Structuralism & Poststructuralism (1): Linguistic (De-)Constructions of Meanings and Subjectivities

1. Structuralism--Basic Concepts

2. Structuralist Reading of Narratives

3. Semiotics and "The Myth Today"

4. From Structuralism to Poststructuralism: Binary Opposition & Deconstruction

Structuralism: Introduction

1. How does language produce meanings?

2. Structuralist Approach (1): basic pattern and binary opposition

How is structure different from form? How is New Criticism different from Structuralism?

Outline

1. How does language produce meanings? A. Language in Daily Language: Example 1 B. Different views of language: Example 2:

sign = signifier and signified referent; -- Structuralist view

2. Structuralist Approach (I):Binary Opposition and Basic Pattern

Example: 1, 2, 3, 43. From New Criticism to Structuralism

A. Language in Daily Language

罵髒話； the uncertainties of meanings.

The meanings of language are not inherent ( 內在的 ) ． They depend on the context.

Structuralism: Language is a system of relation and difference.

「政府官員」的意義決定於它和「平民百姓」的不同；和「相聲演員」相近 ．

白馬非馬 White Horse is Not Horse. Why?

白馬非馬︰Possible interpretations 「馬者，所以命形也；白者，所以命色也。

命色者非名形也。故曰： “白馬非馬”。」

公孫龍子 - 白馬論第二1. 「白」是顏色 「馬」是形狀，2. 馬是大範疇 白馬（馬中的一小範疇﹚3. Structuralism: 白馬 is a sign; it refers to our co

ncept of “white horse,” but not the actual horse.

De Saussure sign = signifier and signified

The inclusion of the concept within the triad of signification suggests that there is no natural or immediate relation between the words 白馬 (as a sign)

and the ‘thing’ 馬 (actual white horse).

Signifier +

意符Signified 意旨

Referent

指涉 [ 白馬 ] concept of

白馬the actual 馬 we refer to (?)

Different Views of Language

A. In Chinese Philosophy 言者，所以在意，得意而忘言。〈莊子．外物〉得兔忘蹄、得魚忘筌、得意忘言

王弼說：「言者象之蹄也，象者意之筌。……言者所以明象，得象而忘言。象者所以存意，得意而忘象。」 （ reference﹚

語言（言、象 :象卦﹐ symbols?﹚用為做工具

意： the meanings referred to or 道．

Different Views of Language

B. Structuralism: Meanings happen in language.

A rose is a rose, because it is different from . . .

grass

[ros]

[doz]rose

(p. of rise)

Carnation

Different Views of Language B. Structuralism: Meanings happen in language. A rose is a rose, because -- its phoneme [o] is different from [ai] in [rise]; -- its morpheme [rose] is different that with an extra morphe

me [roses]; Its meaning is determined by the syntax or context it exist

s in ; e.g. “Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose . . . ““Plant thou no roses at my head,

Nor shady cypress tree:Be the green grass above meWith showers and dewdrops wet;”

“The pillow rose and floated under her, pleasant as a hammock in a light wind. ”

sign = signifier and signified

"The linguistic sign is arbitrary. It is unmotivated, i.e. arbitrary in that it actually has no natural connection with the signified."  

-- e.g. The signs “dog,” “chien,” “ 狗” arbitrarily refer to the concept of the animal dog.

-- Can be replaced by other signs;

-- Can create ambiguities.

-- What about Onomatopoeia, 象形文字 ? Are there natural resemblances between the signs and what they refer to? （ e.g. Cock-a-doodle-do, cocorico & 喔喔啼 ; ruff & 汪汪 )

structural linguistics: Ferdinand de S

aussure (textbook chap 3 pp. 89-95)

1857-1913, Swiss linguist; one of the founders of modern linguistics.

Major ideas: 1. The synchronic vs. the diachronic; lang

ue vs. parole 2. Language is a system of difference. M

eaning occurs in binary opposition between two signs. (e.g. toy, boy)

3. sign = signifier and signified; the connection between them is arbitrary.

Language as a system of relation and difference

Relations: toy boy (sound), table (noun; grammatical unit),

girl (antonym), etc.

Difference: binary opposition

I saw a girl in red. (syntagmatic relations)

I am a girl. a boy,

a dog, (paradigmatic relations) an ironing board.

Different Views of Language

de Saussure: synchronic studies of language as a system of difference;

Roman Jakobson: meaning happens in communication from sender to receiver, determined also by the medium and code used.

Kristeva’s the semiotic: The language as rhythms and drives supporting and disrupting the logical/linear communication in language.

Atwood: Language as both social and self constructions. (e.g. love and her narration)

Structuralist Approach (1): Basic Objects of Study

Units:

Example – phonemes

words

Princess, prince and a stepmother

Rules: How to combine into words

Select and combine into a sentence.

combine into a fairy-tale. (Snow White and Cinderella are in structure the same story.) Patterns –of basic units;

--of selection and combination

Structuralism: From Units & Rules to Basic Structure of a Certain Langue

Langue or signifying system 表意系統 :

Examples:

-- Literary work,

-- narratives (e.g. myth)

-- tribal or community ritual (a wedding, a rain dance, a graduation ceremony)

-- "fashion“ (in clothes, food, cars, etc.)

