structuralism features

1. Structurali
sm
It is the name that is given
to a wide range of
discourses that study
underlying structures of
signification.

2. History
Throughout the 1940s and
1950s, existentialism, such as
that propounded by Jean-Paul
Sartre, was the dominant
European intellectual
movement. Structuralism rose
to prominence in France in
the wake of existentialism,
particularly in the 1960s. The
initial popularity of
structuralism in France led to
its spread across the globe.

3. Where does the
structuralism come?
Structuralism first comes to
prominence as a specific
discourse with the work of a Swiss
linguist, Ferdinand de Saussure,
who developed a branch of
linguistics called "Structural
Linguistics." Saussure died before
he was able to publish his material
but we have the meticulously
recorded notes of several of his
students made during the 2nd
course of 1908-1909.

4. Features
O All texts, all meaningful events
and all signifying practices can
be analyzed for their
underlying structures. Such an
analysis would reveal the
patterns that characterize the
system that makes such texts
and practices possible.
O Structuralism promises to offer
insights into what makes us
the way we are.

5. Example
An example is describing an
apple:
An apple is crisp, sweet, juicy,
round, and hard.

6. Leading figures
Claude Lévi-Strauss: (1908 to 2009)
“Father of Structuralism;” born in
Brussels in 1908. He became a
professor of sociology in Brazil in 1934. It
was at this time that he began to think
about human thought cross-culturally
and alterity. Lévi-Strauss has been
noted as singly associated for the
elaboration of the structuralist paradigm
in anthropology (Winthrop 1991).
Claude Lévi-Strauss

7. Ferdinand de
Saussure
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857 to 1913)
was a Swiss linguist and semiotician
whose ideas laid a foundation for many
significant developments both in
linguistics and semiology in the 20th
century. He is widely considered one of
the fathers of 20th-century linguistics and
one of two major fathers (together with
Charles Sanders Peirce) of
semiotics/semiology.

8. Roman Jakobson
Roman Jakobson (1896 to 1982) a
Russian structural linguist. Was
influenced by the work of Ferdinand de
Saussere and worked with Nikolai
Trubetzkoy to develop techniques for the
analysis of sound in language. His work
influenced Lévi-Strauss while they were
colleagues at the New School for Social
Research in New York.

9. Marcel Mauss
Marcel Mauss (1872 to 1952) French
sociologist. His uncle was Emile
Durkheim. He taught Lévi-Strauss
and influenced his thought on the
nature of reciprocity and structural
relationships in culture (Winthrop
1991).

10. Jacques Derrida
Michel Foucault
Jacques Derrida
(1930 to 2004)
French social
philosopher and
literary critic who
may be labeled
both a
“structuralist’ and a
“poststructuralist”
and was the
founder of
deconstructionism.
Michel Foucault
(1926 to 1984)
French social
philosopher whose
works have been
associated with
both structuralist
and
poststructuralist
thought, more often
with the latter.

11. Conclusion
O Structuralism is only interested in
understanding the basic definitions
of something, not the more
complex ideas and reasons behind
it.
O Structuralism is important because
it is the first major school of
thought in psychology.