ENGL 251B Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Semiotics
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* see vladmir propp, saussure, saussure powerpoint and literary. Structuralism: concentrating on structure (e. g. dominant patterns in form and plot in different genres); a more big-picture way of criticism. There is variation, but in deciding to write a folk-tale, the structure of the genre precedes you. Language, like culture, is a stable coded system that evolves slowly. If language is coded, and language is a structure of culture, then culture is also coded: malcolm x movie how the dictionary"s definition of black affects race. Language is pre-ordained (e. g. archetypes black = evil; white = pure). Often seen as the denotative description of words, as if it is separate from culture. But it is not; it was written within culture. Often includes connotative/archetypal descriptions (e. g. black as associated with harm). Semiology/semiotics: the study of signs (structural linguistics). These principles are later extended into reading patters of literary structures.
