Structuralism ‘Things cannot be understood in isolation…’ - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Structuralism

‘Things cannot be understood in isolation…’

Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913), linguist

Claude Levi-Strauss (1908-2009), anthropologist

Roland Barthes (1915-1980), literary criticSlide2

Take a well-known media text. Let’s say,

The Dark Knight (2011).A

structuralist would argue that The Dark Knight cannot be fully understood without knowledge of the history of the many Batman movies, and in turn, the comic book in which the character originated.

StructuralismSlide3

Take a well-known media text. Let’s say,

The Dark Knight (2011).In turn, comic book heroes can’t be understood in isolation – we must recognise

Batman as one of many superheroes in the Marvel and DC Universe.

StructuralismSlide4

Take a well-known media text. Let’s say,

The Dark Knight (2011).Furthermore, we must understand comic books as having certain characteristics different from other literature, such as children’s books, graphic novels or video games.

StructuralismSlide5

Structuralism

Animated Batman (1990s TV series)

Batman Forever

Batman & Robin (1960s TV show)

Christopher Nolan’s Batman series

New Batman & Robin (1990s revival)

DC Comics

Batman Begins

The Dark Knight

Marvel

Video Games

Graphic Novels

Children’s literature

Comic BooksSlide6

These are all just some of the cultural structures that seem to take us further and further away from our original text –

The Dark Knight (2011).

StructuralismSlide7

So,

structuralists say that the meaning of a text is not contained within it, but in the cultural relationships surrounding and connecting it.

The focus is not on the text itself, but on the larger, abstract structures than contain them.StructuralismSlide8

Structuralists

consider:GenreOver-arching narrative

Source text

Style influences

Stock characters

Binary opposites

Recurring themes

Text’s position in the series of sequels/prequels/spin-offs

Adaptations

Text’s position within director’s previous work

Text’s position within actor’s previous work

StructuralismSlide9

Task

Choose a media text.

Draw its network of cultural structures, like I have done for The Dark Knight.

StructuralismSlide10

The structure of language and the relationships of meaning

SaussureSlide11

Ferdinand de Saussure

(1857-1913)

Swiss

linguist and

semiotician

His

ideas laid the foundation for many significant developments in linguistics and semiotics.

He

wasn’t described as a

structuralist

, but the

structuralists

of the 1950s would consider him the father of their theories.Slide12

What does the word ‘

hut

’ mean to you?

Is there any reason why those particular three letters – ‘h’, ‘u’ and ‘t’ – and the sound they produce, make us think of an image of a small dwelling?

No, it is an arbitrary association. Slide13

The word ‘hut’, for instance, is not in any way appropriate to its meaning.

The meaning of the word ‘hut’ is maintained by convention only.Slide14

So, Saussure said that the meaning attached to all words are arbitrary; they are there only by convention.

Discuss:

Can you think of a type of word that might be an exception?Slide15

He said that the minor exception to this is the small group of words called

onomatopoeia

– words created out of the sound that

something makes.

However, not even these are fixed, because they vary between languages…Slide16

OnomatopoeiaSlide17

OnomatopoeiaSlide18

OnomatopoeiaSlide19

So, if a

word’s association to its meaning is just random, then language isn’t a reflection of the world, but a completely different system altogether.Slide20

Saussure

also emphasised that the meanings of words are

relational

.

That is to say, no word can be defined in isolation from other words.

For example, the word ‘hut’ depends on its position in a chain of other words for it to be understood.Slide21

Task

Fill in the gaps in the chain:

Shed

Hut

Mansion

House

PalaceSlide22

So, we define a word such as ‘mansion’ by explaining its position between the two words either side of it.

Shed

Hut

House

Mansion

PalaceSlide23
Slide24

c

One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter

What is meant by this statement?

Can you think of any similar statements?Slide25

So, finally, Saussure

stated that meaning does not exist within the word itself.

Meaning is applied by experiencing an object/concept and labelling

it with a word based on your own previous experiences.Slide26

Another example is colour. The words for colours ‘make’ a reality. The spectrum isn’t divided into 7 colours. They all merge into one another. We just label useful points on that spectrum.Slide27
Slide28

0

In summary:

Meanings attached to words are only

arbitrary

The meaning of words can only be understood

in relation

to other words

Meaning does not exist within the word itself – we apply our own labels to experiencesSlide29

Structuralists

found Saussure’s distinctions useful because they showed that the

meaning of a

text doesn’t exist within itself.

