Structuralism

A comprehensive set of 100 question-and-answer flashcards covering key concepts, theorists, primary works, and linguistic foundations of Structuralism based on Dr. Kalyani Vallath's lecture notes.

What historical period and cultural movements is Structuralism primarily associated with?

A French movement of the 1950s closely associated with Russian Formalism, the Prague School, and Polish Structuralism.

How does Structuralism position itself in relation to Humanism?

Structuralism represents a departure from Humanism by denying that individual human beings or social phenomena have intrinsic essences.

What is the central claim of Structuralism regarding entities in isolation?

No entity has significance by itself; its nature and meaning are entirely determined by its relationships with all other entities involved in the situation.

According to Structuralism, how is meaning generated in human activity?

Meaning is attributed rather than inherent, and all human activity is constructed rather than natural or essential.

Who was the Swiss linguist whose early 20th-century lectures laid the foundations of Structuralism and Semiotics?

Ferdinand de Saussure.

In structuralist methodology, what are 'Units'?

Surface phenomena, such as individual words in language, that are organized within a broader system.

In structuralist methodology, what are 'Rules'?

The underlying principles or forms of grammar that determine how units can be put together to produce meaning.

In a structuralist analysis of the Cinderella story, what constitute the 'Rules' of the narrative structure?

Rules such as stepmothers being evil, princesses being victims, and princes marrying princesses.

According to structuralist theory, where do the underlying structures that organize meaning originate?

They are generated by the human mind itself acting as a structuring mechanism, rather than originating from sense perception.

What three universal properties of a structure are identified in structuralist theory?

Wholeness, Transformation, and Self-Regulation.

In structuralist theory, what does the property of 'Wholeness' signify?

The system functions as a complete whole, rather than as a mere collection of independent parts.

In structuralist theory, what does the property of 'Transformation' signify?

The system is dynamic and capable of change, allowing new units to enter provided they are governed by the system's rules.

In structuralist theory, what does the property of 'Self-Regulation' signify?

Elements can be added to the system, but the basic structure cannot be changed, and transformations never lead outside the system.

What were the lifespan dates of Ferdinand de Saussure?

1857 to 1913.

Where did Ferdinand de Saussure deliver the lectures that laid the groundwork for modern linguistics?

University of Geneva.

What is the title and publication year of Ferdinand de Saussure's posthumously published landmark text?

Course in General Linguistics (1916).

Which two scholars edited and published Saussure's lecture notes posthumously in 1916?

Charles Bally and Albert Sechehaye.

According to Ferdinand de Saussure, what is the proper object of linguistics?

LANGUE and PAROLE, rather than language in general or historical language study.

In Saussurean linguistics, what two psychological elements unite to form the linguistic SIGN?

A concept and a sound-image.

What term does Saussure give to the sound-image component of a sign?

The SIGNIFIER (Signifiant).

What term does Saussure give to the concept component of a sign?

The SIGNIFIED (Signifié).

Which diagram illustrates Ferdinand de Saussure's structural formulation of the sign?

A diagram depicting the linguistic sign as an oval containing the signifier over the signified, enclosed within the overall sign structure.

How does Ferdinand de Saussure characterize the relationship between the signifier and the signified?

It is entirely conventional and completely arbitrary.

According to Saussure, how is 'Linguistic Value' determined?

By the whole system of signs (langue) used within a community and by a sign's difference from other signs, not by individual relations.

What is a 'SYNTAGMATIC' relation in linguistics?

A linear, sequential relation formed by position within a chain where terms emerge one after another in time or space.

How do terms within a syntagm acquire linguistic value?

Through opposition to everything that precedes or follows them in the sequence; a term is something because it is not something else in the chain.

What are 'ASSOCIATIVE' relations in Saussurean linguistics?

Linkages or groups of signs stored in human memory based on similarities (e.g., words ending in '-tion' or semantic fields like teacher, textbook, college).

How do associative relations differ from syntagmatic relations regarding their location?

Associative relations exist only in the mind/head, whereas syntagmatic relations are a direct product of linguistic structure.

How does Saussure define 'Langue'?

The collective, homogeneous language system shared by a speech community.

How does Saussure define 'Parole'?

The individual, heterogeneous instances of speech or actual usage of the language system.

What is the distinction between Synchrony and Diachrony in Saussurean linguistics?

Synchrony refers to the contemporary state of a language at a given point in time; Diachrony refers to its historical evolution over time.

What is represented by the Paradigmatic axis in language?

The axis of selection and similarity, where words can be substituted for one another.

What is represented by the Syntagmatic axis in language?

The axis of combination and contrast, where words are chained together sequentially.

How does Saussure contrast Speech and Writing?

Speech guarantees subjectivity and presence because a speaker is present; Writing is about absence—the absence of both speaker and signified referent.

What term did Jacques Derrida use to describe the philosophical privileging of speech and presence over writing?

Logocentrism.

What are the three fundamental dictums of Saussurean linguistics?

