Structuralism

1. By: Katherine Matos Jimenez Advance English 126- Introduction & Literature Dr. Evelyn Lugo TR 11:30am-1:00pm Structuralism

2. What is Structuralism? • It is a theory developed in France between 1950 and 1960. • Begin with the work of Ferdinand de Saussure on linguistics, along with that of the Prague and Moscow schools. • Analyzes any phenomena about the world mostly contrasting elementary structure in a system of binary opposition (a pair of opposite concepts).  • Description and perception of the structure. 

3. Structuralism’s Fields • Some fields in which Structuralism is applied are anthropology, sociology, architecture, linguistics, psychology, and literature. • The most famous thinkers associated with structuralism include: • Anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss • Psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan • Philosopher and historian Michel Foucault • Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser • Literary critic Roland Barthes

4. LINGUISTICS The linguistics signs analysis focuses on the relationship between words (Signifier) and the things in the world that they designate (Signified). Structural linguistics include paradigm, syntagm, and value. Examines how the elements of language relate to each other.

5. ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY • The meaning is produced and reproduced within a culture through various phenomena that serve as systems of signification. • Diverse forms of entertainment are studied (as food preparation and serving rituals, religious rites, games, literary and non-literary texts).

6. LITERARY THEORY AND CRITISM (LITERATURE) • This relates literary texts to a larger structure, which may be genre, intertextual connections, narrative structure, or recurrent patterns (like how the structures of a text are resolved). • There must be a structure in every text to interpret it. • An example would be West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet structures. • "Boy + Girl“. • "Boy's Group - Girl's Group" or "Opposing forces“. • Conflict is resolved by their death.

7. PSYCOLOGY • Structuralism have the goal to describe the structure of the mind in terms of mental experience.  • This theory focused on three things: • The individual elements of consciousness. • How they organized into more complex experiences • How these mental phenomena correlated with physical events. 

8. ARTCHITECTURE • The design is a process of searching for the relationship between elements, interested in the social structures and mental processes that contributed to the design. • Great complexity within a highly structured construction. • For example, a design may consist of cell-like honeycomb shapes, intersecting planes, cubed grids, or densely clustered spaces with connecting courtyards.

9. ARTCHITECTURE The Berlin Holocaust Memorial is a controversial Structuralist work by architect Peter Eisenman.

10. Bibliography • Siegel, K. (n.d.). Introduction to Modern Literary Theory .Kristi Siegel. Retrieved March 3, 2011, from www.kristisiegel.com/theory.htm • The American Heritage dictionary of the English language(4th ed.). (2000). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. • Perez, R. (2011, February 13). Psychology Aldebaran: Later Psychology Developments (Classic Psychology).Psychology Aldebaran. Retrieved March 14, 2011, from http://psychologyaldebaran.blogspot.com/2011/02/lae r- psychology-developments-classic.html • Structuralism. (2011, February 3). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 07:20, March 14, 2011, fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Structuralism &oldid=411716678