Post-structuralism

From monstrouspossibility

This is, as will quickly become obvious, incomplete and perhaps even incorrect. I will add/edit soon, as well as create some links, etc.

I, as the author of this page, do not matter. That is to say that my identity and my intention are of less importance than yours, as the reader. This is one of the most important concepts of Post-Structuralist literary theory. In 1968, Roland Barthes wrote Death of the Author, in which he argued that the author is not the text’s source of meaning. Instead, each reader will build his or her own meaning, none of which is either right or wrong. According to Post-Structuralist theory, no text has any one definitive meaning.

In 1960s France, Post-Structuralism emerged, as the name implies, as a critique of Structuralism (many Post-Structuralists, including Barthes and Foucault, being disillusioned Structuralists). Post-Structuralism differs with structuralism most importantly in its rejection of absolute truths . This manifests itself in several ways, including the previously mentioned lack of importance attributed to the author.

Another major point of difference is in the relationship seen between signifier and signified.