Structuralism

Structuralists have tried to persuade us that the author is 'dead' and, that literarydiscourse has no truth function. Roland Barthes argued that writers only have the power tLmix already existing writings, to reassemble them; writers cannot use writing to expressthemselves, but only to draw upon that immense dictionary of language and culture which is'always already written'(Barthes). Barthes referred to a universal;gra-mmar'of narrative andto the identification of the general rules regulating narrative discourse at large.

In Degree Zero (1953), having Sartre as influence, Roland Barthes states that writingis never innocent: that whether consciously or unconsciously, writing is an ideological actlLiterature is a sign system: language, speech, speaking is similar to language, style, writing.Language is a 'natural order' of meanings unified by tradition; style is the mark ofindividuality and writing is the language endowed with a 'social finaiity', the product ofhuman intention. According to Barthes it is. part of a writer's moral responsibility to be awarethat even realist writing is far from being neutral and that perfect slylistic innocence - a'degree zero' of writing is an unreachable ideal. In 1957, Barthes wrote Mythologies in whichhe presents literature as a highly ideological sign system to include all those bourgeois 'mythsof French daily life': wrestling, soap-powder and detergents, toys, steak and chips, etc.

Structuralism has as background Saussure's linguistic theory according to which thereis a fundamental distinction between langue (the language system) and. paroli (the individualutterance). Langue is the social aspect of language, it is inherited; parole is the individualrealisation of the system in actual instances of language. For Saussure words are not syrnbolswhich correspond to referents, but rather are'signs'which are made up of two parts: a r"nark,either written or spoken, called a 'signifier' and a concept (what is thought when the mark ismade), called a 'signified'. Sign : signifier/signified. The relation between signifier andsignified is arbitrary. Language is a sign-system. The science of such systems is called'semiotics' or'semiology'. Structuralism is often concerned with systems which do not involve'signs' as such but which can be treated in the same way as sign-systems. C.S.peirce made thedistinction between three types of sign. the 'iconic' (the sign resembles its referent); the'indexical'(the sign is associated with its referent - smoke as a sign of fire), the'symbolic'(thesign has anarbitrary relation to its referent).

Structuralists also discovered the phoneme, a meaningful sound, one that is recognisedor perceived by a language user. The 'essential phoneme' is only a mental abstraction; alloccurring sounds are variants of phonemes. Our use of language is a system, a pattern ofpaired opposites, binary oppositions. Structuralists try to uncover the 'grammar, 'syntax', or'phonemic' pattern of particular human systems of meaning whether they be those oi kinship,garments, narrative discourse, myths, or totems. The principle is applied by Barthgs iovirtually all social practices; he interprets them as sign-systems which operate on the model oflanguage.

Structuralists agree that hterature has a special relationship with language: it drawsattention to the very nature and specific properties of language. In this respect structuralistpoetics are closely related to Formalism. Syntax is the basic model of narrative rules. pi-opp(in Morphologl" of the Folk Tale 1928 presenting the structure of the Russian folk tale) stat;dthat the whole corpus of tales is constructed upon the same set of thirty-one functions. Afunction is the basic unit of the narrative 'language' and refers to the significant actions whichform a narrative. [The last group of functiirns is. 25. A diffrcult task is proposed to the hero.26-The task is resolved. 27 The hero is recognised 28. The false hero oruilluin is exposed.29. The false hero is given a new appearance. 30. The villain is punished. 31. The hero ismarried and ascends the throne.]

Claude Levi-Strauss, the structuralist anthropologist, calls the unit of myth'mythemes'.They are organised in binary oppositions. He is not interested in the narrative sequence, but inthe structural pattern which gives the myth its meaning.

A.J.Greimas aims to arrive at the universal 'grammar' of narrative by applying to it asemantic analysis of sentence structure. He proposes three pairs of binary oppositions whichinclude all six roles (actants) he requires: Subject/Object; Sender/Receiver; Uelper/Opponent.The pairs describe three basic patterns which perhaps recur in all narrative.1. Desire, search or aim (subject/object.2. Communication (sender/receiver).3. Auxiliary support or hindrance (helper/opponent).

