Structuralism and literary criticism - Gerard Genette

1. ●Being a structuralist critic ,how would you analyse literary text or TV serial or film?

You can select any image or TV serial or film or literary text or advertisement. Apply structuralist method a d post your write on Your blog .

In literary theory, structuralism is an approach to analyzing the narrative material by examining the underlying invariant structure.

 For example, a literary critic applying a structuralist literary theory as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. In both texts a girl and a boy fall in love (a "formula" with a symbolic operator between them would be "Boy + Girl") despite the fact that they belong to two groups that hate each other ("Boy's Group - Girl's Group" or "Opposing forces") and conflict is resolved by their death.

The versatility of structuralism is such that a literary critic could make the same claim about a story of two friendly families ("Boy's Family + Girl's Family") that arrange a marriage between their children despite the fact that the children hate each other ("Boy - Girl") and then the children commit suicide to escape the arranged marriage.

Here I would like to give one example of film

SANAM BEWAFA

In this film boy and girl love each other but their family was quite opposite.

It shows love and revenge both.In this film both has same religion but their father had denied  for marriage.

In structuralism Ferdinand de Saussure applied 3 main thing

1)Langage 

2)Langue

3) parole

Sign =signifier+ signified

Diachronic VS synchronic study Saussure was applied this study which whatever meaning are articulated.Diachronic is historical use of language. Synchronic is what we have words used today.

1) Arbitrary: it has authoritical  meaning also which has power to conventionally.

2) Meaning of words are relation.

3) Language construct over world.

● significance of words 'Fire 'and 'Ice' in both the poets  and it's meaning just as separate words .

First is poem  Ice and fire

 By  Edmund Spence

Second poem  Fire and Ice 

By  Robert Frost .

In the first poem use ice first and then he used fire. In second poem he use fire first and then ice .

So both have different meaning and different sign. 

Poem represent the desire and hate. In the poem of Spencer he also addressed his beloved as like ice and he describe himself as fire. 

Both words has totally opposite meaning but both has one similar thing that if we put one ember in our hand it burns our hand and if we put ice in hand it also give us ignition in hand . So both has same feature with difference.