Download Structuralism Theory

Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones
Released May 16, 2002
Directed by George Lucas
Produced by Rick McCallum Written by George Lucas & Jonathan Hales
Empire of
Dreams: The
Story of the Star
Wars Trilogy
A thought on Lucas’s prequel
failures, and Jar Jar Binks via Dr.
David Lavery MTSU.
Structuralism Theory
Structuralists assert that, since language exists in patterns, certain underlying
elements are common to all human experiences. Structuralists believe we can
observe these experiences through patterns: "...if you examine the physical
structures of all buildings built in urban America in 1850 to discover the
underlying principles that govern their composition, for example, principles of
mechanical construction or of artistic form..." you are using a structuralist lens
(Tyson 197).
Variations
Structuralism is used in literary theory, for
example, "...if you examine the structure of
a large number of short stories to discover
the underlying principles that govern their
composition...principles of narrative
progression...or of characterization...you
are also engaged in structuralist activity if
you describe the structure of a single
literary work to discover how its
composition demonstrates the underlying
principles of a given structural system"
(Tyson 197-198).
Northrop Frye, however, takes a different
approach to structuralism by exploring
ways in which genres of Western literature
fall into his four mythoi:
1. theory of modes, or historical criticism
(tragic, comic, and thematic);
2. theory of symbols, or ethical criticism
(literal/descriptive, formal, mythical,
and anagogic);
3. theory of myths, or archetypal criticism
(comedy, romance, tragedy,
irony/satire);
4. theory of genres, or rhetorical criticism
(epos, prose, drama, lyric) (Tyson 240).
Structuralism Framework
Two important theorists form the framework (hah) of structuralism: Charles Sanders
Peirce and Ferdinand de Saussure. Peirce gave structuralism three important ideas for
analyzing the sign systems that permeate and define our experiences:
1. "iconic signs, in which the signifier resembles the thing signified (such as the stick
figures on washroom doors that signify 'Men' or 'Women';
2. indexes, in which the signifier is a reliable indicator of the presence of the signified
(like fire and smoke);
3. true symbols, in which the signifier's relation to the thing signified is completely
arbitrary and conventional [just as the sound /kat/ or the written word cat are
conventional signs for the familiar feline]" (Richter 810).
Structuralism Cheat Sheet
•Motto: “We don’t see words, but signs.” sign = Signifier
Signified
•Critical Moves: Close words, binary opposites, look at how signs are defined by other
signs within the text
•Outside Information: Definitions and etymology of words, allusions, conventions of
the genre (cannot use cultural context or author’s bio)
•Drawbacks: No authorial input. “The author is dead.”
•Trans-historical Approach
Structuralism in SF Literature
Stanislaw Lem: Todorov's Fantastic Theory of Literature
“Structuralism was to be a remedy for the immaturity of the humanities as manifested
in their lack of sovereign criteria for deciding the truth or falsehood of theoretical
generalizations. ” Lem
“Todorov distinguishes three aspects of the literary work: the verbal, the syntactic and
the semantic, making no secret of the fact that these were formerly known as style,
composition and theme. But their invariants have traditionally and mistakenly been
sought "on the surface" of texts; Todorov declares that he will look for structures on a
deep level, as abstract relations.” Lem
Structural Fabulation: An Essay on
Fiction of the Future
Science fiction seen as “fiction of the future.“
Defines fabulation as "fiction that offers us a world clearly and radically discontinuous
from the one we know, yet returns to confront that known world in some cognitive
way.“
Structural fabulation is "simply a new mutation in the tradition of speculative fiction"
which is "modified by an awareness of the nature of the universe as a system of
systems, a structure of structures," and in which "the insights of the past century of
science are accepted as fictional points of departure.“
Robert Scholes
Arthur C. Clarke 1917-2008
Ray Bradbury 1920-2012
• A Conversation with Ray Bradbury
• Fahrenheit 451: Book Summary and
Analysis by Thug Notes
Ursula K. Le Guin 1929 -
A Princess of Mars (1917)
Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950)
Deleted Opening Scene featuring the Princess of
Helium
Extended 10 minute clip
Images and video courtesy
of Disney Studios
Bibliography
"Barsoom." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 July 2014. Web. 25 July 2014.
Brizee, Allen, and J. Case Tompkins. "Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism."Purdue
OWL. Purdue University, n.d. Web. 25 July 2014.
Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy. Dir. Edith Becker and Kevin
Burns. Prometheus Entertainment/20th Century Fox, 2004.
"John Carter." Disney Movies. Disney, n.d. Web. 28 July 2014.