“In its less dramatic versions,” writes author Dan Palmer, “structuralism is just a method of studying language, society, and the works of artists and novelists. But in its most exuberant form, it is a philosophy, an overall worldview that provides an account of reality and knowledge.” Poststructuralism is a loosely knit intellectual movement, comprised mainly of ex-structuralists who either became dissatisfied with the theory or felt they could improve it. Structuralism and Poststructuralism For Beginners is an illustrated tour through the mysterious landscape of these two theories. The book’s starting point is the linguistic theory of Ferdinand de Saussure. The book moves on to the anthropologist and literary critic Claude Levi-Strauss; the semiologist and literary critic Roland Barthes; the Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser; the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan; the deconstructionist Jacques Derrida. The book concludes by examining the postmodern obsession with language and with the radical claim of the disappearance of the individual–obsessions that unite the work of all of these theorists.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Basics,
By A Customer
This review is from: Structuralism and Poststructuralism for Beginners (Writers and Readers Documentary Comic Book,) (Paperback)
This book undoubtedly represents the basics for any inquiry into the major ideas of structuralism and poststructuralism. Palmer's exquisite, synthetic introduction into these socio-political and discursive phenomena is enlightening. He travels with us from the Swiss Ferdinand de Saussure's semiological system and the structuralist mythical order of the French/Belgian Claude Lévi-Strauss, to the post/structuralist Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault, Lacanian psychoanalysis, and, finally, to the master-poststructuralist, Jacques Derrida himself. Palmer's approach represents perhaps the easiest, albeit comprehensively explanatory, work into concepts otherwise unfairly considered esoteric postmodern artifacts. Nothing will give you a better first acquaintance to the "sign", "signifier", "signified", "la langue", "la parôle", "intertextuality", "indeterminacy of meaning", "writerly" and "readerly" texts, "deconstruction", "dissemination", "epistème", and "logocentrism" among others, than this pleasant, joyful (inter)text, filled with highly inspired sketches. The glossary at the end of the book is itself a treasure. Read this book in the bus, airplane, or train and (post) structuralism will become your friend. Don't let the detractors of postmodernism intimidate you. Palmer's book provides you with the best tool for fighting back, this time with knowledge.
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, simple tying-together of major points,
This review is from: Structuralism and Poststructuralism for Beginners (Writers and Readers Documentary Comic Book,) (Paperback)
I came to this book having read Derrida, Foucault, Saussure, etc, but not knowing about Structuralism as an -ism; just about the individual authors and their works.This book helped me think of them as a unified movement, and aided me in finding commonalities in their works. I imagine that this book would be even more useful for someone who hasn't read these authors; that way, you could get the general map before setting off into detailed inquiry (I did it in reverse!). The explanations and illustrations are genuinely humorous, and the book is a lot of fun. Of course, as with any book of this type, many things are drastically oversimplified, and many things presented as facts are actually the author's opinions -- but that comes with the territory of attempting to sum up a whole philosophical movement in a short little text. Overall, excellent in all regards, and a very worthwhile read, before or even after getting familiar with the original texts.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Easy Introduction to Difficult Topics,
By
This review is from: Structuralism and Poststructuralism for Beginners (Writers and Readers Documentary Comic Book,) (Paperback)
"Structuralism" and "Poststructuralism" have become buzzwords, bandied about frequently but only rarely understood. The concepts are difficult, especially for someone who doesn't have a background in philosophy, linguistics, or social sciences. To make matters worse, many of the most famous and influential of the Poststructuralist thinkers revel in obscurity, deliberately making their writing as abtruse and convoluted as possible. This is an excellent introduction to the concepts of Structuralism and Poststructuralism. Palmer studies a few of the most important scholars on the topic -- beginning with Saussure, the father of Structuralism and of modern linguistics and going on to Lacan, Foucault, Barthes, and Levi-Strauss. He touches upon their major contributions to the subject, giving explanations which can be grasped by any bright and interested layman. If you are interested in studying these thinkers, I would definitely recommend checking out this book first. It will provide you with a good grounding and keep you from feeling utterly mystified as you plumb the murky and obscure depths of modern philosophy. My only complaints are relatively minor. First, he makes a passing statement that Plato was "hardly bourgeois" ... when in fact Plato was quite clearly a bourgeois, even a reactionary, thinker. Second, the drawings are regrettable: Palmer is much better as a philosopher and writer than as an illustrator. Still, this is one of the best introductory texts available on the subject. Highly recommended.
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