A Brief Introduction to Structuralism Zhu Gang The English word “structure” comes from structum‚ the past participle of the Latin struere‚ meaning “put in order.” There are two kinds of structuralism: structuralism as a mode of thinking‚ a general tendency of thought‚ or a philosophical view‚ and the narrower definition relating it to a method of inquiry‚ deriving chiefly from linguistics. Structuralism as a way of thinking can be traced back at least to Aristotle‚ whose Poetica is an
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Psychoanalytic Criticism Classical Psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud Theory of the Psyche Humans are motivated‚ even driven‚ by desires‚ fears‚ needs‚ and conflicts of which they are unaware‚ that is unconscious The world through psychoanalytic lens Individual human beings Psychological history Childhood -> adolescent -> adult behavior Goal: help us resolve problems Disorders Dysfunctions Patterns of behavior – destructive (in some way) The Unconscious The storehouse of those painful experiences
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Structuralism Structuralism is a mode of thinking and a method of analysis practiced in 20th-century social sciences and humanities; it focuses on recurring patterns of thought and behaviour it seeks to analyse social relationships in terms of highly abstract relational structures. Structuralism is distinctly different from that applied to Radcliffe-Brown it involves more the bio and psychological aspect of human studies rather than social structures. Claude Levi-Strauss was the one to pioneer
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Structuralism and Semiotics What is Structuralism? Structuralism is the name that is given to a wide range of discourses that study underlying structures of signification. Signification occurs wherever there is a meaningful event or in the practise of some meaningful action. Hence the phrase‚ "signifying practices." A meaningful event might include any of following: writing or reading a text; getting married; having a discussion over a cup of coffee; a battle. Most (if not all) meaningful events
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‘Structuralism and Literary Criticism’ - Gerard Genette Structuralism is a way to examines a literary text to arrive at their meaning‚ rather than the actual meanings of the text themselves. It is a study of structure wherever they occur. In the essay Genette analyses content‚ logics‚ grammars and semiotics. He is considering structuralism as a method to study literary criticism. In the beginning of the essay Genette is establishing difference between Bricoleur and Engineer‚ Art critic and Literary
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Explain what is meant by the term structuralism‚ and assess both the strengths and weaknesses of structuralism as a theoretical perspective “Structuralism is often said to be hard to define because it has taken too many different forms for a common denominator to be in evidence”‚ (Piaget 1971 p3)‚ there are however 5 main thinkers that are strongly associated with the term despite its ambiguity. Of these 5 perhaps only one would proudly refer to themselves as such. This one would be Levi-Strauss
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Post Structuralism And Deconstruction . · without a fixed point of reference against which to measure movement we cannot tell whether or not you are moving at all. · · Post Structuralism accuse of not following through the omplications of the views about language on which their intellectual system is based. · Post structuralism says‚ in effect‚ that fixed intellectual reference points are pemanently removed by properly taking on board what structuralists said about language. · We could
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STRUCTURALISM - A theoretical method which is analytical not evaluative. - A way of approaching texts and practices derived from Ferdinand de Saussure. Exponents of Structuralism include: |Name |Field | |Claude Lévi Strauss |Anthropology | |Roland
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This week’s readings were on structuralism and power. The first text‚ “structure‚ sign and play”‚ was written by Jacques Derrida. In his text Derrida seems to discuss structuralism by arguing that there it is no longer unthinkable to think of structure as one that has no center. He argues that there is no longer a center to culture‚ as would be seen through a fixed frame which would act as the center presence within it. In example‚ during the medieval period‚ God would have been seen as the center
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Post-Structuralism Post-structuralism is a continuation and simultaneous rejection of structuralism – not only literary structuralism but even more so the anthropological structuralism of Levi-Strauss (Bertens‚ 2008: 93). * Post-structuralist thought has discovered the essentially unstable nature of signification. The sign is not so much a unit with two sides as a momentary ‘fix’ between two moving layers. Saussure had recognized that signifier and signified are two separate systems‚ but he
