Literary theory has penetrated all spheres of modern day life. It has shifted from being a prerogative of Academia to being a part of a popular culture. Yet, how can the term "literary theory" be defined lucidly? According to McLaughlin, literary theory is the "debate over nature and function of reading and writing, which has followed on the heels of structuralism, linguistics and cultural analysis". Literary theory is concerned with determining how various systems of signs, such as language itself, influence the way we read and, hence, comprehend the world and our own Self. This basic question has been answered in a radically different manner by various schools of thought or movements. We shall focus on the theory known as post-structuralism. Its most prominent scholars have often emerged from structuralist movement and have seldom labeled themselves as "poststructuralists". More importantly, "poststructuralists" reject an idea of the existence of "theories", "universal truths" or "subjugated knowledges" as Derrida has called them. We shall develop this point in more detail further on.
[...] Main scholars and ideas In an evolution from structuralism to post-structuralism, the concept of structure has disappeared, to be replaced by writing as such. The work of literature became a text, as it is no longer seen as a closed entity with defined meanings that a theorist is meant to decipher, but rather as a something plural, an endless game of signifiers that cannot be reduced to an essence or unique meaning. Post-structuralism is thus about: Decentring of the Self/ of the Subject Post-structuralism has challenged the traditional view of a Man, of the Self, developed by the Humanists. [...]
[...] According to McLAUGHLIN, literary theory is the “debate over nature and function of reading and writing, which has followed on the heels of structuralist linguistics and cultural analysis”. Literary theory is concerned with determining how various systems of signs, such as language itself, influence the way we read and, hence, comprehend the world and our own Self. This basic question has been answered in radically different manner by various schools of thought or movements. We shall focus on the theory known as post-structuralism. Yet, it would be difficult to define this term. [...]
[...] Example: bringing into existence of Comrade Ogilvy (P50) and death of Syme. In the same manner, creation of Newspeak is a tool of influence as it intends to erase certain concepts from human understanding (the signified) by erasing the signifier. Indeed, if there is no signifier to rely upon, no meaning can be created. Yet, language and writing in particular is also synonym of liberation as it permits to construct one's proper meanings and understanding of the world (writing the diary). [...]
[...] Hence, according to CULLER, “post-structuralism does not demonstrate the inadequacies or errors of structuralism so much as to turn away from the project of working out what makes cultural phenomena intelligible and emphasizes instead a critic of knowledge, totality and the subject. The structures of the systems of signification do not exist independently of the subject, as objects of knowledge, but are structures for subjects, who are entangled with the forces that produce them”. We are the prisoners of our own discourse, incapable to find the ultimate truth as no affirmation is definite. The most significant aspect of a phrase is the fact that it does not know what it is talking about. [...]
[...] death, cat vs. dog. Applied to literature structuralism teaches that story meaning may be derived from its overall structure rather than one particular theme. It is hence important to consider such features of language as grammatical elements and figures of speech, and their relation to the historical context of a particular work, in order to comprehend a certain work. Binary oppositions Post-structuralism undertakes binary oppositions proposed by structuralists, in order to demonstrate the weaknesses of the theory proposed and build upon it. [...]
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