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Structural linguistics, or structuralism, in linguistics, denotes schools or theories in which language is conceived as a self-contained, self-regulating semiotic system whose elements are defined by their relationship to other elements within the system. It is derived from the work of Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure and is part of the overall approach of structuralism. Saussure's Course in General Linguistics, published posthumously in 1916, stressed examining language as a dynamic system of interconnected units. Saussure is also known for introducing several basic dimensions of semiotic analysis that are still important today. Two of these are his key methods of syntagmatic and paradigmatic analysis, which define units syntactically and lexically, respectively, according to their contrast with the other units in the system. Other key features of structuralism are the focus on systematic phenomena, the primacy of an idealized form over actual speech data, the priority of linguistic form over meaning, the marginalization of written language, and the connection of linguistic structure to broader social, behavioral, or cognitive phenomena.
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In semiotics, signified and signifier are the two main components of a sign, where signified is what the sign represents or refers to, known as the "plane of content", and signifier which is the "plane of expression" or the observable aspects of the sign itself. The idea was first proposed in the work of Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, one of the two founders of semiotics.
References
- ↑ Gates, Henry Louis. African American Literary Criticism, 1773 to 2000, ed. Hazel Arnett Ervin. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1999. 261.
- ↑ Bell, Bernard W. The Afro-American Novel and Its Traditions. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1987. 22.
- ↑ Abrahams, Roger D. African American Literary Criticism, 1773 to 2000, ed. Hazel Arnett Ervin. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1999. 260.
- ↑ Saussure, Ferdinand de. "Course in General Linguistics", Structuralism, Linguistics, Narratology. eds. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. 66.
- ↑ Gates, Henry Louis. "The Blackness of Blackness: A Critique on the Sign and the Signifying Monkey", Literary Theory: An Anthology. Eds. Julie Rivkin & Michael Ryan. 992.
- ↑ Baker, Houston A. Blues, Ideology, and Afro-American Literature: A Vernacular Theory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984. 111.
- ↑ Delbanco, Andrew. "Talking Texts", Black Literature Criticism Supplement, eds. Jeffrey W. Hunter and Jerry Moore. Detroit: Gale, 1999. 142.
- 1 2 Lubiano, Wahneema. "Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and African-American Literary Discourse", Black Literature Criticism Supplement, eds. Jeffrey W. Hunter and Jerry Moore. Detroit: Gale, 1999. 147.
- ↑ Myers, D. G. "Signifying Nothing", New Criterion 8 (1990): 63.
- ↑ Mason, Theodore O. "African American Theory and Criticism: 2. 1977 to 1990". Johns Hopkins Guide To Literary Theory and Criticism. (2005): 2. Johns Hopkins Guide To Literary Theory and Criticism. University of Chicago Library, Chicago, IL. October 11, 2007.