6. Structuralism in a nutshell:Things cannot be understood in isolation – they must be seen in the context of the larger structures that they are part of.
16. Words exist in ‘differencing networks’ and this is most apparent in ‘dyads’
17. Language CONSTITUTES our world rather than just labels and records itMeaning is ATTRIBUTED and is not already contained in the thing Terrorist or freedom fighter?
18. The natural cycles of the world are continuous – the division into 4 ‘seasons’ is constructed but as a consequence we see the world in these terms
19. The spectrum of colours is seamless and yet we contrive to suggest that there are 7 basic colours
20. Can you think of other examples of how language ‘constitutes’ reality rather than faithfully identifies something that is already in the world?
21. So, we come to see that language is:ArbitraryRelationalConstitutive
22. Structuralism broadens its scope to include other sign systems as well as literary texts – any of which can be ‘read’
23. Roland Barthes, in his 1957 text ‘Mythologies’ applied Structuralist analysis to combative arts in popular entertainment
24. The two forms of entertainment present very different codes and sets of meanings – consequently they are rarely mixed!
25. By placing each in a wider context, layers of significance are revealed that might not of otherwise been noticed – this is the basic principle of a Structuralist approach
26. Narratology is a branch of Structuralism that studies the nature of ‘story’ rather than individual tales in isolation
27. A distinction is made between:Story – the events as they happenedPlot – the edited, ordered, packaged and presented narrative
39. 6- Speech and Thought Representation Direct & tagged Direct & selectively tagged Indirect tagged Indirect free
40. “Why,” John asked her. “I am in love,” she replied. “Why,” John asked. “I am in love.” John asked her to explain herself and she told him that she was in love. Why had she behaved like that? Perhaps she was in love.