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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