Structuralism

1950s-1960s

• Heavily influenced by structural linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure

  • signifier/signified → relation arbitrary

  • langue vs. parole

  • Meaning is relational: language is system of differences → Signs do not carry meaning but they gain meaning through system of relations and oppositions

  • paradigmatic chain and binary oppositions

• Structuralist approach:

  • world/reality consists of sign systems and reality is an effect of language → language produces reality

  • language does not represent world as it really is → Meaning is not universal or natural but the product of shared systems of signification

• Structuralist view of literature

  • literary text is construct whose internal structures need to be understood in context of larger signifying system of which it is a part (e.g. genre)

  • no interest in what is debated in literature or how → focus on how meaning is produced within signifying system

• Structuralist methods and approaches:

  • Studying shared structure between texts by placing them in context of larger structure (literature as langue, individual text as parole)

  • Study of structures within a text: binary oppositions, contrasts, echoes, parallels, relationship between plot and subplot

  • Study of narratological features: narrative situations, focalization, …