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Structuralism & SemioticsFerdinand de Saussure, Claude Levi-Strauss &

Roland Barthes

Outline Structuralism

Starting Questions Context: Emergence & Transformation Basic Concepts

Linguistics: F. de Saussure, Discussion Questions Narratology: Levi Strauss, Discussion Questions Examples for Practice Propp, etc. Example: “Bartleby the Scrivener”

Semiotics –analysis of signs

Starting Questions What is structuralism? And structural

linguistics, structural anthropology? Do you agree with the basic assumptions

of structuralism? Can we use structuralist narratology on

“Bartleby the Scrivener”? Can you give an example where language

“produces” reality?

Historical Context: linguistics, anthropology, cultural semiotics 1) Ferdinand de Saussure, a Swiss linguist

(1857~1913) 2) “…the French Jewish anthropologist Claude

Levi-Strauss fled the Nazi occupation of France in World War II, he escaped to New York City” and met Roman Jakobson (a Russian formalist).

3) Levi-Strauss – structuralist anthropologist 4) Roland Barthes -- (How to 41)

Historical Context: From Structuralism to Post-Structuralism1) (How to 45)

Roland Barthes Michel Foucault (deconstruction) Derrida

2) Basic Differences between

Structuralism PoststructuralismStructure singular, universal and/or stable

Multiplicity (chain of differences)

Language as a model Discourse

Ferdinand de Saussure: Basic Concepts Language as a ‘system of signs’ rather than a

naming process. A sign is composed of ‘sound-image’ and ‘concept,’ or signifier and signified.

The relationship between signifier and signified is arbitrary. Language as a system of difference: “in language there are only differences without positive terms.’ meaning?

Synchronic approach: with an analogy to chess game.

Signification and value (How to pp. 41)

System of Language Saussure: “Language is a system of inter-

dependent terms in which the value of each term results solely from the simultaneous presence of others” (COURSE IN

GENERAL LINGUISTICS 114)

Two dimensions of language— a sign is always in paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations with other signs.

Arbitrariness & Linearity 1. Sign, signified and signifier (COURSE IN

GENERAL LINGUISTICS 114) Principle I: arbitrariness; e.g. onomatopeia;

interjections Principle II: linear nature of the signifier; two

axis—axis of simultaneities; axis of succession

Chess game as an example of synchrony. “dog,” “chien” Onomatopoeia (擬聲字) & hieroglyphics

e.g. Cock-a-doodle-do, cocorico & 喔喔啼; ruff & 汪汪

Language as a System of Difference

A rose is a rose, because it is different from . . ., and it appears in a sentence: “my love is like a red, red rose.”

grass

[ros]

[doz]rose

(p. of rise)

Carnation

Subject＋Verb＋Object+ Predicate

I saw a girl in red. (syntagmatic relations)

am a boya table

Language as a System of Difference

Relation: toy boy (sound), table (noun; inanimate),

Difference: Binaries girl (antinonyms)

paradigmatic

relations

Relations & DifferenSign, Sound-Image, Concept, Value & Referent

1. Language as Organized Thought Coupled with Sound (or Concept with Sound-Image)

2. A sign’s position in a language =value 3. Linguistic value from a conceptual viewpoint

* system of relations: exchange and comparison * the difference between signification (producing meanings)

and value (a sign’s relation with other signs) * different languages // different conceptual frameworks

3. Linguistic value from a material viewpoint Arbitrary and differential are two correlative

qualities. Letters –completely negative and differential.

COURSE IN GENERAL LINGUISTICS

Binaries

Sign Value

Signifier Signified

Paradigmatic SytagmaticSynchronic DiachronicMetaphor Metonymy

Be waryawe

fear scared

dreadFrighten-ed

How to p. 72; distinction of synecdoche & metonymy

De Saussure: Q & A What do you think about Saussure’s

emphasis on signifier as sound-image? Is meaning construction in language

completely arbitrary? How do we look at the phrase “a white

horse is not a horse”白馬非馬; from Saussurean perspective? (is = “is not identical with”; “is not part of”)

A White Horse is not a Horse白馬非馬

「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. [Original] White: color ≠ Horse: Shape，2. “Horse”: large category ≠ White horse: small

category3. [Structuralist] White horse: a sign that refers

to a concept of white horse, but not the real horse (referent).

De Saussure sign = signifier and signified

Signifier + Signified Referent

[white horse]

Concept of white horse

Horse in real life

Structuralist NarratologyLevi-Strauss & Narrative

Focalization

Claude Levi-Strauss: Structuralist Anthropology Language as ‘at once the prototype of

the cultural phenomenon and the phenomenon whereby all the forms of social life are established and perpetuated”(Structural Anthropology 358-9).

Each system, that is, kinship, food, political ideology, marriage ritual, cooking, etc. constitutes a partial expression of the total culture, conceived ultimately as a single gigantic language.(Hawkes 34)

Claude Levi-Strauss: Structuralist Anthropology (2)Kinship – incest taboo the importance of

avuncular figures (uncles) and exchange of women;

Savage Mind – bricoleur1. The way the so-called ‘primitive’ man

responds to the world around him. 2. ‘science of the concrete’: arranging the

‘minutiae’(small and often unimportant details) of the physical world in their profusion by means of a ‘logic’ foreign to us.