-- any kind of advertisement

Structuralist Approach (1)

Structuralism: Examine the “basic elements” (or basic units), which form the basic pattern (or grammar) of each story.

Basic elements: 最小元素 + “universal” (or common) grammar a scientific approach to literature. e.g. binary opposition

Practice I: 樂 府 詩 箜篌引

「公無渡河，公竟渡河，墮河而死，當奈公何 ? 」

Binary opposition between 公 and 河； between the speaker ( 女人？ ) and 公。

1. 公試著克服河 公被河克服。2. 公： (男﹚人；河：自然3. Speaker : 試著阻止公；奈何公

（自覺無力，或景仰公 human attempts to conquer the impossible﹚。

Practice I:

Variation (1): 「公無渡河，公竟渡河，墮河而死，當奈公何 ?」據說，這是漢代一對夫妻的悲慘境遇：一名白首狂夫不理會妻子在岸邊呼喚，逕自直奔水中央而捨去性命，他太太吟了這首詩以後，也投河自盡。（ source: 枯萎年代 ﹚

Another basic unit: Mythemes (or themes):

-- Liebestod (love death). 梁祝 -- Conquering Nature: Prometheus 激流四勇

士

Practice I:

Variation (2): 向陽的四句聯 叫你別看

偏偏還看看了也好免掉煩惱

Variation (3): 公無渡河 ──詩誌八掌溪事件 《李友煌》 .

Practice II:

“The Jilting of Granny Weatherall”

New Criticism:

-- ironic tension built around the concept of ‘jilting’ and weatherall vs. aging.

-- ambiguities produced in Granny’s mind.

“Granny Weatherall”: A Structuralist Reading

binary opposition between being jilted and trying to love and to keep;

Differences: -- jilted by her lover her husband (who died) -- keeps a farm house and all the children but not H

apsy loses her youth and beauty,-- loses touch with reality (without her knowing it)

but keeps her self-consciousness; -- almost jilted by God keeps her dignity by faci

ng her death. (Her greatest loss is also a greatest gain.)

Practice III:

The Oval Portrait binary opposition betweenLiving background-- night, delirium of the spe

aker vs. clear narration of the past abandoned castle:, vs. decoration rich but tatt

ered and antique; Armorial trophies vs. paintings in frames of ri

ch golden arabesque Image alive and soft vs. thick frame and the tr

adition of vignetting

Practice 4

Cube Man Cube: Try to find out its pattern and what different signs refer to.

e.g. signs of “human” – bodily parts, human tools, human actions; setting.

Cube Men Cube by Cerrit van Didn

Beginning and ending: why different?

Cube Men Cube: ending

Cube Men Cube

Setting one: outdoor scene; one cube appears.

Cube Men Cube

Setting two:grass (then with zipper);

Cube Men Cube

Setting three: domestic scene;

Cloud

Cube Men Cube

Setting four: outdoor again, smoking and producing little cubes.

Cube Men Cube

Setting five: building facade

Cube Men Cube

Tools: zipper, camera, national flag,

Human attributes: eye, hand, photos,

Human Action: taking photos, singing, doubling, lifting one flap after another,

Cube Men Cube

Action: swimming in a clothes-like sea, smoking, birthing, fighting

Cube Men Cube

Human: buildings, money bill, Tools: hand (fist), foot, stone, gun, machine

gun, cannon

Cube Men Cube: Interpretation

1. Theme:• gradual loss of nature; (e.g. nature zipped, in snow ball)• A story of human growth, connections(e,g, human tools; do

ubling actions, extinguishing fire) and achievements, which turns to have more and more conflicts (cigarette, canon).

• Form: • Human beings presented as cubes so that

1. Humans and their lives are simplified and de-naturalized –just a group of signs forming some patterns;

2. Humans with layers; 3. Merging of humans and objects (e.g. tea box; camera eye; bird

becoming one layer of a cube) 4. Background music –light and beautiful, but can be militarist so

ngs, too.

From New Criticism to Structuralism: Search for “the common” or the universal

Form an entity with interrelated parts.

Structure: basic pattern

Pygmalion And Galatea, by Jean-Leon Gerome, after 1881

From New Criticism to Structuralism

New Criticism: set up studies of English Literature as a discipline.

In the 50’s, there are more attempts at making English studies scientific and objective. e.g. archetypal approaches; Northrop Frye

spring summer autumn winter

comedy romance tragedy satire

Russian Formalism 1920’s

From New Criticism to Structuralism

Compared with New Criticism, structuralist approaches to literature are

-- reductive; （化約式的﹚；-- more objective & scientific, does not rely o

n common sense. -- anti-Humanist -- Form to Structure, (later multiple language

structures and the racial relations they imply).

Readings for next week:

Structuralism: Historical development, sections on Saussure and Assumptions chap 3 (87-98; 100)

"Should Wizard Hit Mommy?"

Feel Free to read more.