Ferdinand De Saussure's Theory Of Structuralism In Literature

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Structuralist
It is an extension of “Formalism” that started in France. They focused on the literary form rather than social or historical content. Their study of literature was objective and scientific. It is simply the study of sign-system of structuralism. The Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure’ ideas supported structuralism. In 1915 he published a book entitled Course in General Linguistics. He was not interested in the meaning of the text, but on the way, it was delivered. He was concerned with the description of structures and general laws. Saussure believed that there is no relation between the signifier and the signified. “The signs are arbitrary and each unit of meaning lacks meaning if it stands by itself. These units gain meaning when they are related together, the words, the grammar, and other components.” ( Afrev, 2012, pp.7) All readers know that the text and the words reflect the writer’s feelings and thoughts and tell truths to them. However, structuralisms tried to persuade readers that the text tells no truth. Structuralism thinks as Roland Barthes says, ‘the writer is dead’ and the reader is sent away from the text because the readers’ …show more content…

The woman in the Victorian era was considered weak and inferior to men. In her essay, “Kristeva and Feminism”, Kelly Oliver states that: “The female body has been always related to the weak woman, the feminine and to the immoral and unclean behavior. That is why the theories of the body are crucial for feminists.” Kristeva explained the relation between mind and body, culture and nature, psyche and soma, matter and representation, by emphasizing the idea that the bodily drives are discharged in representation and this is associated with the maternal body. She is now famous for the distinction between what she calls the "semiotic" and the

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