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Structuralism of Disgrace The dictionary definition of structuralism says: an approach that explores the relationships between fundamental elements of some kind. Coetzee’s stylish writing is rather post-structural in its’ views than structural‚ it is David the protagonist of the novel who is set in his structural ways. Coetzee prefers to write his story with more interest in the gaps‚ silences and absences of his texts. One can see this through his choice of a distant narrator‚ a narrator who
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The aim of this essay is to compare and contrast post-colonialism and post-structuralism as theories of international politics‚ by providing an explanation of the basic principles of each theory and an analysis of the similarities and differences. The first part of this essay will explain the basic principles of post-colonialism and post-structuralism as theories of international politics in order to examine the differences and similarities between these two approaches. In the second part of
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the Latin word structura which means to build. The theory of structuralism is considered to be a part of French structuralism‚ started in 1950s‚ by the cultural anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss. It is developed by Ferdinand de Saussure in his Course in General Linguistics (1915)‚ who applied a variety of linguistic concepts in analyzing a literary text. His theory of the structure of language is considered as the origin of structuralism. Ferdinand de Saussure believes that there are changes in language
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-Structuralism: Structuralism was a school of thought that sought to identify the components (structure) of the mind (the mind was the key element to psychology at this point). Structuralists believed that the way to learn about the brain and its functions was to break the mind down into its most basic elements. They believed‚ the whole is equal to the sum of the parts. -Wilhelm Wundt‚ who is considered the pioneer Structuralist‚ set up the very first psychological laboratory in 1879. Following
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Structuralism and Literary criticism. “Gerard Genette’s structuralism is‚ to some extent‚ like the ‘close reading’ of the Americans or the ‘verbal analysis’ of F. R. Leavis”—Justify. How does Genette elucidate the meaning and scope of structuralism? Gerard Genette’s theory of structuralism is dealt with in an exhaustive‚ elaborate manner in his brilliant essay ‘Structuralism and Literary Criticism.’ As a classicist‚ he wants to revive the classical tradition by means of structuralism. Genette
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Based on what element(s) do deconstruction and structuralism confront? Structuralism promised to provide a scientific ground for some fields like literary criticism and anthropology but it was nipped in the bud by Derrida’s lecture in John Hopkins University. Derrida believed that whatever is based on structure is inevitably
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i. Genetic Structuralism 1. Introduction Genetic Structuralism was firstly introduced by Taine. His view then was developed through sociology literary study. According to him‚ literary products are not merely about imaginative and personal facts‚ but also a reflection or cultural record‚ a manifestation of certain mind when the product is created. Lucien Goldman was the only person who also developed Genetic Structuralism. Goldman sees that humanity facts are meaningful structure. All human activities
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How does Detective Mills subvert the binary opposition good and bad in the film Se7en? Introduction In this essay‚ I am going to be analysing a character from the thriller film ‘Se7en’ (directed by David Fincher). The character of my choice is one of the lead roles of this film‚ Detective Mills. This character is portrayed as a homicide detective‚ taking the place of experienced retiring detective Somerset. The theoretical analysis I have chosen to use is the use of binary oppositions‚ particularly
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Lecture1 : Review: Last week we talked about interpersonal communications. Gofman’s argument that people put on a front or a face. Comm is dramaturgical. Different circumstances call for different aspects of yourself to be brought into the public sphere. We all know that everybody is putting up a front and acting. It is in the acting that society comes together and is able to live together. Gofman is continuation of Katz two step flow‚ role of opinion leaders‚ and importance of people in comm
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Mythology 3340 Structuralism in Myth “Heroes of Myth: Man Divided Against Himself” was a complex collection of myths drenched in ideas of structuralism In many opinions‚ myth in itself has an underlying foundation of the necessary search for answers‚ logic which needs to be explained for the human mind to comprehend all elements of life. Yet‚ viewing from the other end of the telescope‚ structuralism is seemingly not concretely about myth‚ although there is a correlation‚ certain approaches of
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