Literary Criticism & Theory

 

✅  1 – Structuralism

Structuralism is a theory that says every text has an underlying structure. We understand meaning by studying the system of language (not just the author or history).

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1. 
   Language as a system – Words get meaning by their relation to other words, not by themselves.

2. Influence of Linguistics – Developed from Ferdinand de Saussure’s ideas.

3. Concept of Binary Oppositions – Example: good/evil, life/death, male/female – meaning is created by differences.

4. Focus – Not on the author, but on structure, language, and signs.

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Imp Terms

• Sign = Signifier (word) + Signified (concept)

• Langue (language system) vs. Parole (individual speech)

• Structure = underlying rules that organize meaning

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Main Critics

• Ferdinand de Saussure – Founder (linguistics)

• Claude Lévi-Strauss – Applied structuralism to anthropology

• Roland Barthes – In literature, “Death of the Author” concept

• Roman Jakobson – Russian Formalist turned structuralist

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Ex

If you read a story like Cinderella, structuralists focus on:

• Roles (hero, villain, helper)

• Binary opposites (good/evil, rich/poor)

• Repeated patterns in many stories (myths, fairy tales)

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Structuralism studies the deep structures and language systems that shape meaning in texts, focusing on signs, differences, and binary oppositions, not the author.