Literary Criticism & Theory part 2

 

11 – Structuralism & Post-Structuralism 

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🧩 1. Structuralism

Basic Idea:

Structuralism says that everything — language, literature, culture — works like a system of structures.
To understand a text, we must study its underlying structure (not just story or characters).

👉 “Meaning is created by structure — not by individual words alone.”

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 Concepts:

1. Language as a System (Ferdinand de Saussure):

   • He said language is made of signs.

   • Each sign = Signifier + Signified

     • Signifier = word/sound (e.g., “tree”)

     • Signified = idea/concept of tree

   • Relationship between them is arbitrary (no natural connection).

2. Binary Oppositions (Claude Lévi-Strauss):

   • Myths and stories are built on opposites like:

     • Life / Death

     • Good / Evil

     • Man / Woman

   • Structure = how these opposites create meaning.

3. Narrative Structure (Tzvetan Todorov, Vladimir Propp):

   • Stories follow patterns: beginning → conflict → resolution.

   • Propp identified 31 narrative functions in folk tales.

4. Literature as a System of Codes (Roland Barthes):

   • Literature is a network of signs and meanings.

   • Focus on how meaning is made, not what it means.

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Thinkers:

• Ferdinand de Saussure – linguistics foundation

• Claude Lévi-Strauss – anthropology & myths

• Roland Barthes – Mythologies, S/Z

• Roman Jakobson, Tzvetan Todorov, Vladimir Propp

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Ex:

In Hamlet, a structuralist studies patterns:

• Father/son, life/death, action/inaction → opposites that create meaning.

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📘 Structuralism studies the structure and system of signs that produce meaning in literature.

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🔄 2. Post-Structuralism

Basic Idea:

Post-Structuralism came as a reaction to Structuralism.
It says:
👉 Meaning is not fixed or stable.
👉 Every text can have multiple interpretations.
👉 Language is unreliable — it always shifts meaning.

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Concepts:

1. Deconstruction (Jacques Derrida):

   • There is no single meaning — meaning keeps “deferring.”

   • Every text contradicts itself.

   • Famous idea: “There is nothing outside the text.”

   • We should deconstruct (break open) language to see hidden assumptions.

2. Death of the Author (Roland Barthes):

   • Once the text is written, the author’s intention no longer matters.

   • The reader gives meaning.

   • Meaning is created in reading, not fixed in writing.

3. Discourse and Power (Michel Foucault):

   • Knowledge and power are linked.

   • Who controls language, controls thought.

4. Meaning = Play (Derrida’s term Différance):

   • “Différance” = difference + deferral.

   • Words only have meaning through differences with other words — never final.

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Main Thinkers:

• Jacques Derrida – Of Grammatology

• Roland Barthes – The Death of the Author

• Michel Foucault – The Archaeology of Knowledge

• Julia Kristeva – Intertextuality

• J. Hillis Miller, Paul de Man, Harold Bloom

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Ex:

In Hamlet, a post-structuralist says:

• There is no single truth about Hamlet’s delay.

• Every explanation opens new contradictions.

• Text has many meanings, not one.

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                        Structuralism    vs   Post-Structuralism

	Structuralism	Post-Structuralism
Focus	Structure & system	Instability of meaning
Meaning	Stable, fixed	Shifting, multiple
Language	Reliable system	Unstable, contradictory
Key Figure	Saussure, Lévi-Strauss	Derrida, Barthes
Approach	Scientific, logical	Deconstructive, critical
Goal	Find underlying pattern	Show how meaning breaks down

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📖 Structuralism finds structure in text; Post-Structuralism finds how structure collapses.

 12 – Deconstruction Theory 

(Jacques Derrida)

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🧠 What is Deconstruction?

Deconstruction is a post-structuralist theory developed by Jacques Derrida.
It says that language never gives a single, fixed meaning — instead, meaning always changes depending on context.

👉

“Every text has many meanings, and those meanings contradict each other.”

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🧩 :

• We think language is stable — but it’s not.

• Words get meaning only through difference from other words.

• So, there’s no final or true meaning — only play of meanings.

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📚 

1. Différance

• A term coined by Derrida (French word mixing difference and deferral).

• It means:

  • Words get meaning by being different from others.

  • Meaning is deferred (never complete — always postponed).

• So, when you read, you never reach a final truth — meaning keeps changing.

🗝️ Ex:
The word light means “not dark” or “not heavy” — it depends on other words.
So its meaning is never self-contained, always relative.

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2. Logocentrism

• Western philosophy believes in a “center” of meaning — truth, reason, God, or author.

• Derrida rejected this — he said there is no center.

• Every “truth” is made of language, and language is unstable.

🗝️ Ex:
People used to think the author’s intention = meaning.
Derrida says: No — the text speaks beyond the author.

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3. Binary Oppositions

• Western thought is built on opposites:

  • Light / Dark

  • Man / Woman

  • Speech / Writing

  • Good / Evil

• Derrida said these opposites are hierarchical (one is considered superior).

• Deconstruction breaks this hierarchy — shows both sides depend on each other.

🗝️ Ex:
“Speech is pure, writing is secondary” → Derrida says writing also shapes speech.

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4. There is Nothing Outside the Text

• Famous Derrida quote: “Il n’y a pas de hors-texte.”

• Meaning: everything is interpreted through language and culture — there is no pure meaning outside the text.

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5. Textuality

• A text is not a closed system — it has no final boundary.

• Reading = re-creating meaning each time.

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🧩 :

1. Find binary oppositions (life/death, male/female, etc.).

2. Show how the “superior” term depends on the “inferior” one.

3. Expose contradictions or gaps in meaning.

4. Prove that the text undoes its own claims.

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Ex:

In Hamlet:

• Binary: action vs inaction

• We think Hamlet is weak (inaction), but his thinking (inaction) is his strength — it reverses the opposition.
  That’s deconstruction — showing hidden contradictions.

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🧠 Main Theorists:

• Jacques Derrida – founder (Of Grammatology, Writing and Difference)

• Paul de Man – deconstructive readings of Romantic poetry

• J. Hillis Miller – Yale School of Deconstruction

• Geoffrey Hartman, Harold Bloom – Yale critics

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📘 

Deconstruction reveals how texts contradict themselves and how meaning is never fixed but always shifting.

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🔍 

Concept	Meaning
Différance	Meaning through difference; never final
Logocentrism	Belief in a fixed truth; Derrida rejects it
Binary Opposition	Two opposing ideas; deconstruction reverses hierarchy
Nothing outside the text	Meaning exists only through language
Main Goal	Show instability of language and meaning