Structuralism

Part 1 - Introduction

Structuralism- emphasis on language or formal properties of texts, their structures and frames in specific genre like novel or poetry.

It is an extension of new criticism

New criticism- term taken from the work of John Crowe Ransom

Major proponents- Cleanth Brooks, Robert Penn Warren, William Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley, R.P Blackmur and I.A Richards.

Their view- author’s intension behind a work- less important that the meaning generated by the language, style and formal features of the text.

Wimsatt and Beardsley’s essay- ‘The Intentional Fallacy’ (1954)- there is no need for author’s biography or history for understanding a text. The meaning that the text will generate is all that is needed.

Autotelic text- autonomous existence of literary text. Author’s background – irelevent to understanding a text.

New criticism- paid close attention to the language of a text- its form, style, devices used etc.

Major focus – on poetry.

Famous works:

1) William Empson’s Seven types of Ambiguity (1930);

(2) Cleanth Brooks’ The Well Wrought Urn (1947)

3) I.A Richards Practical Criticism (1929), Principals of Literary Criticism (1924)

(analysis of poem started by him)

Structuralism : relationship between various elements within self- contained, well organized structure of a text to understand the manner in which a text produces meaning. Focuses on elements like- voice, character, setting and their combination.

To be continued-