Structuralism
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| == History == | == History == | ||
| - | Structuralism appeared in academia in the [[second half of the 20th century]], and grew to become one of the most popular approaches in academic fields concerned with the analysis of [[language]], [[culture]], and [[society]]. The work of [[Ferdinand de Saussure]] concerning [[linguistics]] is generally considered to be a starting point of structuralism. The term "structuralism" itself appeared in the works of [[French people|French]] [[anthropologist]] [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]], and gave rise, in [[France]], to the "structuralist movement," which spurred the work of such thinkers as [[Louis Althusser]], the [[psychoanalysis|psychoanalyst]] [[Jacques Lacan]], as well as the [[structural Marxism]] of [[Nicos Poulantzas]]. Almost all members of this so-called movement denied that they were part of it. Structuralism is closely related to [[semiotics]]. [[Post-structuralism]] attempted to distinguish itself from the simple use of the structural [[Scientific method|method]]. [[Deconstruction]] was an attempt to break with structuralistic thought. Some intellectuals like [[Julia Kristeva]], for example, took structuralism (and [[Russian formalism]]) for a starting point to later become prominent post-structuralists. Structuralism has had varying degrees of influence in the social sciences: a great deal in the field of [[sociology]]. | + | Structuralism appeared in academia in the [[second half of the 20th century]], and grew to become one of the most popular approaches in academic fields concerned with the analysis of [[language]], [[culture]], and [[society]]. The work of [[Ferdinand de Saussure]] concerning [[linguistics]] is generally considered to be a starting point of structuralism. The term "structuralism" itself appeared in the works of [[French people|French]] [[anthropologist]] [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]], and gave rise, in [[France]], to the "[[French Structuralism|structuralist movement]]," which spurred the work of such thinkers as [[Louis Althusser]], the [[psychoanalysis|psychoanalyst]] [[Jacques Lacan]], as well as the [[structural Marxism]] of [[Nicos Poulantzas]]. Almost all members of this so-called movement denied that they were part of it. Structuralism is closely related to [[semiotics]]. [[Post-structuralism]] attempted to distinguish itself from the simple use of the structural [[Scientific method|method]]. [[Deconstruction]] was an attempt to break with structuralistic thought. Some intellectuals like [[Julia Kristeva]], for example, took structuralism (and [[Russian formalism]]) for a starting point to later become prominent post-structuralists. Structuralism has had varying degrees of influence in the social sciences: a great deal in the field of [[sociology]]. |
| == Prominent Structuralists == | == Prominent Structuralists == | ||
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- structure, deconstruction,post-structuralism, structuralist film theory, genre theory, The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre
Structuralism as a term refers to various theories across the humanities, social sciences and economics many of which share the assumption that structural relationships between concepts vary between different cultures/languages and that these relationships can be usefully exposed and explored. Structuralism is closely related to semiotics.
More accurately it could be described as an approach in academic disciplines in general that explores the relationships between fundamental principal elements in language, literature, and other fields upon which some higher mental, linguistic, social, or cultural "structures" and "structural networks" are built. Through these networks meaning is produced within a particular person, system, or culture. This meaning then frames and motivates the actions of individuals and groups. In its most recent manifestation, structuralism as a field of academic interest began around 1958 and peaked in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Structuralism began in linguistics with the work of Ferdinand de Saussure. But many French intellectuals perceived it to have a wider application, and the model was soon modified and applied to other fields, such as anthropology, psychoanalysis and literary theory. This ushered in the dawn of structuralism as not just a method, but also an intellectual movement that came to take existentialism’s pedestal in 1960s France.
As a method, the basics of structuralism consist of analyzing social events (speech, familial identity, and recounts of history, for example) to discover the synchronic structures that both underlie them and make them possible (language, kinship and narrative structure, respectively), which are then typically broken down into units, codes, rules of combination, etc. The essential theory underlying this method is that these structures are autonomous, and that their units are interdependent, because they are constituted through contrast with one another. So how we discursively conceive of ourselves, or anything, for that matter, is dependent on contexts found within historically contingent systems.
Structuralism enjoyed much popularity, and its general stance of antihumanism was in sheer opposition to the Sartrean existentialism that preceded it. But in the 1970s, it came under internal fire from critics who accused it of being too rigid and ahistorical. However, many of structuralism’s theorists, from Michel Foucault to Jacques Lacan, continue to assert an influence on continental philosophy, and many of the fundamental assumptions of its critics, that is, of adherents of poststructuralism, are but a continuation of structuralism.
History
Structuralism appeared in academia in the second half of the 20th century, and grew to become one of the most popular approaches in academic fields concerned with the analysis of language, culture, and society. The work of Ferdinand de Saussure concerning linguistics is generally considered to be a starting point of structuralism. The term "structuralism" itself appeared in the works of French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, and gave rise, in France, to the "structuralist movement," which spurred the work of such thinkers as Louis Althusser, the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, as well as the structural Marxism of Nicos Poulantzas. Almost all members of this so-called movement denied that they were part of it. Structuralism is closely related to semiotics. Post-structuralism attempted to distinguish itself from the simple use of the structural method. Deconstruction was an attempt to break with structuralistic thought. Some intellectuals like Julia Kristeva, for example, took structuralism (and Russian formalism) for a starting point to later become prominent post-structuralists. Structuralism has had varying degrees of influence in the social sciences: a great deal in the field of sociology.
Prominent Structuralists
See also
- Semiotic literary criticism
- Deconstruction
- Meaning
- Semiotics
- Sign
- Post-structuralism
- Tsvetan Todorov
- Structuralist film theory
- Genre theory
- The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre (1970) - Tzvetan Todorov