Claude Levi-Strauss (3): Myth

His approach: not to find how men think in myths, but ‘how myths think in men, unbeknown to them’ (qtd. Hawkes 41)

To find the ‘unconscious’ structure of myth – basic elements as well as their combination—which underpin and formulate our total view of the world.

Basic elements: mythemes ‘gross constituent units’ formed into a bundle of relations (bundle – a set of items sharing the same functional trait).

“The Structural Study of Myth” Intro:

1. previous studies of myth 2. Basic question: why are myths all over the world so

similar?3. Theoretic framework: langue and parole 4. Summary of his main points and working hypothesis on

myth and mythemes 5. Examples of bundles of relations – orchestra; deck of

cards Example 1: Oedipus autochthony Example 2: the trickster of American mythology 1) trickster as mediator; 2) related to Freud

Claude Levi-Strauss (3): Myth & Orchestra Myth always works simultaneously on two

axes. . .like an orchestral score “an orchestra score, to be meaningful,

must be read diachronically along one axis—that is, page after page, and from left to right—and synchronically, along the other axis, all the notes written vertically making up one gross constitute unit, that is, one bundle of relations.”

Myth & Orchestra Levi-Strauss Myth as Orchestra --with “melody” and “chords,” rhythm and their

variations”; relations on two axes The “chords” in myths are repeated with variation 神話的和聲結構：二元對立 dualism. （Ref. 李亦園 pp.

2-3 《神話與意義》﹚

Myth & Orchestra: e.g. Oedipus Four columns –bundles;

1. overrating the blood relations; 2. underrating of blood relations; 3. monsters being slain—denial of the autochthonous

origin of mankind; 4. difficulties in walking straight – autochthonous

(indigenous) origin of mankind “Oedipus myth provides a kind of logical tool which relates

the original problem –born from one or born from two? –to the derivative problem: born from different or born from the same? By a correlation of this type, the overrating of blood relations is to the underrating of blood relations as the attempt to escape autochthony (土著, 本地人) is to the impossibility to succeed in it” (Structural Study of Myth )

Levi-Strauss: Questions Do you agree with Levi-Strauss’ way of

interpreting the Oedipus myth? Do we have other legends and myths to

support his argument for a common structure for myths all over the world? Or mythemes as the basic units?

Do we always think in binary terms? What can be the problems in binarism?

Examples for Practice & Discussion The study of grammar used in sit com or sci-fi

films, detective fiction e.g. Lucy e.g. hero in Star Trek Watson figure or the revelation of murder method vs.

murderer Hermeneutic Circle “The Author is dead.” (Language writes us; we do

not create meaning with language.) Role of exception – helps reveal the rule Binaries connected with social and cultural codes

(How to p. 57)

Structuralist narratology: Vladimir Propp

Modeled after a Stence: Subject + predicate = Actant (Actor) +

function 7 actors, or "spheres of action" (villain,

hero, false hero, donor[provider], helper, dispatcher, princess [and her father]) and 31 functions.

* An actant is not a character, but a role a character takes.

Story & Discourse Story DiscourseStory PlotStory Narrativefabula SjuzetFunctions:

contractive (breaking/setting contract, alienation, reintegration ), disjunctive (departure, arrival), and performative (trial, task).

FocalizationFree Indirect Discourse Narrative Embedding Narrative Reliability (How to p. 62)

Narrative ElementsKinds

Narrator 1st, 2nd, 3rd person Omniscient, reliable, unreliable, internal, external, multiple

Narratee Invoked, Implied readerInternal, external

Narrative Function Verification, knowledge transmission, author surrogate, authority establishment, etc.

PerspectiveFocalization & Scope

Omniscient narrator: zero focalizationInternal focalization (narrator as character)、external (narrator as bystander)、fixed, multiple, changing

Plot Mise en abyme Double plot, multiple plot

Narrative Functions 31 functions, 7 actants3 pairs of actants, 3 syntagm

Representation &Roland Barthes’ Semiotics

Structuralism (3)

Outline 1. Representation

Theories of Representation De Saussure Re-Considered: Contribution &

Limitations 2. Semiotics:

Major principles in semiotic readings Sign systems: fashion as an example Semiotic reading (1): denotation and connation Semiotic reading (2): first and second-order

signification. (literal language and meta-language) Myth today defined

3. Examples: Images of Nature in some Landscape Paintings and Ads

What is Representation? Not Re-Presentation “Representation means using language to

say something meaningful about, or to represent, the world meaningfully, to people.” (15)

1. Using language (system of representation); 2. To produce meanings (another system of

representation) about (make connections among) things, and

3. To communicate them to some people.

What are the two systems of representation we use in representation (meaning production)?

