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Structuralism•Whatisstructure?•Structuresaren’tphysicalentities;theyareconceptualframeworksthatweusetoorganizeandunderstandphysicalentities.Astructureisanyconceptualsystemthathasthefollowingproperties:wholeness,transformationandself-regulation.•Wholeness.Thismeansthatthesystemfunctionsasawhole,notjustasacollectionofindependentparts.•Transformation.Thismeansthatthesystemisnotstatic,butcapableofchange.Newunitscanenterthesystem,butwhentheydothey'regovernedbytherulesofthesystem.•Self-Regulation.Thisisrelatedtotheideaoftransformation.Youcanaddelementstothesystem,butyoucan'tchangethebasicstructureofthesystemnomatterwhatyouaddtoit.Thetransformationsofasystemneverleadtoanythingoutsidethesystem.Definitionofstructualism•Structuralismisthenamethatisgiventoawiderangeofdiscoursesthatstudyunderlyingstructuresofsignification.•Significationoccurswhereverthereisameaningfuleventorinthepractiseofsomemeaningfulaction.•signify:v.Ifanevent,asign,orasymbolsignifiessomething,itisasignofthatthingorrepresentsthatthing.•Ameaningfuleventmightincludeanyoffollowing:writingorreadingatext;gettingmarried;havingadiscussionoveracupofcoffee;abattle.Most(ifnotall)meaningfuleventsinvolveeitheradocumentoranexchangethatcanbedocumented.Thiswouldbecalledatext.•Textsmightincludeanyofthefollowing:anewsbroadcast;anadvertisement;aneditionofShakespeare’sKingLear;themanualforanewwashingmachine;theweddingvows;afeaturefilm.Fromthepointofviewofstructuralism,alltexts,allmeaningfuleventsandallsignifyingpracticescanbeanalysedfortheirunderlyingstructures.•Suchananalysiswouldrevealthepatternsthatcharacterisethesystemthatmakessuchtextsandpracticespossible.Wecannotseeastructureorasystemperse.Infactitwouldbeveryawkwardforusifwewereawareatalltimesofthestructuresthatmakeoursignifyingpracticespossible.Rathertheyremainunconsciousbutnecessaryaspectsofourwholewayofbeingwhatweare.Structuralismthereforepromisestoofferinsightsintowhatmakesusthewayweare.•RolandBarthes:Structuralismis“notaschool,norevenamovement”.“Norisitavocabulary.”Instead,“structuralismisessentiallyanactivity”.Thestructuralistactivityinvolvestwotypicaloperations:dissectionandarticulation.•Theactivityofdissectionistofindinanobject“certainmobilefragmentswhosedifferentialsituationengendersacertainmeaning”.•Theactivityofarticulationistodiscoverinthedissectedunitsorestablishforthem“certainrulesofassociation”.•SostructuralistsareinterestedintheinterrelationshipbetweenUNITS(alsocalledsurfacephenomena),andRULES(thewaysthatunitscanbeputtogether).•Inlanguage:unitsarewordsandtheruleswhicharetheformsofgrammarwhichorderwords.Indifferentlanguages,thegrammarrulesaredifferent,asarethewords,butthestructureisstillthesameinalllanguages:wordsareputtogetherwithinagrammaticalsystemtomakemeaning.Cinderella:anexample•Threecharacters:princess,stepmother,andprince•aprincessispersecutedbyastepmotherandrescued(andmarried)byaprince•“units”are:princess,stepmother,andprince•rulesare:stepmothersareevil,princessesarevictims,andprincesandprincesseshavetomarry.•That'sexactlywhatstructuralistanalysesofliteratureareanalyzing.Structuralistnotionsonunitsandrules•Structuralistsbelievethattheunderlyingstructureswhichorganizeunitsandrulesintomeaningfulsystemsaregeneratedbythehumanminditself,andnotbysenseperception.•Assuch,themindisitselfastructuringmechanismwhichlooksthroughunitsandfilesthemaccordingtorules.•Sostructuralismseesitselfasascienceofhumankind,andworkstouncoverallthestructuresthatunderlieallthethingsthathumansdo,think,perceive,andfeel.Structuralistanalysispositsthesesystemsasuniversal•Everyhumanmindineverycultureateverypointinhistoryhasusedsomesortofstructuringprincipletoorganizeandunderstandculturalphenomena.•Everyhumanculturehassomesortoflanguage,whichhasthebasicstructureofalllanguage:words/phonemesarecombinedaccordingtoagrammarofrulestoproducemeaning.•Everyhumanculturesimilarlyhassomesortofsocialorganization•Alloftheseorganizationsaregoverned,accordingtostructuralistanalyses,bystructureswhichareuniversal.Someprinciplesofstructuralism•1.Meaningoccursthroughdifference.•Meaningisnotidentificationofthesignwithobjectintherealworldorwithsomepre-existentconceptoressentialreality;ratheritisgeneratedbydifferenceamongsignsinasignifyingsystem.•Forinstance,themeaningofthewordswomanandladyareestablishedbytheirrelationstooneanotherinameaning-field.Theybothrefertoahumanfemale,butwhatconstituteshumanandwhatconstitutesfemalearethemselvesestablishedthroughdifference,notidentitywithanyessence,oridealtruth,orthelike.•2.Relationsamongsignsareoftwosorts,contiguityandsubstitutability,theaxesofcombinationandselection.•Thisisthebasisfortheexistenceofall'grammars',allsubstitutions,theabilitytoknowsomethingbysomethingelse,orbyapartofitinsome.Theconceptionofcombinationandselectionalsoprovidesthebasisforananalysisof'literariness'or'poeticality'intheuse,repetitionandvariationofsoundpatternsandcombinations.Italsoprovideskeystothemostfundamentalelementsofculture.•3.Structuralismnotesthatmuchofourimaginativeworldisstructuredof,andstructuredby,binaryoppositions(being