1. Meaning is arbitrary; 2. Meaning is relational; 3. Language constitutes our world.

What specific example does the lecture use to illustrate that meaning is relational rather than intrinsic?

The 8.25 Geneva to Paris express train, which is defined by its relational position in a timetable rather than its physical substance.

What controversial statement concludes Ferdinand de Saussure's Course in General Linguistics?

"Linguistics has as its unique and true object the language envisioned in itself and for itself."

How does Structuralism transform the Romantic notion of the author in literary criticism?

It dethrones the author as the primary source or intent of meaning, shifting focus to the broader impersonal linguistic structures in which the text participates.

Which existentialist thinker was criticized by structuralists like Tzvetan Todorov and A. J. Greimas for excessive focus on the human individual?

Jean-Paul Sartre.

Which iconic surrealist artwork by René Magritte demonstrates that visual representation is a sign rather than reality?

The Treachery of Images ("Ceci n'est pas une pipe").

What central argument regarding visual representation is presented in Michel Foucault's book This is Not a Pipe?

Modernity falsely links reality with visual representation; claiming an image resembles reality mistakenly assumes the ontological superiority of reality.

In structuralist literary theory, what replaces the author as the central agency in criticism?

The act of Reading and the play of structural component elements according to codes.

What is Semiology (or Semiotics)?

The science of signs that studies what constitutes signs and what laws govern them.

How did Ferdinand de Saussure position Linguistics relative to Semiology?

Saussure suggested that Linguistics is merely a part of the larger science of Semiology.

What term did Charles Sanders Peirce use for the unending chain of sign production created because defining a sign requires using another sign?

'Unlimited semiosis'.

How does Charles Sanders Peirce define an 'Iconic Sign'?

A sign that resembles or imitates its signified (e.g., a drawing of a dog or a map).

How does Charles Sanders Peirce define an 'Indexical Sign'?

A sign that involves an existential or causal link between signifier and referent based on joint presence in time (e.g., smoke indicating fire, footprints indicating a person).

How does Charles Sanders Peirce define a 'Symbolic Sign'?

A sign linked to its referent strictly through arbitrary social or cultural convention.

In semantics, what is 'Denotation'?

The first order of signification, where the signifier is the image itself and the signified is the direct literal concept.

In semantics, what is 'Connotation'?

A second-order signifying system that uses a first-order sign as its signifier and attaches an additional ideological or cultural signified to it.

How does Roland Barthes break down a photograph of Marilyn Monroe into denotative, connotative, and mythic levels?

Denotative: photograph of the star; Connotative: glamour, sexuality, depression, untimely death; Mythic: the Hollywood dream factory producing glamour while crushing artists for profit.

Which critical movement in the 1940s to mid-1960s anticipated Structuralism by analyzing recurrent symbolic patterns?

Northrop Frye's Myth Criticism.

Besides Northrop Frye, name three major critics associated with Myth Criticism.

Richard Chase, Leslie Fiedler, Daniel Hoffman, and Philip Wheelwright.

Why did T. S. Eliot advocate the use of the 'Mythical Method' in modern literature?

To give a shape and significance to the immense panorama of futility and anarchy that is contemporary history.

What is the title and publication year of Northrop Frye's influential formalist work on literary archetypes?

Anatomy of Criticism (1957).

What is Structuralist Narratology?

A methodology illustrating how a story's meaning derives from its overall underlying structure (langue) rather than isolated thematic content.

What primary premise underlies Claude Lévi-Strauss's structural anthropology?

Human thought functions fundamentally in terms of binary opposites (e.g., high/low, inside/outside, life/death).

Which philosopher's triad of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis influenced Lévi-Strauss's view on resolving binary oppositions?

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.

Where did Claude Lévi-Strauss conduct key anthropological field trips examining indigenous myths?

In Brazil, among indigenous peoples of the Amazon (such as the Bororo).

In Lévi-Strauss's analysis of kinship, what structure did he emphasize as crucial for determining individual and family identity?

The Secondary Family.

In Tristes Tropiques (1955), what complaint did Claude Lévi-Strauss voice regarding popular travel literature?

He criticized 'armchair travel' books for transforming hackneyed exotic information into truth simply because the author traveled thousands of miles.

What is the title and publication year of Lévi-Strauss's work based on Marcel Mauss's principle of gift exchange?

The Elementary Structures of Kinship (1949).

What is Lévi-Strauss's 'Alliance Theory'?

A theory proposing that societies maintain stability and structure through marriage exchange between families, framing kinship as communication.

According to Claude Lévi-Strauss, what universal social rule forms the foundation of all human culture?

The Incest Taboo.

How did Carl Jung's study of myths differ from Lévi-Strauss's structuralist study?

Jung performed a symbolic study seeking meaning in the constituent elements of myth themselves, whereas Lévi-Strauss sought meaning in their structural relations.

Who authored the 1934 book Archetypal Patterns in Poetry?

Maud Bodkin.

What is the title and publication year of Claude Lévi-Strauss's book that inaugurated structural anthropology?

Structural Anthropology (1958).