Tzvetan Todorov states that the minimal unit of narrative is the 'proposition', whichcan be either an 'agent' (person) or a'predicate' (action). Todorov describes two higher lpvelsof organisation: the sequence and the text. A group of propositions forms a sequence. Thebasic sequence is made up of five propositions which describe a certain state which isdisturbed and then re-established in altered form. A succession of sequences forms a text. Thesequences may be organised in a variety of ways, by embedding (story within a story,digression, etc.), by linking ( a string of sequences), or by alternation (interlacing ofsequences), or by a mixture of these.Metaphor un metonymyRoman Jakobson made the distinction between horizontal andrelated to the distinction between langue and parole. Thus aeither vertically or horizontally:1. Each element is selected from a set of possible elements and could be substituted for

another in the set.2. The element s are combined rn a sequence, which constitutes a parole.Jacobson points out that the two disorders correspond to two figures of speech - metapho.r andmetonymy. 'Contiguity disorder' results in substitution in the vertical dimension as inmetaphor, while 'similarity disorder' results in the production of parts of sequences for thewholes as in metonymy. Metonymy involves the shift from one element in a sequence toanother, or one element in a context to another: cup of something (meaning its contents); afleet of a hundred sails (for ships)

What structurulist critics do1. They analyse prose narratives relating the text to some larger containing structure,

such as:a. the conventions of a particular literary genreb. a network of intertextual connectionsc. a projected model of an underlying universal narrative structured. a notion of narrative as a complex of recurrent patterns or motifs.

2. They interpret literature in terms of a range of underlying parallels with thestructures of language, as described by modern linguistics. fsee mopheme '-ed' *verb denoting the past tense; 'mytheme']

3. They apply the concept of systematic patterning and structuring to the whole"fieldof western culture and across cultures treatin.g as 'systems of signs' anything fromAncient Greek myths to brands of soap powder (Barthes).

vertical dimensions of languagegiven sentence may be viewed

Vladimir Propp's 31 Functions of a Fairytale.

1't Sphere: The introductory sequence

1 Member of family absents self from home/ hero is introduced2 Interdiction announced: (don't do X)3 Interdiction violated: (hero does X anyway)4 Villain tries to meet hero. (reconnaisance of hero)5 Villain receives information about hero6 Villain attempts to deceive hero with trickery:7 Hero is deceived: (complicity in becoming victim/ helps villain)

2"d Sphere: The Body of the story

* Villain causes harm, carries away avictim, the hero or the desired magrcal object, which- must be retrieved

8a Member of hero's family lacks or desires something (the magical object) - EITHER OFTHESE BECOMES O'THE LACK''

9 Hero discovers the lack10 Hero decides on counteraction

11 Hero leaves home

3"d Sphere: The Donor Sequence (magic agent is obtained)

12 Hero tested and/ or questioned: prepares for magical agent13 Hero responds to test of donor14 Hero gets magical agentlobject which will help with quest15 Location shifts to the place where "the lack" is to be found16 Hero and villain in direct combat17 Hero is branded

18 Villain defeated. I

| 9 Initial lack liquidated. the object of the quest is obtained by the hero (the tale often endshere, but can continue into the fourth sphere ofaction)

4th Sphere: The Ilero's return

20 Hero sets out for home2l Hero is pursuec22 Rescue of hero from pursuit: (tale sometimes ends here)

23 Unrecognized, hero arrives home or in other country24 False hero claims success of true hero25 Diffrcult task is set26 Task resolved by true hero27 True hero recognized28 False hero exposed29 Hero given new appearance/ transfiguration30 Villain is punished31 Hero marries and ascends throne

In Vladimir Propp's Morphology of the Russiun Folk Tale

. ChATACTCTS hAVC NARRATIVE FLINCTIONS as weII being REPRESENTATIONSOF PEOPLE

' Events in a narrative can be reduced to a TEMPLATE, and all narratives choose froma repertoire of 31 generalised events and present them in roughly the same order.(Note: not all of the 31 elements need to appear in any one story) Also, propp,stheories are very male-oriented. Are all stories about hero/ villain struggles

