Invincible Summer
15th July 2010, 07:30
How has post-structuralism influenced the left? Is it incompatible with the revolutionary left? Is there anything we can learn from post-structuralism?
EDIT: In case some don't know what post-structuralism is:
Post-structuralism grew as a response to structuralism’s perceived assumption that its own system of analysis was somehow essentialist. Post-structuralists hold that in fact even in an examination of underlying structures, a slew of biases introduce themselves, based on the conditioning of the examiner. At the root of post-structuralism is the rejection of the idea that there is any truly essential form to a cultural product, as all cultural products are by their very nature formed, and therefore artificial.
[...]
Post-structuralism is importantly different from postmodernism (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-postmodernism.htm)[...] Postmodernism importantly seeks to identify a contemporary state of the world, the period that is following the modernist period. Postmodernism seeks to identify a certain juncture, and to work within the new period. Post-structuralism, on the other hand, can be seen as a more explicitly critical view, aiming to deconstruct ideas of essentialism in various disciplines to allow for a more accurate discourse
From: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-post-structuralism.htm
General practices
Post-structural practices generally operate on some basic assumptions:
Post-structuralists hold that the concept of "self" as a separate, singular, and coherent entity is a fictional construct. Instead, an individual comprises tensions between conflicting knowledge claims (e.g. gender, race, class, profession, etc.). Therefore, to properly study a text a reader must understand how the work is related to his or her own personal concept of self. This self-perception plays a critical role in one's interpretation of meaning. While different thinkers' views on the self (or the subject) vary, it is often said to be constituted by discourse(s). Lacan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacan)'s account includes a psychoanalytic dimension, while Derrida (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derrida) stresses the effects of power on the self. This is thought to be a component of post-modernist theory.
The author's intended meaning, such as it is (for the author's identity as a stable "self" with a single, discernible "intent" is also a fictional construct), is secondary to the meaning that the reader perceives. Post-structuralism rejects the idea of a literary text having a single purpose, a single meaning, or one singular existence. Instead, every individual reader creates a new and individual purpose, meaning, and existence for a given text. To step outside of literary theory, this position is generalizable to any situation where a subject perceives a sign. Meaning (or the signified (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Course_in_General_Linguistics), in Saussure (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_de_Saussure)'s scheme, which is as heavily presumed upon in post-structuralism as in structuralism) is constructed by an individual from a signifier (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Course_in_General_Linguistics). This is why the signified is said to 'slide' under the signifier, and explains the talk about the "primacy of the signifier."
A post-structuralist critic must be able to use a variety of perspectives to create a multifaceted interpretation of a text, even if these interpretations conflict with one another. It is particularly important to analyze how the meanings of a text shift in relation to certain variables, usually involving the identity of the reader.
[...]
Post-structuralism rejects the notion of the essential quality of the dominant relation in the hierarchy, choosing rather to expose these relations and the dependency of the dominant term on its apparently subservient counterpart. The only way to properly understand these meanings is to deconstruct the assumptions and knowledge systems which produce the illusion of singular meaning. This act of deconstruction illuminates how male can become female, how speech can become writing, and how rational can become emotional.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-structuralism
EDIT: In case some don't know what post-structuralism is:
Post-structuralism grew as a response to structuralism’s perceived assumption that its own system of analysis was somehow essentialist. Post-structuralists hold that in fact even in an examination of underlying structures, a slew of biases introduce themselves, based on the conditioning of the examiner. At the root of post-structuralism is the rejection of the idea that there is any truly essential form to a cultural product, as all cultural products are by their very nature formed, and therefore artificial.
[...]
Post-structuralism is importantly different from postmodernism (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-postmodernism.htm)[...] Postmodernism importantly seeks to identify a contemporary state of the world, the period that is following the modernist period. Postmodernism seeks to identify a certain juncture, and to work within the new period. Post-structuralism, on the other hand, can be seen as a more explicitly critical view, aiming to deconstruct ideas of essentialism in various disciplines to allow for a more accurate discourse
From: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-post-structuralism.htm
General practices
Post-structural practices generally operate on some basic assumptions:
Post-structuralists hold that the concept of "self" as a separate, singular, and coherent entity is a fictional construct. Instead, an individual comprises tensions between conflicting knowledge claims (e.g. gender, race, class, profession, etc.). Therefore, to properly study a text a reader must understand how the work is related to his or her own personal concept of self. This self-perception plays a critical role in one's interpretation of meaning. While different thinkers' views on the self (or the subject) vary, it is often said to be constituted by discourse(s). Lacan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacan)'s account includes a psychoanalytic dimension, while Derrida (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derrida) stresses the effects of power on the self. This is thought to be a component of post-modernist theory.
The author's intended meaning, such as it is (for the author's identity as a stable "self" with a single, discernible "intent" is also a fictional construct), is secondary to the meaning that the reader perceives. Post-structuralism rejects the idea of a literary text having a single purpose, a single meaning, or one singular existence. Instead, every individual reader creates a new and individual purpose, meaning, and existence for a given text. To step outside of literary theory, this position is generalizable to any situation where a subject perceives a sign. Meaning (or the signified (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Course_in_General_Linguistics), in Saussure (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_de_Saussure)'s scheme, which is as heavily presumed upon in post-structuralism as in structuralism) is constructed by an individual from a signifier (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Course_in_General_Linguistics). This is why the signified is said to 'slide' under the signifier, and explains the talk about the "primacy of the signifier."
A post-structuralist critic must be able to use a variety of perspectives to create a multifaceted interpretation of a text, even if these interpretations conflict with one another. It is particularly important to analyze how the meanings of a text shift in relation to certain variables, usually involving the identity of the reader.
[...]
Post-structuralism rejects the notion of the essential quality of the dominant relation in the hierarchy, choosing rather to expose these relations and the dependency of the dominant term on its apparently subservient counterpart. The only way to properly understand these meanings is to deconstruct the assumptions and knowledge systems which produce the illusion of singular meaning. This act of deconstruction illuminates how male can become female, how speech can become writing, and how rational can become emotional.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-structuralism