M. K .BHAVNAGAR UNIVERSITY

Department Of English

Literary Theory / CriticismRoll No : 2

PG Enrollment No : 10141420

Structuralism as a Literary Movement

Presented by: Bhumi V Joshi.

Structuralism as a literary movement

Structuralism is 20th century intellectual movement.

Inaugurated in the 1950 by Claude Levi-Strauss - cultural anthropologist

Basically a French movement.

The Father of structuralism

Ferdinand – De – Saussure

It is the human science profound effect on linguistics, sociology, anthropology, & other fields in addition to philosophy.

Structuralism holds that all human activates & its products even perception & thought itself are constructed and not nature. It closely related to Semiology , the study of sign , symbols and communication and how meaning is constructed and understood.

“Language speaks us

rather than we speak

language.”

“Structuralism is a form

of criticism which

sought to understand a

work of art in the

context of structures

which have genre,

culture and language.” Critic Pramad K. Nayar :

Structuralism as a general movement:

1. Every system has a structure .

2. Structuralism is what determines the position of each element of whole.

3. ‘Structural laws’ deals with Co- existence rather than Changes.

4. Structures are the “ real things” that lie beneath the surface of the appearance of meaning.

The major focuses was on the origin and development of language. The importance was given to the ‘Diachronic Mode’ of study. It indicates a study of language across the time.

Signifier and signified

Sign

Sign is essentially arbitrary and that there is no natural relation between a signifier .

Sign is constituted by the signifier and signified because the words has no meaning.

.

“Language constitutes our world and our

very existence.

”

- Saussure

Meaning comes only from the context

Signifier :Signifier is the “word” or alphabets which are arranged in particular order and through the context image popes up in our mind

Signified :Signified is the concept that the signifier stands for.

Something is already there.

Signified is the mental concept because it is already in our mind.

Fundamental Elements

1. Arbitrary2. Relational3. Systematic

Example:

Language constructs the basic nature of our perception or reality.

Structuralism allows the structuralists to investigate the manner in which literary texts are structured.

Structuralism seeks the process of meaning, & production. It even analyses how the text constructs meaning.

Characteristics of structuralism :

Influence of structuralism

Claude Levi-Strauss – Psychoanalyst

Michael Foucault – Philosopher