Literary CriticismStructuralism

What does this mean?

Or this?

History 1960s, Swiss linguist Ferdinand de

Saussure influenced this theory through examination of language as a system of signs, called semiology

So what’s semiology? A sign consists of two parts

Signifier Signified

What’s semiology? People know when they see

It means they must stop.

Semiology

I stop my car.

Semiology If we think of this linguistically…

Implications Symbols or signs are the vehicles through

which we conceptualize things So what does this say about the

relationship between language and thought?

Can you have thought without language?

Implications 'The French word mouton may have the same

meaning as the English word sheep; but it does not have the same value. There are various reasons for this, but in particular the fact that the English word for the meat of this animal, as prepared and served for a meal, is not sheep but mutton. The difference in value between sheep and mouton hinges on the fact that in English there is also another word mutton for the meat, whereas mouton in French covers both'

Different kinds of signs Symbol/symbolic: the signifier does

not resemble the signified. It is arbitrary - so that the relationship must be learnt: e.g. language in general (alphabetical letters, punctuation marks, words, phrases and sentences), numbers, morse code, traffic lights, national flags

Different kinds of signs Icon/iconic: the signifier is perceived

as resembling or imitating the signified (recognizably looking, sounding, feeling, tasting or smelling like it) e.g. a portrait, a cartoon, a scale-model, onomatopoeia, metaphors

Different kinds of signs Index/indexical: the signifier is not

arbitrary but is directly connected in some way (physically or causally) to the signified - this link can be observed or inferred

Structuralism Structuralists believe that if readers don’t

understand the signs, they may misread a text.

Strengths This theory does focus on the author’s

intent, and does focus on an objective interpretation without clouding the text with a subjective or emotional interpretation

Weaknesses Difficult to know who controls the meaning

of a text. Reader looks only at linguistic structure and

is not permitted to have an emotional attachment to the text.

Not open to different interpretations

PracticeSignifier Signified

A black cat

24 Sussex Drive, Ottawa

Stanley Cup

April 1st

Colour green in traffic light

Nod of head

Questions What are three key signifiers in this text that if you

didn’t know what they signified, you wouldn’t understand the text.

For each signifier, write down what it signifies If you didn’t know what a signifier signified, where

would you go for information? What historical information or information about

the author did you need to know to understand the meaning of the signifiers?