1. Signs signifier (e.g. ‘love’ ‘I’)2. Conceptual System (pp. 17-18; e.g.

love ‘romantic love,’ ‘puppy love,’ ’maternal love,’ etc.)

frequently inseparable from the signified of our languages

Codes (pp. 21-22)

Different Perspectives = Different Conceptual Systems

1. Conceptual System = the Context of a sign, which determines its meaning

2. Sign system– image or English letters

Theories of Representation Reflective approach –

Some truth and functions to it (in communication, in knowledge acquisition)

Representation as “Re-Presentation” Intentional approach – Can we decide the

meanings of what we say? (p. 25) Representation as Self-Expression

Constructivist approach – Things don’t mean; we construct meanings about

them by using different systems of representation. Representation as Construction: We don’t speak

language; language speaks us. (Activity 4)

De Saussure: Contribution & Limitations (pp. 32 – 35) Contributions to the Constructionist Theory of

Representation Arbitrary relations between signifier and signified Meanings in language can never be fixed; they are

open to changes by ‘context’ (historical, social or personal).

Langue vs. parole the social part of language; Limitations:

too exclusive focus on language; Language is not a closed system. semiotics –the

study of signs (languages in a broader sense)

Semiotics & Roland Barthes

Major principles 1. All the cultural products and activities

read as process or results of signification. No meaning is inherent or natural.

2. There are more than one (arbitrary) relations between signifiers and signified.

(iconic --resemblance, indexical --cause, symbolic -- arbitrary).

3. There are more than one level of meanings. denotation and connotation.

What kinds of signs are they?

Iconic

= airport

= Church= crossroad

Symbolic indexical

Sign System: Fashion as an Example Fashion codes (signs + concepts) Fabric: Silk= feminine, denim= masculine,

casual, cotton = comfortable, khaki= military, formal.

skirt (+ silk)= feminine; jeans (+ cotton T-Shirt) =casual or masculine

Sign System: Rules of Selection and Combination All social practices as sign-systems and thus

are open to cultural interpretation (or de-mystification). e.g. the meaning of a jacket defined by its

contexts. e.g. the “langue” of clothes (selection &

combination)System:a. blouse, shirt, T-shirt ;b. skirt, trousers

sentence:1. blouse + skirt + high heeled shoes X snickers2. blouse + jeans + snickers X not for concert

Fashion and Myth: from denotation to connotation; description to prescription “. . . Mist gold, pure gold, and black

gold are all flashing in full glamour since most collections are heavily weighted toward evening clothes with an ostentatious dressing chic. If gold is too much for you, don’t worry, for here comes the backup that makes you in style as well, the color of camel! As usual, camel has always been playing its role of warming up the winter, which has been so elegantly carried out by the blazing gold as it is this year. “ (Sophie Ko)

Fashion: from language to myth

“Leather, of course, is something that can’t be left out in each winter.”

“Fur, for sure, is a must, especially for collars, ”“As for trousers, they really do need to be slim-

fitting and skinny-legged to be chic this season! ”

myth: 紫醉金迷, aesthetics of fin-de-siècle (Sophie Ko)

Semiotic reading (1): Denotation and Connotation

e.g. Panzani pasta

Semiotic reading (1): Denotation and Connotation

e.g. Panzani pasta1. Denotation: “the real objects in the

scene”The signifiers: “these same objects

photographed.” 2. Connotation: “half-opened bag”

spilling out onto the table freshness, the domestic Italianness (red green white) ‘a total culinary service” Arrangement like “still life” painting

a signifier + signified =

Semiotic reading (2): Different levels of signification: primary signification & secondary signification

primary signification:

Secondary signification

sign (full)--denotation

Sign (empty)/ Form

+ content = sign --connotation

Signifier + signified =([home])

Semiotic reading (2): Different levels of signification: primary signification & secondary signification

primary signification:

Secondary signification

sign (full)--denotation

Sign (empty)/ Form

+ content = sign --connotation: Homepage, country cottage, etc.

Barthes’ examples:

rose, black pebble.

Paris Match photo of black soldier saluting the flag

Source: https://courses.nus.edu.sg/

course/elljwp/parismatch.htm

Signifier + signified =Young negro, in uniform, saluting,With eyes uplifted, fixed on the tricolor

Myth

primary signification:

Secondary signification

sign (full)—denotation([Black solider saluting

a French flag]) Patriotism/submission

Sign (empty)/ Form

+ content = sign --connotation: France as a Great empire, loved by all her “sons.”

colonialism militariness

“Myth”: distortion, naturalizing

The form(on the secondary level) does not suppress the original meaning, it only impoverishes it, it puts it at a distance... ♦ myth hides nothing: its function is to distort,

not to make disappear ♦ Target: Myth has an imperative, buttonholing

character: ...it is I whom it has come to seek. ...

♦ For this interpellant speech is at the same time a frozen speech: at the moment of reaching me, it suspends itself, turns away and assumes the look of a generality; it stiffens, it makes itself looks natural and innocent

Signs are for us to encode, decode and then encode.

http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/S4B/sem08c.html