Structuralism

narratology

"Structuralist analyses of narrative examine in minute detail the inner 'workings' of literary texts in order to discover the fundamental structural units.or functions.that govern texts' narrative operations" (Tyson, 214).

archetypal criticism

"deals with the recurrence of certain narrative patterns throughout the history of Western literature" (Tyson, 212). Derived from criticism of Northrop Frye.

synchronic

(Levi-Strauss, 105. music definition on 107.) Generally, occurring simultaneously; ahistorical. In opposition to diachronic. The synchronic approach entails the study of a linguistic system in a particular state, without reference to time. The importance of a synchronic approach to an understanding of language lies in the fact that for Saussure each sign has no properties other than the specific relational ones which define it within its own synchronic system.

parole

(Saussure) approximate English equivalent: "speech." Opposed to "langue." The use which individuals make of the resources of language, which the system produces and combines, in speech or writing. Parole is what people use in speaking or writing (concrete).

sign

(Saussure) arbitrary union of signifier and a signified.

signified

(Saussure) the referent of the sign: the concept referred to.

signifier

(Saussure) the sign's sound image or its graphic equivalent.

langue

(Saussure, referred to in Levi-Strauss) approximate English equivalent: "language." Opposed to "parole." All elements of language plus the rules for their combination (grammar, syntax and so forth).

structuralism

(Tyson 198) "[S]tructuralism sees itself as a human science whose effort is to understand, in a systematic way, the fundamental structures that underlie all human experience and, therefore, all human behavior and production. For this reason, structuralism shouldn't be thought of as a field of study. Rather, it's a method of systematizing human experience that is used in many different fields of study." 199: "Structuralists believe [structures] are generated by the human mind.. This is an important and radical idea because it means that the order we see in the world is the order we impose on it. Our understanding of the world does not result from our perception of structures that exist in the world."

sign systems

(Tyson) For semiotics, "[A] sign system is a non-linguistic object or behavior.that can be analyzed as if it were a language" (205).

mytheme

(coined by Levi-Strauss) Levi-Strauss, 104: "gross constituent units," the higher linguistic units that are the smallest units that make up myths. A set of items which share a single functional trait. Mythemes are organized in binary oppositions.

diachronic

(in Levi-Strauss, 105. Music definition on 107.) Generally, occurring over time; historical. Coined by Saussure (ca. 1913). In opposition to synchronic. through/across time. A diachronic approach to the study of a language (or languages) involves an examination of its origins, development, history and change.

phoneme

(linguistics, referred to in Levi-Strauss, 104) A basic sound unit in language. For example, in English 't' and 'd' are separate phonemes; 'c' and 'k' may be the same or different.

sememe

(linguistics, referred to in Levi-Strauss, 104) the meaning of a morpheme.

semiotics

The science of signs. Semiotics is concerned with the means of communication as conventions.

morpheme (linguistics, referred to in Levi-Strauss, 104)

a minimal linguistic unit; like dis- as a negative prefix.

autochthonous (in Levi-Strauss, 107)

Existing, born, or produced in a land or region: aboriginal, autochthonal, autochthonic, endemic, indigenous, native

chthonian (in Levi-Strauss, 107)

of or pertaining to the deities, spirits, and other beings dwelling under the earth