Introduction to Post-Structuralism

Back to: Literary Theory in English Literature

Poststructuralism, a concept rarely defined and widely discussed, has complicated

and problematized our understanding of the world that it has become impossible
to define it. Some say it was a continuation of structuralism; some believe it was
a reaction against structuralism.On the contrary, to both believe, one finds it to be
true to both views and none at the same time. Poststructuralism comes out
structuralism as a reactionary movement against structuralism. Structuralism
reaches the meaning of the text through linguistic analysis to show that there is a
common and central meaning to all the cultures.

Poststructuralists also find the meaning of the text through its linguistic analysis
(every critic analyses the language of the literary text, but when the word
linguistic analysis is used it is to suggest the form or pattern of the text and
language) to claim that there is no common or central meaning.

Poststructuralism denies the centrality of meaning by arguing that the meaning of

a particular sign may differ from culture to culture; therefore, there cannot be a
universal meaning. For instance, ‘apple’ may mean a fruit to some people and
phone, also, to some people; the colour white may also connote mourning in some
cultures and happiness in others.
truth or discourse because
Structuralists argued that the meaning of the text is separable from culture and
poststructuralists argue against this view. Structuralists’, like Levi Strauss,
orthodox belief in ‘logocentricism’ was rejected by poststructuralists like Jacques
Derrida.
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Roland Barthe, a structuralist and later turned poststructuralist, in his essay, “The
Death of the Author,” argues for the replacement of the author by the reader as
the primary subject of inquiry. This process is called ‘destabilizing’ or
‘decentering’ of the author. Without any concentration on the author
poststructuralists examine the sources for meaning e.g. readers, cultural norms,
other texts, etc.