According to Lévi-Strauss, what is a 'Mytheme'?

The smallest constituent unit of a myth, described as a 'bundle of relations'.

Which classical myth did Lévi-Strauss analyze to demonstrate how mythemes function as bundles of relations?

The Oedipus Myth.

In Lévi-Strauss's structural analysis of myth, what creatures act as mediators resolving opposition between herbivores (agriculture/life) and beasts of prey (hunting/death)?

The Raven and the Coyote.

What major concept does Claude Lévi-Strauss introduce in The Savage Mind (1962) to describe untamed mythological thought?

The Bricoleur.

How does Lévi-Strauss distinguish the 'Bricoleur' from the 'Engineer'?

The Bricoleur is a handyman who makes do using available odds and ends; the Engineer is a scientific thinker who creates totalizing systems according to a comprehensive plan.

What are the titles of the four volumes composing Lévi-Strauss's Mythologiques series?

The Raw and the Cooked (1964), From Honey to Ashes (1966), The Origin of Table Manners (1968), and The Naked Man (1971).

How does Jacques Derrida critique Lévi-Strauss's distinction between the bricoleur and the engineer in 'Structure, Sign and Play'?

Derrida argues that the absolute Engineer is a myth produced by the bricoleur, and that all finite discourse is bound by bricolage.

What major limitation of Lévi-Strauss's structuralism was highlighted regarding historical change?

It explained static mental structures of thought but failed to explain why these structures exist or how they change over time.

What is the title and publication year of Vladimir Propp's foundational work on narrative formal structure?

The Morphology of the Folktale (1928).

How many distinct plot functions did Vladimir Propp identify in Russian folktales?

31 plot functions.

How many character functions/roles did Vladimir Propp identify in Russian folktales?

7 character functions.

What is the title and publication year of A. J. Greimas's major work on narrative semantics?

Structural Semantics (1976).

What structural diagram represents A. J. Greimas's framework for analyzing narrative roles?

The Actantial Model, which organizes structural roles (actants) around narrative action.

What are the six actants in A. J. Greimas's actantial model?

Subject, Object, Sender, Receiver, Helper, and Opponent.

What are the five stages of narrative identified by Tzvetan Todorov?

1. Equilibrium; 2. Disruption of equilibrium; 3. Realization of disruption; 4. Attempt to repair damage; 5. Restoration of equilibrium.

Into what two categories does Tzvetan Todorov divide supernatural incidents in literature?

The Uncanny and the Marvelous.

What does Gérard Genette mean by 'intellectual bricolage'?

Applying the methods of one academic discipline to another.

What is the title and publication year of Gérard Genette's major work on narratological theory?

Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method (1979).

Which literary masterpiece served as the main source of examples for Gérard Genette's Narrative Discourse?

Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past.

Which early 1953 work by Roland Barthes drew inspiration from Saussure, Sartre, and Brecht?

Writing Degree Zero.

What is the primary objective of Roland Barthes's Mythologies (1957)?

To conduct an ideological critique of mass bourgeois culture by exposing how bourgeois culture naturalizes ideological products as 'myths'.

Which Danish linguist's concept of 'orders of signification' was adopted by Roland Barthes?

Louis Hjelmslev.

Which magazine cover image did Roland Barthes famously analyze to illustrate second-order mythic signification?

The cover of Paris Match depicting a young Negro soldier in uniform saluting the French flag.

According to Roland Barthes, what is the defining principle of myth?

"To transform history into nature."

Which print advertisement does Roland Barthes analyze to identify linguistic, coded iconic, and non-coded iconic messages?

An advertisement for Panzani pasta appearing in a French magazine.

In the Panzani advertisement, what are the three distinct messages identified by Barthes?

1. Linguistic message; 2. Coded iconic (symbolic) message; 3. Non-coded iconic (literal) message.

What major theoretical shift is declared in Roland Barthes's 1968 essay 'The Death of the Author'?

The author is deposed as the origin and limit of meaning, giving birth to the scriptor and the active reader.

Which 19th-century realistic novella by Honoré de Balzac is meticulously analyzed by Roland Barthes in S/Z (1970)?

Sarrasine.

In S/Z, how does Roland Barthes define a 'Readerly' (lisible) text?

A text offering fixed, closed meanings that fulfills traditional expectations, consoles the reader, and provides comfortable pleasure (plaisir).

In S/Z, how does Roland Barthes define a 'Writerly' (scriptable) text?

A text presenting a galaxy of signifiers that encourages the reader to actively produce meanings, resisting closure and evoking bliss (jouissance).

In The Pleasure of the Text, how does Barthes distinguish between 'plaisir' and 'jouissance'?

'Plaisir' is comfortable pleasure aligned with culture; 'Jouissance' is uncontrolled bliss that defamiliarizes, unsettles, and breaks with cultural assumptions.

Name three American structuralists and semioticians active in the 1960s mentioned in the lecture.

Roman Jakobson, Jonathan Culler, Charles Sanders Peirce, Charles Morris, and Noam Chomsky.