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Mel Rose M. Aguilar Prof. Elizabeth L. Enriquez, Phd

MA Media Studies (Film) Media !"

"!#$ %&'#!

Short Paer

Structuralism Vs. Post Structuralism

*umans, as rational beings ha+e an inessant ursuit in see-ing truth and realit intheir /orld b reating and assigning meanings through strutures0 the belief that

henomena of human life are not intelligible e1et through their interrelations /hih

onstitute strutures and that there are onstant la/s go+erned in an abstrat ulture( S. 2la-burn, ""&. 31ford 4itionar of Philosoh, nded.). Suh erseti+e ga+elight to the Structuralist mode of reasoning that de+eloed in Euroe in the earl !5""s.

6he +er basi tool of humans in meaning$ ma-ing is language. Language, aording

to Ferdinand 4e Saussure is entral to the /orld /e li+e in... /ords are

olleti+eroduts of soial interation and suh are essential instruments through /hih human

beings onstitute and artiulate their /orld(*arris, R. !55&. Language, Saussure and7ittgenstein). Follo/ing 4e Saussures +ie/ on language as a ultural sstem, it (an

ultural sstem) an be reresented as oded sstems of meaning rather than diret

transations /ith realit. Struturalism in linguistis shed the same light in the fields ofSoiolog and Anthroolog furthermore, ultural sstems must be understood in

terms of their relationshi to a larger, o+erarhing sstem or struture that /or-s to

uno+er the strutures that underlie all the things that humans do, thin-, erei+e and

feel(S. 2la-burn, ""&. 31ford 4itionar of Philosoh, nded.). 6he enterrise ofStruturalism, aording to 8ohn Fis-e (!55"), Struturalisms enterrise is to diso+er

ho/ eole ma-e sense of the /orld, not /hat the /orld is. *e also argued that the /a/e ma-e sense of things are uni+ersal beause our brains are similarl strutured in suha /a.

Follo/ing the struturalist aroah is the onetion of a field of stud /hihstudies the role of signs as art of soial life(Semiolog) (Saussure !5, !$!9) /hih

later dealt more /ith signs (e+erthing that an be ta-en as signs) and sign roesses as a

signifiant art of ommuniation0 this field of stud is alled Semiotis.

6he mo+ement, dealing /ith ultural strutures beame +ital in the onstrution of

narrati+es and mths. :otable theorists to name are (Retrie+ed from

htt;

Le+i Straussbinar oosition is a sstem of t/o related ategories that, in its urest

form, omrises the uni+erse. E+erthing is either in ategor A or ategor 2, and b

imosing suh ategories uon the /orld /e are starting to ma-e sense of it (Fis-e,!55").

http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/S4B/sem13.html#Saussure_1983http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/S4B/sem13.html#Saussure_1983

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6z+etan 6odoro+

6odoro+ suggested that on+entional narrati+es are strutured in fi+e stages (State of

equilibrium, disrution of equilibrium, reognition of the disrution, attemt to reair

disrution, reinstatement of the equilibrium).

?ladimir Pro

*e suggested that haraters too- on the role of narrati+e @sheres of

ation@ or funtions. From a omrehensi+e stud of fol-tales Pro ame u /ithse+en different harater tes; hero, +illain, donor, heler, riness, disather, false

hero.

n onlusion, here are three assumtions to be made out in this mode of thin-ing

(insights ta-en from a snthesis b >. 7histnant, "!.

htt;

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(snhroni)reading. 2 studing ho/ ultural onets ha+e hanged o+er the ourse of

histor, ost$struturalists see- to understand ho/ those same onets are understood b

readers in the resent (retrie+ed from htts;