There are ONLY 8 broad character typei in the thousands of tales he analysed:

1. The villain (struggles against the hero)2 The donor (prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object)3. The (magical) helper (helps the hero in the quest)4- The princess (person the hero marries, often sought for during the narrativd)5. Her father6. The dispatcher (character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off)7 The hero or victim/ seeker hero, reacts to the donor, weds the princess

8. false hero/ anti-hero/ usurper - (takes credit for the hero's actions/ tries to marry theprincess)

Clauc$e L,eor'i*Srx"raffiss; '"'nx fus 5tn'txr:trera$ Stud}' $f MythFtli;ltlupi1aicdrct.:;itlll0]'|ii|sl3.ti]|i].s':i:i-r..gii:it2i]'](,l"i:aIlScm,:stet,2i,i]j:@

and Othci Silqc14ljrL illcasTo start lvith--r:,.r. tiii'; g,,.rr has notl-iii:g tc do v*ith rhe inaiiers oi3'our lavorite jeans.Ciau,ie l-el;-Strauss ir a Fre"rr:h aniirrlpoloi:ist. '1i6'3t urei.-knou,n lor nis development of

structrtrai anthropoloel'. in his i'lo+k firir illenict'i:'*rz,' 5ri,ticty,"e.; ofKinrhi;:. Levi-Strauss arguedthat kinshin l'elatioirs--nhich ,:-r'e l'ur:da.,rientei asieci5 i,t tir.i,r' clrltuie's rtrganization--represent aspecifii: kinci c: stiucliiri: )irri :night r.hlr:1,- oi lteneaiogical char.:s, vuitil their symbols for fatherand niothels. :listi'rs anr-i Lrroiirer3" JS ar1 rirr;rirp!c c'' kinship slr'sti)t.rlS rerrresented as structures.Levi-Str":r,uss i.c alsl ,ti"icl'"rr fur lii.r siiucllr:^e1 ana.lvscs of m;,1irol:g1. in books like The Raw andthe {.-ot;ktti ,r'1:i:"r lre e,rpiaiils !-iiir,1: t.i.qrl st."Lrr.:iut"::s r-.'f rlltirs provide basic structures ofundefsla'i,rili3 "riliii"lj-Lii ftlairt,i,r.

', i-ii:!:e i"f :ni:{,rlS -.l,,lrilr ,:1S .rii:,it)' ie,ii-i Of i;ppOSiteS, aS the title Ofhis booit irnplies. lriiai. is ''fr,li" i,.; aippc:-ie,i..ii ,r,,i.ti.ir i: '';ook-e;." a::d lhe "i:arr,," is associated withnature n'hile in,: "cuoked' js irssr-)ij:riei u'itr"r i,-,hriit. iirese opc,tsitions fbrm the basic structurefor all ideas arri.l conc-pts ,ii il criil.i-rrr:.

In "'trlte SirLtcj.ur"ai Stud', cl l'l'rih." I e',,r-:!,iraiisi; ir lnieresred in explaining lvhy myths fromdiffererrt cilltu;'es lir:n all r.;vrf rhi v,,rild ser;nr sr,- srn.lla"'. (iiver:hai rnl4hs couid containanything--thilt, :t'uti',. fr

i. 1i'.; r-r ,adr; aii i.,:iits i,iar- at"i; ::r;.ti i.c,y.eii:er iL{:oicri:.ig tl';erterir: ruies.,1. i'j:lc:l; ri!iii' ,-r'i'- i-:iailt;i::.',.,,il1: llici, i,ihir,:. 'ias*:d c,r trinarl,pairs or opposites,

i,r'll;1: i,.'r;1,, -il-: ti ,: lri: is ),'iii{: 31.: i,t,-jti-, j'i.fvt-14.f1 itiil .'i":i ilonr l::,'t1:i ig,, las:-iailrr:,irre: de:ccllidj ir'i bec;iLrser lhe basic units of myth are

