cultural studies often incorporates post-structuralist techniques and theories to explore the complex interplay between culture, power, and politics. It aims to analyze the ways in which cultural practices and representations shape our understanding of the social world.
- "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."