Structuralism and Semiotics: WTF? Saussure, Lévi-Strauss, Barthes and Structuralism Explained

Structuralism is a form of literary theory which, inspired by semiotics and the linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure, emerged in France in the 1950s. In this week’s episode of What the Theory?, we take a look at how structuralism and structuralist theory enable us to identify the underlying structures which inform how literature, film, performance, visual art and all other forms of cultural text are created and read.

If you’re look for semiotics and structuralism explained simply and engagingly then, hopefully, this might be the video you’re looking for!

Also, if you’d like to get your hands on a copy of the script to this video with footnotes and references to pour over to your heart’s content then check out my Patreon at [  / tomnicholas  ](https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=ht...)

We begin by looking at genre as a form of structuralist analysis before taking a brief overview of Saussure’s notion of diachronic and synchronic linguistics and his suggestion that it is only possible to understand an individual use of language (which he calls parole) by understanding the wider linguistic system of which it is a part (something Saussure calls langue).

We then take a look at how various literary theorists including Claude Levi-Strauss, Roland Barthes, Vladimir Propp and (very briefly) Michel Foucault have taken used structuralist linguistics as a basis for literary and cultural analysis. Distinguishing between “high structuralism” and “low structuralism”, we take a look at poetics and the pursuit of a consistent narrative structure of myth as well as looking at Roland Barthes’ notion of cultural codes and cultural myths as he outlines them in his 1957 book Mythologies.

Further Reading

Structuralism and Semiotics by Terence Hawkes
US: https://amzn.to/2JRlCgd
UK: https://amzn.to/2ykzh9b

Mythologies by Roland Barthes
US: https://amzn.to/2YhNnTc
UK: https://amzn.to/2Mda7kI

Myth and Meaning: Cracking the Code of Culture by Claude Levi-Strauss
US: https://amzn.to/2y8cJYO
UK: https://amzn.to/2K00dAb

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Thanks for watching!

Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com