not phonerr:i'-c iii.l';. :;rrt;ilk:,.r :"ii ,:f tpt,:.-i: t.::.r di, tillli;isl-.':s o,,:e Litteranre from another, like aletter). troti.'|3;';-;il5 (tlie :;n-i,ii.:iit r:trit of r-n:!alivelt'stztbie n:eai,.ing tl:at can't be sLrbdivided, like anon-cornpniin'-l ',i riC). li ri,i:i.t'trr1 n{ic i.tlte ,r',:a;ring ;xplessed irrr a mor}rirerne), or even signifiersand signi{iciis. i' :.i itll"rt:r 1,.,.,:: t'i::i i.evi-Silau::, r:a.ils ''lttr'lhenteS," Iiis process of analysis differsfrotn Sau..:,;;-t',1'li lrr:cartr: lrrr-r:r:'ii|ii \\'as'n'e|esla.i in sturiying the relations between signs (orSignifielS) ': ijle 3:.':.;e l,-irc ui'ij:i;:gi.l2gcl. '0"il0iiraS 1.*.,,i-S:rar;S:i COil{-JetliraiCS On SetS Of felatiOnS,ratheriilat ilr-l;, ,,it,;,1 rti:ri j:irlr".*{lr i.l,ir,rt hE',:::l;r.; "ir;.lr."dies rtf ':lations."

I"i;s e.:ii,i:i;. iiri'fi', is i:,, ,l lit;g,{:al s;c.:re. i:on!ilting,:f'llotii treble and bass clefs. You canread tirr:'i:r.tcif, :li:,:l:ii'l',,r:e1l'. :ji ti-,ri1;"i;1 p;,;1; i:,'' p.ig*. anrj ",;fit; can read it synchronically,lookirrg ai ii-rc fi'rlic::; in ii.r* tri::,ri;: clcl ai'i1 iilrjil''relatir:n to jhi;- basa cisf. J-ile ccnnection betweenthe trebie ai-,{i ir.s:r clei':tr.lr,:,,--lire ";iali.r-rr..nj'' i}i'{,\aii.i(ieii--i:: -rx.,hal L.er'i-St;:auss calls a "bundle ofrelaiion--

Basiralli'. r.evi-str.,'aL;s, ;ire"rir'rl is lnls l'ai.,*:i r-*vth. i;ledr;ce it tc its smallest componentpafis--its ";:'t.n,,it'lnre-q." ti,a.':,.t itivtll'-'ine is Lisi,a;i'o'ilire eveilt a:t irc,sition !n the story, the narrative,of the nivlir!. 'i iirtr: lar,' iir:rqe *i:,rtliernes Di.l'r, so tlll ii-,e-.' ctrii Lre read boih diachronically andsynchronici,,i:.. ijti, sl.{-;r'r,. {.rf llai'ia:!v';. cf {re i:it,ri exi:;1s on rl.ie diachronic (1eit-to-right) axis, innon-te""'ei':lii;li: :t:1q:: the i,in,i.ii:l'-*;f- Lile fi.ili1: itl:ttr' ,-]i!'il,J:r)/nci^rroiliC {up-and-dovln) axis, inreversir:,1e tir''-ri,.

trn hii c:.i.,i'r;:,lt oi i:r,-. 1:r, .:,,.:i li-1,": {-.i-,,,rlrr:t,,; t:trah --i.:, \1ra:," h; beStnS ac see, in the synchronicbundles oi .i ji.,!:rg,...tei.,:ii,: ;:ti.a:"1:; .ig ,.ir:,;]1q,r.1..u,hicj-; r.vr: tr-righi call "themeS." One Such themeiS the iij:l [r:-;i,,,,;]i-: f.i{!.tit .l .-,,tle ;i'} i'r'tl,ij;}i,-

'.tI)1"iii-it.. l-.:u,'i,:lr^t;lS-c ti.ei1 tal

',rti-i:: i{'r";i:l.i','i',tit) Oit (,rf A [;ifticliiAf rfr),'th. To prOve hiS pOint,he gOe,. ifir-tl .r '',.r-ir i l,r:;':-i1jr', ;,11:r1, 1,;;'1 1i: ;, ;";;,; i:,'.,,i1: tili'q :i:,;S tj:e Sal::e illethgds aS hiS analySiSof the {,l,e,iiu:;,t lr t1l:"r: itl h \i :-:::i!'rtt:r:q:i l-',-;.:i,j,-. l.n- ih \},'lli't:r :,,:lilar s'Lruci.rtre.

