STRUCTURALISM

Definition:
Structuralism studies literature as a system of signs and structures.

Structuralism studies underlying structure of language and literature

It started in 1950 France

Main idea:
Meaning comes from structure, language, and system, not individual text only.

Based on linguistics.

Founder:

• Ferdinand de Saussure- Course in General Linguistics

Famous structuralists:

• Claude Lévi‑Strauss

• Roland Barthes

• Roman Jakobson

Key concepts:

• Sign = Signifier + Signified

• Binary oppositions (good/evil, male/female)

• Structure creates meaning

1. Sign

Sign = Signifier + Signified

Example:

Tree word = Signifier

Tree idea = Signified

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2. Langue and Parole

Langue = language system

Parole = individual speech

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3. Binary Opposition

Opposite concepts:

• good / evil

• male / female

• life / death

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4. Structure gives meaning

Meaning comes from system, not individual word

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Major Structuralists

Claude Lévi-Strauss

Applied structuralism to myths

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Roland Barthes

Famous essay:

The Death of the Author

Meaning:

Author is not important

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Roman Jakobson

Studied language structure

1. Ferdinand de Saussure

• Course in General Linguistics - 1916

👉 Concept → Signifier / Signified, Langue / Parole
👉 Father of Structuralism

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2. Claude Lévi-Strauss

• Structural Anthropology - 1958

• The Raw and the Cooked - 1964

👉 Concept → Myth structure, Binary opposition

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3. Roland Barthes

• Writing Degree Zero - 1953

• Mythologies - 1957

• The Death of the Author - 1967

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4. Roman Jakobson

• Fundamentals of Language - 1956

👉 Concept → Structural linguistics

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5. Tzvetan Todorov

• Grammaire du Decameron - 1969

👉 Concept → Narrative structure

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6. Gerard Genette

• Narrative Discourse - 1972

👉 Concept → Narratology

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7. Algirdas Julien Greimas

• Structural Semantics - 1966

👉 Concept → Actant model.

Writer	Work	Year
Saussure	Course in General Linguistics	1916
Barthes	Writing Degree Zero	1953
Lévi-Strauss	Structural Anthropology	1958
Jakobson	Fundamentals of Language	1956
Greimas	Structural Semantics	1966
Todorov	Grammaire du Decameron	1969
Genette	Narrative Discourse	1972

MCQs

1. Who is the father of Structuralism?

A Richards
B Brooks
C Saussure ✅
D Eliot

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2. Course in General Linguistics was published in:

A 1924
B 1916 ✅
C 1958
D 1967

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3. The Death of the Author was written by:

A Genette
B Barthes ✅
C Todorov
D Greimas

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4. Structural Anthropology was written by:

A Barthes
B Lévi-Strauss ✅
C Jakobson
D Frye

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5. Narrative Discourse was written in 1972 by:

A Genette ✅
B Saussure
C Richards
D Empson

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6. Signifier and Signified concept given by:

A Saussure ✅
B Barthes
C Brooks
D Eliot

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7. Structural Semantics was written by:

A Todorov
B Greimas ✅
C Genette
D Jakobson

Conclusion 

Structuralism is a theory that studies literature as a system of structures and signs. It began with Ferdinand de Saussure, who explained Signifier and Signified and Langue and Parole. Later critics like Roland Barthes, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and Gerard Genette applied structural principles to literature, myth, and narrative.

👉 Structuralism says:

• Meaning comes from structure, not individual author
• Literature follows universal patterns
• Language is a system of signs

Structuralism studies the underlying structure of language and literature.