It must be understood in relation

to the

structures

surrounding and connecting it.Slide30

Task

Can you find any flaws in Saussure’s argument?Slide31

Claude Levi-Strauss

Structuralism

andBinary OppositionSlide32

Task

Connect the binary opposites to each other...

Claude Levi-StraussSlide33

Levi-Strauss was a French anthropologist - now considered one of the ‘fathers of anthropology’- who in the 1950s developed some of Saussure’s theories into what is called Structuralism.

Claude Levi-StraussSlide34

Levi-Strauss studied hundreds of myths and legends around the world, as well as modern texts such as Hollywood Westerns.

Claude Levi-StraussSlide35

He said that as humans, we make sense of the

world,

people and events by seeing and using......binary opposites.

Claude Levi-StraussSlide36

This

structuralist idea is also an important

narrative theory, because he said:“all narratives are arranged around the conflict of binary opposites.”

Claude Levi-StraussSlide37

Just like Saussure, who said words can only be understood in relation to the words around them,

Claude Levi-Strauss

so Levi-Strauss said that narratives can only be understood by a conflict of opposing ideas (an idea on its own is not enough).Slide38

So, in a film such as

The Dark Knight (2011), we can see the following

binary opposites:Good

vs

Evil

Madness

vs

Sanity

Greed

vs

Charity

Night

vs

Day

Law

vs

Criminality

Corruption

vs

Fairness

Past vs Present

Government vs The Masses

Claude Levi-StraussSlide39

Task

Choose a film or TV show you enjoyed recently

Write a list of all the binary opposites you can for it

Try to be more original than simply ‘Good

vs

Evil’

Claude Levi-StraussSlide40

Roland Barthes

Narrative CodesSlide41

Roland Barthes

was a 1950s/60s French semiologist; basically he was paid to look at ‘texts’ and decipher how they were put together.

If you imagine a text is like a ball of string; can it be unravelled in one way or in many ways?Texts are like a ball of stringSlide42

Open or Closed?

All you need to know, very basically, is that texts may be '

open' (i.e. unravelled in a lot of different ways) or 'closed' (there is only one obvious thread to pull on).Barthes also decided that the threads you pull on to unravel meaning are called narrative codes and that they could be categorised in the following five ways: Slide43

The 5

Narrative CodesAction code - applies to any action that implies a further narrative action.

Example: We see a gunslinger draw his gun on an enemy and we wonder what the resolution of this action will be. Slide44

Enigma code

- refers to any element in a story that is not explained and, therefore, exists as an enigma for the audience, raising questions that demand answers.Example: We see a hooded figure pour poison into a bowl of soup – raising the enigma of who the murderer might be.

The 5 Narrative CodesSlide45

The cultural code

- any element in a narrative that refers to what is considered common knowledge. In other words, the cultural codes tend to point to our shared knowledge about the way the world works. Example:

Santa Claus is part of our culture and might appear in many different media texts.The 5 Narrative CodesSlide46

The

semic code - any element in a text that suggests a particular, often additional meaning by way of connotation

. Example: A shot focusing on a rope might suggest that someone will be tied up later, or that the plot itself is complex.

The 5

Narrative CodesSlide47

The

symbolic code – an extension of the semic code. When

semic codes combine they form symbols, which often give a text its theme.Example: images of starving children, trench warfare and atom bomb explosions combine to give us the theme of apocalypse. This links to Levi-Strauss’ binary opposites.The 5 Narrative CodesSlide48

You are going to watch an advert for Apple... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNnX6XRQBec

During the screening you need to make notes on the following headings: Narrative (is it open or closed?)

Action

code

Enigma code

Cultural code

Semic

code

Symbolic code

Audience

The 5

Narrative CodesSlide49

Now answer this question

Q: How are Mac and PC represented in the advert? Explain your answer referring to Roland Barthes’ narrative codes theory.

Try

to also identify the ideology behind the advert.Slide50

Ideology

An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things, a belief which helps explain the world around us.