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Literary-Criticism-C-E-Bressler - 5th Edition

The document discusses the evolution of structuralism in literary theory, highlighting Jonathan Culler's contributions in the 1970s, which emphasize the reader's role in interpretation over the text itself. Culler argues for a focus on the underlying systems of language that govern interpretation, rather than solely analyzing individual texts. The text also touches on the transition from structuralism to poststructuralism, indicating a shift in focus from content to the form and structure of language.

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31 views2 pages

Literary-Criticism-C-E-Bressler - 5th Edition

The document discusses the evolution of structuralism in literary theory, highlighting Jonathan Culler's contributions in the 1970s, which emphasize the reader's role in interpretation over the text itself. Culler argues for a focus on the underlying systems of language that govern interpretation, rather than solely analyzing individual texts. The text also touches on the transition from structuralism to poststructuralism, indicating a shift in focus from content to the form and structure of language.

Uploaded by

Anam Khan
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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104 Chapter 5 • Modemity/Postmodernism

that the grammatical clause, and in turn, the subject and verb •
interpretive unit of each sentence and can be linguistically an^ the^si
further dissected into a variety of grammatical categories to sh a4
narratives are structured. An individual text (parole) interests TodI^0VvaU

require a reader's special attention. (Jenette's live-part work Figures /-y


(a series written from 1967 to 2002) and particularly his text Narrative
D iscourse: An Essay in M ethod (1979) has strongly influenced structuralism's
vocabulary and methodology in both America and France.
Although these narratologists provide us with various approaches to
texts, all furnish us with a metalanguage—words used to describe language—
so we can understand how a text means, not what it means.

Jo n ath an C uller

By the m id-1970s, Jonathan Culler (1944-), professor of English and compar­


ative literature at Cornell University, becam e the voice of structuralism in
A m erica and took structu ralism in yet another direction. In his work
Structuralist Poetic: Structuralism, Linguistics, and the Study o f Literature (1975),
C uller declares that abstract linguistic models used by narratologists tend to
focu s on parole, spend ing too m uch tim e analyzing individual stones,
poem s, and novels. W hat is needed, he believes, is a return to an investiga­
tion of langue, Saussure's main premise.
According to Culler, readers, when given a chance, som ehow will make
sense out of the most bizarre texts because readers possess w hat Culler calls
literary com petence. Through experiences with texts, Culler asserts, readers
have internalized a set of rules that govern their acts o f interpretation-
Instead of analyzing individual interpretations of a work, we must spen
ou r time, Culler insists, on analyzing the act of interpretation itself. We mus
shift the focus from the text to the reader. How, asks Culler, does interpreta
tion take place in the first place? What system underlies the very act of rea
ing that allows anv other svstem to ooerate?
aska, is jn- 4
Pret a Work? In competence rea d ers u se to inter-
'? W hat system g u id es them
* “ W-U ^ I.
making ^
sense o°f the spoken
-
xr- w o rd :
mmr-

pter5 • Modernity/ P o stm o d ern ism 105


C u lle r m a in ta in s th a t e v e r y r e a d e r h o ld s
to th r e e u n d e r ly in g a s s u m p *
tio n s w h e n r e a d i n g a n d i n t e r p r e t i n g t e x t s :

1 A text w ill b e u n ifie d .


2 A text w ill b e th e m a tic a lly s ig n ific a n t.
3 . A te x t's s ig n ific a n c e c a n ta k e th e fo rm o f re flectio n .

Accordingly, Culler then seeks to establish the system, the langue, that un-
dergirds the reading process. By focusing on the act of interpretation itself to
discover literature s langue, Culler believes he is returning structuralism to
its Saussurean roots.

A Model of Interpretation

A lt h o u g h s t r u c t u r a l i s t t h e o r i e s a b o u n d , a c o r e o f s t r u c t u r a l i s t s b e l i e v e s t h a t
th e p r im a r y s i g n i f y i n g s y s t e m i s b e s t f o u n d a s a s e r i e s o f b i n a r y o p p o s i t i o n s
th a t th e r e a d e r o r g a n i z e s , v a l u e s , a n d u s e s t o i n t e r p r e t t h e t e x t . E a c h b i n a r y
o p e r a t io n c a n b e p i c t u r e d a s a f r a c t i o n , t h e t o p h a l f ( t h e n u m e r a t o r ) b e i n g
w h a t is m o r e v a l u e d th a n its r e la te d b o tto m h a lf (th e d e n o m in a to r ).
A c c o r d in g ly , i n t h e b i n a r y o p e r a t i o n l i g h t / d a r k , t h e r e a d e r h a s l e a r n e d t o
v a lu e l i g h t o v e r d a r k , a n d i n t h e b i n a r y o p e r a t i o n g o o d / e v i l , t h e r e a d e r h a s
s im ila r ly l e a r n e d t o v a l u e g o o d o v e r e v i l . H o w t h e r e a d e r m a p s o u t a n d o r ­
g a n iz e s t h e v a r i o u s b i n a r y o p e r a t i o n s a n d t h e i r i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s f o u n d
w ith in t h e t e x t b u t a l r e a d y e x i s t i n g i n t h e m i n d o f t h e r e a d e r d e t e r m i n e s f o r
th a t p a r t i c u l a r r e a d e r t h e t e x t 's i n t e r p r e t a t i o n .
No matter what its methodology, structuralism emphasizes form and
structure, not the actual content of a text. Although individual texts must be
analyzed, structuralists are more interested in the rule-governed system that
underlies texts rather than the texts themselves. How texts mean—not what
texts mean—is their chief interest.

FROM STRUCTU RA LISM TO POSTSTRUCTURALISM :


DECONSTRUCTION

Throughout much of the 1950s and 1960s, structuralism dominated


European and American literary theory and criticism. While the application
structuralist principles varies from one theoretician to another, all believe
that language is the primary means of signification (i.e., how we achieve
leaning through linguistic signs and other symbols) and that language
comprises its own rule-governed system to achieve such meaning. Although
lan8uage is the primary sign system, it is not the only one. Fashions, sports,

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