Structuralism and Semiotics

Structuralism

relationship between linguistic signs and the concepts they designate

Structural linguistics

Ferdinand de Saussure-Swiss Linguist

Course of General Linguistics

Ferdinand de Saussure-Swiss Linguist

signifier (s^r)

word, series of graphics (marks/patterns/sounds)

signified (s^d)

designated meaning of words, object designated by a given signifier

arbitrary

practiced and shaped by social conventions rather than natural

convention

we learn to do so with practice

recognition of difference

recognizing that word has no intrinsic connection to meaning, its only because we assign the meaning

verbal signifier: phonemes

distinct units of sound that help distinguish one word from another

parole

an individuals utterance using a sign system

launge

system of practice and guidelines that characterizes every individual utterance

mythemes

structural units of human myth (analogous to phonemes)

Morphology of the Folk Talk

Vladimir Propp, 31 “narrative function”

reservoir of possibility

set of structural ingredients one can draw on

genre theory/narratology

how we recognize and classify groups of works in terms of their structural elements

narratology

describe the possible forms that a narrative genre has taken or can take

semiotic/semiology

the study of signs

genre criticism

focus on forms of telling or their narrative structures

axis of activity

characters that are active within the narrative: Sherlock Holmes (most of the time)

axis of passivity

characters that are passive within the narrative: “The Mysterious Death on the Underground Railway”