I-iC Cill:i:li,,i:li rr'3+,l-;i.' .,r,.'rli.i;l,il il';::":t',:j,) 1r'r1:1 ail,:,',':li:j bfingS Ofdef OUt Of ChaOS, aS itprclvitJe:. i] :t,rj!;r i t{.r .a{;{--[i tl rr-'; ,., i1],'it,tr'::r:i r,'at'iati{ttts lln 't. basi,: i:r.v1.h stiuct}-lre" and it "enablesuStoi1r..:rcti.,,;,,41",...'i''ir;i'.ir..]i.ii',ll,:..,1ilg.1,11'9.':i,i'.r..ilil.'i:a:rai.-ll.....l'--.trfimportani t.) i.i:f i-qti3!";r,:; l.ri:i.::t .riir 1ti '.-;, 1;:1: 11. r-it]. -a l.jtr' sl.tia:.,,' cl'triirlh iogical and "scientific" inall itS aSpef t!. afr. 1-',-,. r-'-; i:11-; f.i, 1',31r i,!l: lfi,'.,;:,!1,!,;";1i,r15;1ili-,-ti!-;.:fti,vr: l'hC1Of-i.

On i,rrrt:es. tii!'-i.rl0 i.:.',;-j,ii,'ii.lili i,iiic; :l ,iiil,:..tr-ifai r;;Lri!t' u r:f'el \la,tive American myth andCOmpareS l! io rili: :i1"..,ri'i).''i.:;,'-i*icl1,:. 1'rll; ir'i ,,:ili *atri io ,hit-;,.- OlOther rlythS" Cr StOrieS, WhiChwould 1,.rtrci iiri:i-r,i:lr'.'S r .ri ' i :,r.'i.it-lr,it lj ,rti'tLri!:ii:3..,

l_31, l-dir.;';1.j, j',;.i! ;1,!,,-r :,11r.-,i; f.rlC i)it ..:j:.i ,iii , lr'rl-:. ;trL,th 5irrratufes he'S jUSt affalyZed aSalgebfa,f .i.,':,-,ii;e,: i':irt;'i ,', r:-r:, i{'",iitii, 'l:l:,,. i:,:i r.hi,, nair'--:1'::, fOi iixpofiant tO the nfain idea.Levi-Sil';,,.Llrri )r- i'1 :i'i.t ,t', ,,t it:,::,; irrr:11- :i,:,:;tii,.,rr'li1iil.t t:ti;-:re c,f his i:retliod: if you can expressit in p,lrei. t:tt'll.lilt;r.1 ici;l ti'if:,," ii il,-tsi rrli: t;r..i-t:1.:ir:;l ;.ii;ivtrs:,i. anii obiective,

ilO prrl ,,1','i'-!li:{ill- ,i:;'.r'i.'.:'i'" :r; hi:' t:r';tr flir:ll il{)11'lrlleiir.q t-r:.l 9. 82 lb. i{e SayS that fepetitiOn"in mliLh aS :l: '-ri'ai iitr-'r':rti.;". :: :-J:..,.:,,-[:''. ;,-. t;i r:,:tl ;.itf. s-:r'ti::ii. i{] ,.f ii',e m}til. Because of this needfor repetititj-i t,te ilt.1h i: "i!::ir:l ' :ir.:a::rrr:: ri icli-c ;is ,rlillr' i:i lavel ailer'laver (see the diagram

trr,fi,- ti:iri ,, h,xh g:'(.).',!'s and remains Static, to

i -l; i.i.,i. ',,,', ', i ',i, :,';OVCftlii,rtir', ri.' ,.; ,,OppOS,t: iil i': .r:, .:,,:;1 ""'.

