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(1857 1913), and his posthumous text Course in General Linguistics, the
fundamental belief of Structuralist critics is that the study of literature is a
subset of the study of language in general, and that the critical act should
focus on the underlying systems that make meaning possible. This produces a
kind of analysis that is indifferent to the cultural or aesthetic value of a work of
literature, but seeks instead to relate the particular form of words in a text to
the structures that exist in the language system more generally, which enable
the production of meaning and of literary effects. Perhaps the most significant
achievements of Structuralist criticism were in narratology, or the systematic
study of narrative, where a linguistic model allowed for the development of
what is often referred to as a semiological study of stories and the way that
they work. The Structuralist approach to semiology, based on Saussure, tends
to emphasise the role of oppositions in the production of meaning, and views
the binary opposition (for example, night/day, man/woman) as the basic
structure that underlies the sense-making operations of language. Later
developments in the Structuralist tradition are often referred to under the
heading Deconstruction or the more general term Poststructuralism . These
later developments are best thought of as critiques of the idea that you can be
scientific about meaning. The idea that you can think of meaning in terms of
structures is largely rejected by Poststructuralists, who emphasise instead the
impossibility of a complete account of meaning. They tend to describe meaning
in terms of movement, or instability, and words such as Derrida s term
différance point to the failure of Structuralist attempts to nail down
significance with a scientific method. Poststructuralists also reject the highly
language-focused approaches of linguistics, and often aim to re-establish the
link between language and other forces, such as social power. To this end, the
Poststructuralist will characteristically view the binary opposition as a kind of
hierarchy, in which social relations and power relations are lurking. There are
clear ways in which the deconstruction of literary texts, and the Poststructuralist
critique of scientific values in criticism, lead directly towards the New Historicist
approaches of recent decades. Derrida s first book, Of Grammatology, is not an
easy read but Nicholas Royle has provided a recent and accessible account of
his work; Hawkes and Norris provide overviews of Structuralism and Semiotics,
and Deconstruction, respectively.
32 Studying English Literature
Further reading
Among the many introductions to literary theory, a perspicuous survey by
Richard Harland, a writer of science fiction and former lecturer, stands out.
Gregory Castle s Blackwell Guide to Literary Theory provides a timeline of
theoretical texts; overviews of more key movements than I have identified
above; brief biographies and bibliographies of key figures; and finally a section
with theoretical readings of canonical texts such as Ulysses and Midnight s
Children.
Terry Eagleton s Literary Theory: An Introduction has almost become a
canonical text in its own right; he includes a chapter on The Rise of English
that analyses the development of the discipline as discussed above. Peter Barry s
Beginning Theory is designed for English students; Jonathan Culler s Literary
Theory: A Very Short Introduction is a clear overview that can be read in a
couple of hours. Each of these guides identifies some key texts from the
different critical schools for you to pursue particular interests.
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical.html is a helpful website
with an overview of each critical school and some applications to literary texts.
Like practical criticism, these theoretical outlooks have developed within
English departments, transforming them along the way. At university, the
novels, plays or poems on courses may no longer be canonical and may be
studied as of equal value to lesser-known literary texts, diaries, letters, public
documents, non-fiction. Furthermore, students are no longer expected to study
them in isolation but in tandem with key texts from the schools of criticism
listed above. (This is one of the reasons why the study of texts may take place
now within departments or programmes called, for example, English/English
Studies/Cultural Studies rather than Literature.) Instead of determining the
value of a text through a close reading of its technical features, the new focus on
historical and cultural placement considers the text s production and the value
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