Structuralism Flashcards
What methods did Roland Barthes develop?
Work vs. text and Five codes of reading and Death of the Author
Where did structuralism originate and what does that do?
from Russian formalism (defamiliarization through and within literature. And Prague structuralism (foregrounding).
What focuses structuralism on?
Exploration of the nature of literature and focus on similarities and differences.
A work of literature is:
- is perceived as a finished product, made by an author
- is decoded to find meaning
- is interpreted in light of the author’s intentions and/or context
- places readers in a passive position; they simply derive meaning
- is ‘readerly’ (readers ‘consume’)
A (literary) text is:
- is perceived as a playful process, not a product
- is approached as a field or space in which ‘meaning’ still has to be achieved
- is intertextual: only one point in an infinite web of texts
- places readers in an active position; they have to create meaning
- is ‘writerly’ (readers ‘write’ as well)
What are the five codes of reading?
- Proairetic: actions (narrative progress).
- Hermeneutic: questions (enigmas for the reader).
- Cultural: references (contingent on external knowledge).
- Semic: connotations (determination of character/stance/atmosphere).
- Symbolic: themes (structural binary oppositions)
What is the origin of structuralism?
linguistics
What is the origin of poststructuralism?
Philosophy
What are the key notions of poststructuralism
- Presence–the notion that there is something that precedes language –is an illusion
- Our world is completely shaped by language: “There is nothing outside the text”
- Logocentrism–the notion that we can trust language to reflect reality –is untenable: language is intrinsically unreliable.
Order and stability are purely artificial impositions and always imply hierarchies
•Texts create this suggestion by setting up centres and margins
Who is an important poststructuralism thinker?
Jacques Derrida
What means Différance?
In language meaning is constantly contingent and therefore elusive:
all expressions are subject to différance (a word that combines the French for ‘difference’ and ‘deferral’)
What is reality in poststructuralism?
Reality is not objectively knowable; our experience is shaped through language
What do text set up according to poststructuralism?
Texts set up centres and margins that implicitly prefer certain aspects over others and thus create inequality
