Module - Structuralism

Question 1

According to Bressler (1999), what scientific discipline provides the grounding for the approach to literary analysis known as structuralism?

Answer 1

Structural linguistics.

Question 2

How does structuralism’s use of linguistic methodologies affect the view of communication and social behavior?

Answer 2

It offers a scientific view of how meaning is achieved.

Question 3

According to Hall (2001), what must be used to understand signs within the study of semiotics?

Answer 3

A complex set of binary or overlapping associations, such as historical, political, or religious contexts.

Question 4

What limitation does semiotics acknowledge regarding the ability to ‘capture’ a sign like a scientific specimen?

Answer 4

No sign is ever fully understandable or capturable as a fixed specimen.

Question 5

In ‘The Pursuit of Signs’, what does Jonathan Culler declare regarding the possession of full knowledge of signs?

Answer 5

It is futile to ever achieve full knowledge or possession of them.

Question 6

Identify the nineteenth-century ‘science of language’ that preceded modern linguistics and focused on comparing world languages.

Answer 6

Philology.

Question 7

What was the primary concern of philologists when analyzing world languages?

Answer 7

To describe, compare, and analyze languages to discover similarities and relationships.

Question 8

Define the ‘diachronic’ analysis of language.

Answer 8

The analysis of language components, such as sound and words, across time.

Question 9

What is the central claim of the mimetic theory of language regarding the relationship between language and the world?

Answer 9

Language mirrors the structure of the world it imitates and has no structure of its own.

Question 10

In pre-Saussurean linguistics, what does the term ‘referent’ describe?

Answer 10

The object, concept, or idea that a word represents or symbolizes.

Question 11

What is the linguistic equation used in the mimetic theory of language?

Answer 11

$WORD (symbol) = THING (referent)$

Question 12

Which posthumously published work by Ferdinand de Saussure forms the basis for structuralist literary theory?

Answer 12

Course in General Linguistics.

Question 13

How does ‘synchronic’ linguistic analysis differ from ‘diachronic’ analysis?

Answer 13

It focuses on studying a language at one particular time and how its whole state functions.

Question 14

Why did Ferdinand de Saussure reject the mimetic theory of language?

Answer 14

He believed languages are governed by internal rules that do not mirror the structure of the world.

Question 15

In the structure of language, what is the focus of phonology?

Answer 15

The study of the rules governing meaningful units of sound.

Question 16

Define a ‘phoneme’ in the context of structural linguistics.

Answer 16

The smallest meaningful or significant sound in a language.

Question 17

What term describes speech sounds that are nearly identical and belong to the same phoneme?

Answer 17

Allophones.

Question 18

Define the term ‘grapheme’.

Answer 18

The alphabetic representation of sounds.

Question 19

What is the primary focus of the study of phonetics?

Answer 19

The production of sounds.

Question 20

In linguistic structure, what does morphology account for?

Answer 20

The rules for the formation of words.

Question 21

What is a ‘morpheme’?

Answer 21

The smallest unit of a word that carries lexical or grammatical significance.

Question 22

In morphology, what comprises the ‘lexical aspect’ of a word?

Answer 22

The base or root of the word.

Question 23

Which components constitute the ‘grammatical aspect’ of a morpheme?

Answer 23

Inflections and affixes.

Question 24

What linguistic field focuses on the rules for arranging words to produce grammatically correct sentences?

Answer 24

Syntax.

Question 25

What does the field of semantics highlight in the study of language?

Answer 25

Rules governing interpretations, shades of meaning, and semantic features.

Question 26

According to Bressler (1999), what are the three basic building blocks of language?

Answer 26

Phoneme, morpheme, and syntax.

Question 27

Define Saussure's concept of 'langue'.

Answer 27

The shared structure of language mastered by all its speakers.

Question 28

Define Saussure's concept of 'parole'.

Answer 28

An individual's actual speech utterances or writing.

Question 29

What did Saussure argue should be the 'proper study of linguistics'?

Answer 29

The system (langue), rather than individual utterances.

Question 30

How does the relationship between langue and parole affect individual speech?

Answer 30

Countless individual utterances (parole) are governed by the language's internal system (langue).

Question 31

In Saussurean theory, what are the two components that combine to form a 'sign'?

Answer 31

The signifier and the signified.

Question 32

What is a 'signifier'?

Answer 32

The word, image, or representation used to designate a concept.

Question 33

What is the 'signified'?

Answer 33

The concept to which a word or representation refers.

Question 34

What does it mean for a linguistic sign to be 'arbitrary'?

Answer 34

There is no natural link between the sign and the reality it represents.

Question 35

What does it mean for a linguistic sign to be 'conventional'?

Answer 35

The meaning depends on what the speakers of a language have agreed upon.

Question 36

What does it mean for a linguistic sign to be 'differential'?

Answer 36

A sign's meaning is known because it differs from all other signs in the system.

Question 37

Distinguish between Saussure's 'semiology' and Peirce's 'semiotics' based on the text.

Answer 37

Semiology studies meaning in social behavior; semiotics is the systematic science of meaning in society.

Question 38

According to structuralist assumptions, what governs all human social and cultural practices?

Answer 38

Codes, signs, and rules.

