POSTSTRUCTURALISM
POSTSTRUCTURALISM.
Post-structuralism is a movement in literary theory that originated from philosophy and emerged in France in the late 1960s. Post-structuralists express their anxiety about language by saying that language is not capable to express reality or truth. Radical linguistic skepticism is the whole mark of Poststructuralism. In other words, they focussed mainly on language as a system of consent change. Therefore language is not capable of expressing fixed meaning or reality.
Post-structuralists believed in the decentered universe. We are living in an uncertain universe where no fixed landmark or any certain standard to measure anything. Therefore it is not possible to assure whether it is fact or not and reality or not. The two figures most associated with post-structuralism are Roland Barthes and Jacques Derrida.
Differences between Structuralism and Poststructuralism.
1. Structuralism originated from linguistics, especially from the theories of Swiss linguist Ferdinand de assure. Structuralists believe that it is possible to establish objective knowledge and facts through language. It has a scientific outlook. If we observe correctly, collect data systematically and analyze them properly then we can reach a reliable fixed conclusion about language and the world.
Poststructuralism originated from philosophy especially from German existentialist Nietze's famous remark "there are no facts only interpretations". Philosophy is a kind of discipline that always emphasizes the difficulty of achieving secure knowledge about things. Therefore philosophy is always skeptical in nature. Poststructuralism also inherits this habit of skepticism.
2. Structuralism promotes abstraction and generalization. It has a scientific tone and style. Because structuralism originated from linguistic science. If we want to read and reach meaning it is necessary to look at the structure( linguistics, history, philosophy, etc. Rather than looking at the text, we have to look at such abstract genres. The word itself is not capable to convey meaning, A word's relation with other words in a sentence determines meaning.
Poststructuralist writing is more emotive. Often the tone is euphoric (feeling intense excitement and happiness) and an expression of self. There is no space for reason. Poststructuralism doesn't believe in reason. Therefore poststructuralism does not have a scientific tone and style.
3. Structuralists believe that the world and reality are constructed through language therefore reality can be accessed through the linguistic medium. Language is an orderly system, not a chaotic one, and reachable. No need to be anxious about the language.
Poststructuralism questioned the idea of language and they express their anxiety about the possibility of achieving any knowledge through language. According to the post-structuralist meaning of words are just like fluid. That may slip and spill. Therefore we can never assure the meaning of words is hundred percent pure and that the meaning of a word varies based on the reader who reads the word.
4. As we discussed above structuralism promotes a new way of structuring and categorizing reality based on reason.
At the same time, post-structuralism distrusts the notion of reason. Apart from that poststructuralism believed that human being is independent entities each one is the product of their own socioeconomic background.
CONTRIBUTIONS OF MAJOR THEORISTS.
Post-structuralism emerged in France in the late 1960s. Roland Barthes and Jacques Derrida are the two important figures associated with the emergence of post-structuralism,
Roland Barthes(1915-1980)
Roland Barthes was an influential french philosopher and literary theorist, who contributed to the development of structuralism post-structuralism. Early phase he supports structuralism and later he shifts his position to poststructuralism. This shift can be seen in his two works The Pleasure of Text (1973) and The Death of the Author (1968).
Death of the Author.
The Death of the Author is an essay written by Roland Barthes in1968 which leads to the emergence of poststructuralism. In the essay, he announces the death of the author and asserts the independence of the literary text. There is no unified intended or crafted meaning from the writer. The meaning is determined by the reader. Therefore through the essay, he announces the death of the author and the birth of the reader. Further, Barthes says that text is something produced by the reader, not the writer. In the essay, he made a declaration of radical textual independence from the author and a context. It leads to the endless free play of meanings and ends textual authority. Each reader can come up with different meanings. The essay further argues that a literary work should not be analyzed by the information about the real life of the person who created it.
Jaques Derrida (1930-2004)
The second key figure in the development of post-structuralism is the philosopher Jacques Derrida. He was an Algerian- born French philosopher best known for his contribution to poststructuralism and deconstruction. He became prominent after his publication of three books Speech and Phenomena, Of Grammatology, Writing, and Difference. These three books were written on philosophical topics, but his deconstructive method has been borrowed by many literary theorists and used in the reading of literary works.
Derrida's lecture in 1966, Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Science can be taken as a starting point of post-structuralism. In the lecture, Derrida introduces an intellectual event that constitutes a radical break from the past way of thought. This event is an act of decentring of our intellectual universe. In those days people believed that western norms and values are ideal and considered their norms as standard ones to evaluate all other norms of dress, behavior, architecture, and intellectual outlook. Therefore all others, including the east, are considered as Other and the western is considered as the center. Derrida has deconstructed this center and Other relations in his lecture. This center is destroyed because of some historical events like the First world war and scientific discoveries.
DECONSTRUCTION.
Aporia.
Aporia is a Greek term denoting a logical contradiction. It plays a significant role in post-structuralism and deconstruction. Literally, it means an impasse and designates a kind of knot in the text which cannot be solved because what is said is self-contradictory. In other words, aporia is an inherent contradiction found in any literary text which cannot be solved. Let us have an example from the poem The Catewaay written by well-known eighteenth-century poet William Cowper. This poem talks about a man who drowned in the ocean. In the poem at the beginning of the third stanza, the poet is talking about the drowned man "No poet wept him" The existence of the poem itself contradicts the line. According to deconstructionists here, the poet cannot make such a statement in the poem as 'nobody wept him' as he belongs to one among them and writes a poem for his memory.
Logo-centrism.
Logocentism is a concept by stucturalits. Logo is the Greek term for speech, thought, and reason. Logocentrism is the attitude that views speech as central and more important to language than writing. According to structuralists, speech is the original, and written words are originated from spoken words. Post-structuralist did not believe in the idea of logocentrism by saying that speech is not superior to writing, both are complimentary. Further, they say that if we want to learn or speak anything it is necessary to write first of all in our memory, otherwise, we cannot speak about the same. And poststructuralists end by confirming the superiority of writing over speech.
Binary Opposition.
Binary opposition is another structuralist concept. It says that there is a tendency in human beings to think in terms of opposition. The idea was put forward by the linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. Saussure says that the meaning of words originates as a result of opposite relations with other words. Post-structuralists oppose the structuralist concept of binary opposition. Poststructuralists critique the binary opposition in western thought whereas one term is privileged over the other. For example idendity\difference, male\female, speech\writing, west\east. From the list former (male, speech, west, identity) is always privileged over the other. Therefore poststructuralist opposes the binary opposition by saying that it leads to the creation of a hierarchy and a particular center. Post-structuralists wanted to break the relation between center and periphery or Other.
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