-

impOft;rnl. .i: ii-,:', tl, l-ei,'i.lrli',1 !,r:l:, ;i:t 1ji:Li t-'i,,i;i, i.icultur* oi;liiizlr i;,-i;..,t,,'1,:.ijr,:; .,-l;r, il;itr:t:, .'li -;( ;.1'LchaVe lt lli 1,.r, t,i:.1i..-, l.-,rr,1;r , tt,i.l ::::;,, 1ri: ,1"r;,anc! "sCtttlj::r: I

'iiii, lt.',..r',. ',1 :' ,..i1' i.-:'qj,r-ii-rt. q,1 :'j i;i.1."logic:ti' i..: t-',.. .,""',,.:''':,''iiji!t.'.:. .i':, r'..-,t .,,.:- t:..'.:::mlth. i.;; 1^11i!;'" iir; i tii: i. r: .ri:J-5 ;;r':., 1',,1r'.i::ii-,r,basic',:.t;lt;r.r ii'ii:.;tf i i'^;r:it i , ';'ti.itt ,r-r ijt ,,. .. ..

,4tI{l ,'i:i. .-ri.,l r1li1,i:. i',1;i;i,. : l,i"r '. tr; ,' ,;1'explait.li,;i:'l- fi' :',1. ",- :, ''. .,ii, :, ,',:iscientritc .t:::; ii-::'r' ii r{-; itt-l-i. " ;tl:-'ri, ,-t,i.ir:ri i-,,'ti',,.r,i:.get to tllf".i , ,r,, i i ir-fi,.l l.

!ct.i. (:\'i:ii l-rt16;gii tire1.' repeat key elements inrrrilv,i isc." n"leanin{ thr-- stoi',v it tells unfolds as

a:, ;i. :r io.d' Le ';l-Stiauss points out that thisi.i',, ,..,'iril.i: f :)e!n'i :.'.t'{iv/, is Ciscontinuous. This,ir)ij'i iJi'i.--i. ;hri!e:'. aitci of the langue-parole

i'i, ir rn,. t r rCle i, 1.,.i ' ...i:,j,1... i_.,- jtrgi;al ntodel capable ofrl::.thi l.-r1i:;;,t: r',i' ;tiilr*if ing in two precisely

jri.i:i ,-r;;ilr:ii" r-;i :iii;i:i!irneSS and altfUiSm. The.iri-i iriii ll:irS:j,;:it:'ff:]'-ii;tiOnS. beCa.USe eVefy,-1.'li! {r' {i:ifitti, 1.1r'ic thi:i tliese corrtradictionss i.\rrrr !l.ritii, 10 le exnlairrable through logic

,:ii Ii ';: ''i ,itiC' ri,:lrtn ,S.iirSt as rigrrrOus andri :i i:,1 i '.' .l'.t"t', ri'Jiitiief Or more evolved tl'ianr-,i, ;,.ir,:i ir,-.:;;,iiliili!i ih; ir/orld shafe the Same

i.i.i:,,,rr,"r,'i,', 'ri.i.(iing oui that his ownr:; lili; il I 'it,::rrr.,;i of myth analysiS isr ri;. : :i t i:,;r.rii!i iti{ll,ive: r'e ading, and we'll

.'\' r.rIrnglisi. r. ':on'n sii.:.20 lU iir''ri.'

i,r'i ii', ,'FoI cor: ] l.it:,;: -, ., .1Retu|n t,, i-r.i,:,;r

'il li''.1.r

'r"r0ir i:i, ..,:.,t,i:- .l. -l ll

r;r'. \'i.,l, r l..l:trt';s" A.ssociate Pl'ofessor of1:, I' j, r.. 1r. .r..t,,lint< this nagc t() )ouri,i r.1 ,;;i1r,r,.'ortc ,oirrces. see The E,nglish

. i-, iir,,r