The Literary Theory: Structuralism and Post-Structuralism
By Dr. Wafa Hamid
On 18th September, Dr. Wafa Hamid delivered a lecture on ‘Structuralism and Post Structuralism’, the second lecture of Jabberwock’s The Literary Theory Series.
She began by tracing the journey of social norms and laws of the state being defined by religion, to humans becoming the center of society. Structuralism, as the name suggests, is to do with structures built by the ever-developing society, be it social-sciences, archeology, anthropology, linguistics or architecture and more. Texts are made of all sorts of structure, developed by political, cultural, religious and other fields of knowledge. Structuralism aims to understand texts in the context of structure. The professor explains how structuralism believes that no text can be understood in isolation; they have to be understood in the larger context because everything is interconnected. This involves exploring questions like when a text was written, who wrote it, what else was happening in the period it was written, who else wrote in that genre, etc.
Structuralism has derived its roots from Ferdinand de Saussure’s Linguistic Theory. Languages are associated with communities; it is not a transparent medium. It structures our world, in turn, structuring our thoughts. It dictates how we perceive ourselves and no communicable thought is independent of language. Words or their meanings are not contained; it is relational and based on differences.
Language is broadly classified under langue and parole; langue being the totality of language, composed of grammar and rules while parole is the language in use, be it speech or writing. Language is a combination of both, and based on its usage, multiple norms and structures keep developing and changing over time. Language is also composed of signs; consisting of the signifier and the signified. This refers to both oral and visual signs. Back to Saussure, he believed that unlike words, meanings are arbitrary. It is based on convention and common usage. He emphasized that language should be studied synchronically; by looking at a moment and what’s happening to life in that moment.
Structuralism is an interdisciplinary approach, consisting of various branches of human knowledge. It believes that meanings begin in material realities and not abstract notions. The professor gives the example of Karl Marx who believed that all art and culture is derived from underlying economic structure, as well as Freud, who challenged the western philosophy of ‘I think, therefore I am’, stating that ‘I’ will never be whole, because there will always be an aspect of unconscious. Our identity is a result of material forms, and not because we know ourselves fully, i.e., what class, caste we belong to, or what language we speak, what circumstances and conditions we are exposed to, our own name that was given by others.
The key aspects of structuralism can be broken down to:
Following this, the professor moved on to Post Structuralism, beginning with a quotation from Looking Through the Glass, featuring a conversation between Humpty Dumpty and Alice.
The post in post structuralism is an extension and transformation of structuralism in another direction, and not complete destruction. It is a modification of a system to address the inconsistencies in structuralism. When structuralism began to explore and discover objective reality, becoming a center or starting point, it ended up contradicting its own understanding. Post structuralism deemed this pseudo-scientific endeavour as futile and ridiculous, and considered truth and objectivity as inaccessible. It was a critic of any kind of balance between signifier and signified, as well as metaphysics.
Post Structuralism is an umbrella term, initially known as Neo Structuralism. No one called themselves a post structuralist, and had differing methodologies. Through Derrida’s concept of Différance, which is the difference and deferral of meaning, aporia and decentration of the center, Barthes’ differentiation between work (physical material substance) and text (methodological field), and Foucault’s Genealogy, the professor explains how post structuralism actively resists concept of whole, and talks about plurality of meaning.
At the conclusion of her lecture, Dr. Wafa Hamid offered her own insights and interpretations to every audience member who both questioned and had questions regarding the content of the lecture.
She began by tracing the journey of social norms and laws of the state being defined by religion, to humans becoming the center of society. Structuralism, as the name suggests, is to do with structures built by the ever-developing society, be it social-sciences, archeology, anthropology, linguistics or architecture and more. Texts are made of all sorts of structure, developed by political, cultural, religious and other fields of knowledge. Structuralism aims to understand texts in the context of structure. The professor explains how structuralism believes that no text can be understood in isolation; they have to be understood in the larger context because everything is interconnected. This involves exploring questions like when a text was written, who wrote it, what else was happening in the period it was written, who else wrote in that genre, etc.
Structuralism has derived its roots from Ferdinand de Saussure’s Linguistic Theory. Languages are associated with communities; it is not a transparent medium. It structures our world, in turn, structuring our thoughts. It dictates how we perceive ourselves and no communicable thought is independent of language. Words or their meanings are not contained; it is relational and based on differences.
Language is broadly classified under langue and parole; langue being the totality of language, composed of grammar and rules while parole is the language in use, be it speech or writing. Language is a combination of both, and based on its usage, multiple norms and structures keep developing and changing over time. Language is also composed of signs; consisting of the signifier and the signified. This refers to both oral and visual signs. Back to Saussure, he believed that unlike words, meanings are arbitrary. It is based on convention and common usage. He emphasized that language should be studied synchronically; by looking at a moment and what’s happening to life in that moment.
Structuralism is an interdisciplinary approach, consisting of various branches of human knowledge. It believes that meanings begin in material realities and not abstract notions. The professor gives the example of Karl Marx who believed that all art and culture is derived from underlying economic structure, as well as Freud, who challenged the western philosophy of ‘I think, therefore I am’, stating that ‘I’ will never be whole, because there will always be an aspect of unconscious. Our identity is a result of material forms, and not because we know ourselves fully, i.e., what class, caste we belong to, or what language we speak, what circumstances and conditions we are exposed to, our own name that was given by others.
The key aspects of structuralism can be broken down to:
- Critique of Human Subject (Idea of an individual is created by structures.)
- Critique of Historicism (History cannot be limited to history of progress.)
- Critique of Philosophy (The obsession of philosophy with the idea of being, origin and end.)
Following this, the professor moved on to Post Structuralism, beginning with a quotation from Looking Through the Glass, featuring a conversation between Humpty Dumpty and Alice.
The post in post structuralism is an extension and transformation of structuralism in another direction, and not complete destruction. It is a modification of a system to address the inconsistencies in structuralism. When structuralism began to explore and discover objective reality, becoming a center or starting point, it ended up contradicting its own understanding. Post structuralism deemed this pseudo-scientific endeavour as futile and ridiculous, and considered truth and objectivity as inaccessible. It was a critic of any kind of balance between signifier and signified, as well as metaphysics.
Post Structuralism is an umbrella term, initially known as Neo Structuralism. No one called themselves a post structuralist, and had differing methodologies. Through Derrida’s concept of Différance, which is the difference and deferral of meaning, aporia and decentration of the center, Barthes’ differentiation between work (physical material substance) and text (methodological field), and Foucault’s Genealogy, the professor explains how post structuralism actively resists concept of whole, and talks about plurality of meaning.
At the conclusion of her lecture, Dr. Wafa Hamid offered her own insights and interpretations to every audience member who both questioned and had questions regarding the content of the lecture.
Written by Shreya Das