Post-Structuralism and Language
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Questions and Answers

Who are the two figures most closely associated with the emergence of post-structuralism?

  • Jean-Paul Sartre and Martin Heidegger
  • Roland Barthes and Jacques Derrida (correct)
  • Jacques Derrida and Simone de Beauvoir
  • Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault

    • What is the core idea of structuralism?

  • Language reflects the world
  • Reality is textual
  • Language shapes the world (correct)
  • The author is dead

    • What is the consequence of the post-structuralist view on language?

  • We enter a universe of radical uncertainty (correct)
  • We can achieve certain knowledge through language
  • Meanings are fixed and stable
  • The author has control over the text

    • What is the characteristic of the post-structuralist way of speaking about language?

    <p>Fluid and slippery</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the significance of Roland Barthes' 1968 essay 'The Death of the Author'?

    <p>It marks a shift from structuralism to post-structuralism</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is Jacques Derrida known for?

    <p>Deconstruction</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the outcome of the post-structuralist view on language?

    <p>The verbal sign floats free of the concept it designates</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the implication of the 'death of the author'?

    <p>The text is open to endless interpretation</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do post-structuralist critics do to expose the underlying meanings of a text?

    <p>They read the text against itself to expose its 'textual subconscious'.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Foucault's concept of the Panopticon is related to which of the following?

    <p>Social media's influence on our self-identity.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    According to Foucault, what is the primary function of liberal societies?

    <p>To promote social conformity through internalized surveillance.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary goal of post-structuralist critics, according to the text?

    <p>To expose the underlying power dynamics of a text.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is an example of how society influences our self-identity?

    <p>The expectation that women will prioritize their families over their careers.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary focus of post-structuralist critics when analyzing a text?

    <p>The linguistic and structural features of the text.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the concept of the 'textual subconscious' according to Foucault?

    <p>The hidden meanings of a text that are not explicitly stated.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary goal of feminist critics, according to the text?

    <p>To uncover the underlying power dynamics of a text.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the title of René Magritte's 1929 painting?

    <p>La Tragion des Images</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Who is the author of the book 'Anatomy of Criticism'?

    <p>Northrop Frye</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the concept developed by Claude Levi Strauss to understand myths?

    <p>Binary Opposites</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the characteristic of mythological thought according to Levi Strauss?

    <p>Works with whatever is available</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the title of Roland Barthes' 1968 essay?

    <p>The Death of the Author</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the aim of structuralist criticism, according to Jonathan Culler?

    <p>To construct a poetics which stands to literature as linguistics stands to language</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What emerged in France during the 1960s as a movement critiquing structuralism?

    <p>Post-structuralism</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the concept developed by Roland Barthes to understand literature?

    <p>Second Order Signifying System</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Study Notes

    Structuralism and Post-Structuralism

    • Structuralism embodies the notion that language shapes our perception of the world, and how we see is what we see.
    • Post-structuralism builds upon structuralism, emphasizing that language is constantly floating free of the concept it is supposed to designate, leading to radical uncertainty and terminal anxieties about achieving knowledge through language.

    Roland Barthes

    • Barthes' works shifted from structuralism to post-structuralism in the 1960s.
    • His 1968 essay "The Death of the Author" marks the turning point from structuralism to post-structuralism.
    • Barthes announced the "death of the author," asserting the independence of the text and licensing the endless free play of meanings.

    Jacques Derrida

    • Derrida, a French philosopher, developed a form of semiotic analysis known as deconstruction.
    • He questioned accepted notions of representation in art, as seen in his book "This is Not a Pipe."

    Influence of Myth Criticism

    • Influenced by Northrop Frye's myth criticism, which posits that literature emerges from a core of myth and is a system based on a recurrent pattern.
    • Literary history is seen as a repetitive and self-contained cycle.
    • Claude Levi Strauss's structuralist anthropological concepts are also influential, with people thinking in terms of binary opposites and myths from different cultures being similar.

    Metaphor of Bricoleur and Engineer

    • Bricoleur: works with whatever is available, characteristic of mythological thought.
    • Engineer: considers the wholeness of the project and works with new tools and materials, characteristic of the Western scientific mind.

    Roland Barthes' Works

    • Famous structuralist works include "Elements of Semiology" (1964), "Introduction to Structural Analysis of Narrative" (1966), and "Death of the Author" (1968).

    Post-Structuralism

    • Emerged in France in the 1960s as a movement critiquing structuralism.
    • Focuses on the subjective self, panopticism, and liberation from predefined conceptual maps.
    • Famous post-structuralist critics include Paul de Man, Geoffrey Hartman, Hillis Miller, Harold Bloom, Gayatri Spivak, Jonathan Culler, and Barbara Johnson.

    What Post-Structuralist Critics Do

    • Read the text against itself to expose the "textual subconscious."
    • Fix upon surface features of words, such as similarities in sound and root meanings, to foreground their importance.
    • Seek to show that the text is characterized by disunity rather than unity.
    • Analyze a single passage intensively to reveal "multiplicities of meaning."
    • Look for shifts and breaks in the text to uncover what is repressed or glossed over.

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    Description

    This quiz explores the relationship between language and reality, as seen through the lenses of structuralism and post-structuralism. Learn how Roland Barthes and Jacques Derrida's ideas shape our understanding of the world.

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