Question 39

In structuralism, how is the structure of literature viewed in relation to language?

Answer 39

The structure of literature is similar to the structure of language.

Question 40

What is the 'proper study of literature' for a structuralist?

Answer 40

An inquiry into the conditions of interpretation (langue) rather than an individual work (parole).

Question 41

Define the concept of 'intertextuality' in structuralist theory.

Answer 41

The system whereby all texts relate to each other rather than being isolated.

Question 42

What is the primary task of a structuralist critic when analyzing a text?

Answer 42

To study the system of rules that govern literary interpretation.

Question 43

Why does structuralism place more importance on how a symbol functions than on how it imitates reality?

Answer 43

Literature is viewed as a self-enclosed system of rules, not a reflection of reality.

Question 44

Where is meaning located in the structuralist view of literature?

Answer 44

In the shared system of relations, not in authorial intention or reader experience.

Question 45

How does structuralism 'demystify' literature?

Answer 45

By stripping it of hidden meanings and showing meaning is found in the system of rules.

Question 46

In Claude Lévi-Strauss's methodology, what is the 'langue' of myth?

Answer 46

The overall structure of myth.

Question 47

Define the term 'mytheme'.

Answer 47

The basic building block of myth, similar to a phoneme in language.

Question 48

How does a mytheme acquire meaning according to Lévi-Strauss?

Answer 48

Through its relationship and opposition within the mythic structure.

Question 49

On what does the meaning of an individual myth depend in Lévi-Strauss’s theory?

Answer 49

The interaction and order of the mythemes within the story's structural pattern.

Question 50

According to Roland Barthes, how do phonemic minimal pairs (like $/s/$ and $/z/$) operate?

Answer 50

They operate in binary opposition.

Question 51

How does Roland Barthes categorize an individual text in structuralist terms?

Answer 51

As a message or 'parole' that must be interpreted using the system's 'langue'.

Question 52

How does a structuralist decode a text using Barthes' methodology?

Answer 52

By finding binary oppositions within the text and showing how they interrelate.

Question 53

What was Jonathan Culler's critique of early narratologists?

Answer 53

He criticized their concern with individual stories (parole) rather than the system (langue).

Question 54

Define Jonathan Culler’s concept of 'literary competence'.

Answer 54

The internalized set of rules readers use to interpret texts based on their experiences.

Question 55

How did Culler shift the focus of structuralist analysis?

Answer 55

He shifted the focus from the text itself to the reader's act of interpretation.

Question 56

What are the three elements Culler identifies as undergirding the reading of a poem?

Answer 56

Unity, thematic significance, and reflection.

Question 57

In Ballena’s questions for analysis, what does the critic map out to show 'how' a text means?

Answer 57

Binary oppositions or mythemes.

Question 58

How does the 'langue' of a text assist a critic according to Ballena's analysis questions?

Answer 58

It helps the critic in the overall act of interpreting the text's structure.

Question 59

In the structuralist view, why is the author considered of 'little importance'?

Answer 59

Meaning is produced by the shared system of language and rules, not by individual intent.

Question 60

Identify the 'Equation' for a sign in Saussurean linguistics.

Answer 60

$SIGN = SIGNIFIER / SIGNIFIED$

Question 61

According to Bressler (1999), what is the 'smallest meaningful unit' of a word?

Answer 61

A morpheme.

Question 62

In structuralism, what is the 'primary sign system' used to structure our world?

Answer 62

Language.

Question 63

What is the relationship between binary oppositions and decoding a text in Barthes' theory?

Answer 63

Recognizing binary operations allows one to explain the message encoded in the text.

Question 64

In the context of mythemes, provide an example of 'meaning through opposition'.

Answer 64

Hate versus love.

Question 65

Which scholar is referred to as the 'Father of modern linguistics'?

Answer 65

Ferdinand de Saussure.

Question 66

What does a structuralist examine instead of an 'isolated text'?

Answer 66

The system (langue) whereby texts relate to each other.

Question 67

What determines the meaning of a sign if there is no natural link to reality?

Answer 67

Social convention and agreement among speakers.

Question 68

According to Saussure, what is the 'social aspect' of language?

Answer 68

Langue.

Question 69

What is the term for the study of the rules governing word formation?

Answer 69

Morphology.

Question 70

How does structuralism treat literature's 'magical powers'?

Answer 70

It attempts to strip them away through scientific analysis of the system.

Question 71

What does the 'differential' nature of signs imply about how we recognize the word 'cat'?

Answer 71

We know it means 'cat' because it is not 'bat', 'cap', or any other sign.

Question 72

According to Culler, what guides a reader through the process of making sense of a printed word?

Answer 72

An internalized system of literary competence.

Question 73

What is the structuralist term for individual instances of myth?

Answer 73

Myth's parole.

Question 74

What do semantic features of language relate to in structuralist analysis?

Answer 74

Codes, signs, or binary oppositions found in the text.

Question 75

In structuralist methodology, what is the goal of analyzing the 'system of rules' in literature?

Answer 75

To find how the literature itself produces meaning.

Question 76

Which discipline flourished in the 19th century and treated language as a mirror of the world?

Answer 76

Philology.