Structuralism

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Introduction to Structuralism

Structuralism is a way of perceiving the world in terms of structures. The essence of structuralism is the belief that things cannot be understood in isolation; they must be understood within the context of the larger structures they belong to. The process of getting down to the deep structure of a thing is what defines structuralism.

For structuralism, the world consists of two fundamental levels:

Surface Structure (Visible World): Consists of surface phenomena (the individual things we see, hear, or read).

Deep Structure (Invisible World): Consists of the underlying structures that organize and govern all surface phenomena. Deep structures are relatively few, whereas surface structures are innumerable.

Scope: Structuralism identifies and analyzes the structures that underlie all cultural phenomena, not just language and literature.

Example: Think of a chess game. The specific moves made by players in a single game are the surface structure (visible and endless in variety). The rules of chess that allow those moves to happen in the first place are the deep structure (invisible, fixed, and limited).

The Three Properties of a Structure

According to structuralist theory, a structure is a conceptual system that carries three specific properties (anything else, like "needlessness," is excluded):

Wholesomeness: This simply means that a system functions as a unified whole. It is not just a random collection of independent items; the parts matter because of their relationship to the whole.

Transformation: This means the system is not static; it is dynamic and capable of change. New material can be processed, but it must follow the system's rules.

Self-Regulation: This means that the transformations a structure is capable of never lead beyond its own structural system. It maintains and governs itself.

Example: A language (like English) is a structure. It has wholesomeness because words only make sense together in sentences. It has transformation because we can invent new sentences every day. It has self-regulation because no matter what new sentence we invent, it must still follow English grammar rules to be understood.

Ferdinand de Saussure & Structural Linguistics

Ferdinand de Saussure was a Swiss linguistics professor whose pioneering work laid the foundation for structural linguistics. After his death, a couple of his students compiled his lecture notes into a monumental book titled Course in General Linguistics. His work was not translated into English and popularized until the late 1950s.

Saussure's Core Linguistic Concepts

Diachronic vs. Synchronic Study:

Before Saussure (Diachronic): Language was studied diachronically—meaning the evolution and history of changes in individual words over time.

Saussure’s Approach (Synchronic): Saussure realized we need to understand language synchronically—meaning the study of a language system at a specific point in time, independent of its history.

The Rejection of Imitation: Traditionally, it was believed that words somehow naturally imitated or reflected the objects they stood for. Saussure disproved this, arguing that language is a formal system of differential elements.

Phonemic Analysis: Saussure introduced phonemic analysis as a key concept, focusing on distinctive sound units (phonemes) within a language to lay a foundation for deeper structural understanding.

Early Works: Saussure's early publication on Lithuanian Phonetics drew heavily from studies by the Lithuanian researcher Friedrich Kurschat, influenced by a journey through Lithuania in 1880. He also proposed the Laryngeal Theory, a pioneering contribution to historical linguistics classifying phonetic elements.

The Prague School: After Saussure’s death, the Prague linguistic school continued and expanded the work of structuralist linguistics.

Langue, Parole, and the Linguistic Sign

Saussure divided language into two distinct French terms to explain how it works:

Term Definition Example

Langue The deep structure, rules, or grammar underneath a language system. The abstract rules of English grammar that everyone agrees on.

Parole The actual variety of utterances and individual speech acts. A specific sentence you speak or write out loud today.

The Nature of the Sign

According to Saussure, a linguistic sign does not connect a thing to a name, but a sound-image to a concept. It embodies both:

$$ \text{Sign} = \text{Signifier} + \text{Signified} $$

Signifier: The marker (like a spoken or written word) that refers to a concept.

Signified: The mental concept or idea that the signifier refers to.

Example: The letters T-R-E-E written on a page (or the sound of the word spoken aloud) is the Signifier. The mental image of a tall plant with a brown trunk and green leaves that pops into your head is the Signified. Together, they form the Sign.

Syntagmatic vs. Paradigmatic Axes

Signs derive their meaning from how they relate to other signs. Saussure noted two types of relationships:

Syntagmatic (Chain Relationship): Expresses the function of signs in terms of syntax. It operates on a horizontal axis where words are chained together in a specific, linear order.

Parigmatic (Choice Relationship): Relates to why a specific sign was chosen instead of a related synonym. It operates on a vertical axis of substitution.

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Paradigmatic Axis (Choice / Vertical)

   [ The ] --> [ cat ] --> [ sat ] --> [ on the mat. ]

   [ A ] --> [ dog ] --> [ slept ] --> [ on the rug. ]

   [ That] --> [ bird ] --> [ flew ] --> [ in the sky. ]

                  ========================================> 

                   Syntagmatic Axis (Chain / Horizontal)

Binary Opposites: A pair of words or concepts that are opposite in meaning (e.g., hot/cold, good/bad). Structuralists argue we understand what something is by knowing what it is not.

Key Structuralist Theorists and Thinkers

While initially associated with Western thinkers like Claude Lévi-Strauss, Karl Marx, and Louis Althusser, structuralism spread across many disciplines:

Roman Jakobson: A Russian linguist highly inspired by Saussure. He took the technique of examining language "in pieces" to analyze phonology and literary functions.

Claude Lévi-Strauss: An anthropologist who took ideas from structural linguistics and applied them to culture, myths, and kinship. He famously gave a structural reading of the Oedipus Rex myth to show how myths share universal structural patterns.

Vladimir Propp: The first theorist to apply a structural approach to the study of narratives. He analyzed Russian folktales and broke them down into their basic narrative components (functions and character types).

Roland Barthes: One of the earliest and most important structuralists in literary theory. He applied structuralism to literature, popular culture, and social phenomena (semiotics), decoding the "signs" of daily life.

The Shift to Post-Structuralism

The decline of structuralism began when Post-Structuralism took over. Post-structuralists challenged the rigid, neat boundaries of structuralism, arguing that systems are not as stable, fixed, or universal as the structuralists originally claimed.