Nile Hardy

Structuralism

• Is a method of interpretation or analysis, of someones past experiences, though process, and senses.
• There are four unique patterns of Structuralism, they are comic, romantic, tragic, and ironic.
•  In every language there is a conventional connection between symbols(words) and external objects(meaning), the connections vary between languages, but Structuralism argues that there are underlying universal connections. 
•   One problem with Structuralism is people argue that it takes the individuality of the story.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structuralism

What Did Jane Eyre Do? Ideology Agency, Class and the Novel

By Chris R. Vanden Bossche 

Thesis:  To Be Done 

http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/20107362?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=structuralism&searchText=jane&searchText=eyre&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dstructuralism%2Bjane%2Beyre%26amp%3Bprq%3Dstructuralism%2Bwith%2Bjane%2Beyre%26amp%3Bhp%3D25%26amp%3Bacc%3Don%26amp%3Bwc%3Don%26amp%3Bfc%3Doff%26amp%3Bso%3Drel%26amp%3Bracc%3Doff

Postcolonialism Criticism/Reader-Response Criticism/Gender and Queer Studies

Postcolonialism Criticism
- Drawing from post-modern schools of thought, Post-colonial Studies analyse the politics of knowledge (creation, control, and distribution) by analyzing the functional relations of social and political power that sustain colonialism and neo-colonialism — the how and the why of an imperial régime’s representations (social, political, cultural) of the imperial colonizer and of the colonized people.

Reader-Response Criticism
- Reader-response theory recognizes the reader as an active agent who imparts "real existence" to the work and completes its meaning through interpretation. Reader-response criticism argues that literature should be viewed as a performing art in which each reader creates their own, possibly unique, text-related performance. It stands in total opposition to the theories of formalism and the New Criticism, in which the reader's role in re-creating literary works is ignored.

Gender and Queer Studies
-  For example, gender studies and queer theory maintains that cultural definitions of sexuality and what it means to be male and female are in flux: "...the distinction between "masculine" and "feminine" activities and behavior is constantly changing, so that women who wear baseball caps and fatigues...can be perceived as more piquantly sexy by some heterosexual men than those women who wear white frocks and gloves and look down demurely" (Richter 1437).



Postcolonialism and Jane Eyre(Sue Thomas): 

http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/40347124?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=jane&searchText=eyre&searchText=postcolonialism&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Djane%2Beyre%2Bpostcolonialism%26amp%3Bprq%3Djane%2Beyre%26amp%3Bhp%3D25%26amp%3Bacc%3Don%26amp%3Bwc%3Don%26amp%3Bfc%3Doff%26amp%3Bso%3Drel%26amp%3Bracc%3Doff

Constructionist Criticism in Literature

Source

Source

Cool Image (Kelly)

1. Structuralism forms the basis of Semiotics. (the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation.)
2. Structuralism introduces the idea of the "subject" as opposed to the idea of the individual.
3. Through structuralism, literature is seen as a whole: it functions as a system of meaning and reference no matter how many works there are.

I learned that structuralism is present in many aspects of our lives. Ranging from literature, to the way we conduct business around the world. I also learned that "language exists in patterns, certain underlying elements are common to all human experiences".

I think you all would appreciate how this draws from the natural sense of reading, and makes connections with normal things we find throughout our lives.

Source 1
Source 2

JSTOR Essay 

Victorian Literature and Culture (Idolatry in "Jane Eyre")

The idolatry that Kathleen Vejvoda talks about in her essay is directly related to Structuralism/Semiotics because the use of idols in literature connects to the idea that structuralism uses symbols to analyze/criticize literature.

Marxist Literary Criticism

Essential Questions for Marxist Literary Criticism

• Does your novel support the economic and social status quo, or does it advocate change?
• What role does the class system play in your novel?
• What is the author's analysis of class relations?
• What does the author's work say about oppression? Are social conflicts ignored or blamed elsewhere?
• Does the text raise criticism about the emptiness of a life in bourgeoise society?
• Are characters from all skill levels equally sketched?

A Marxist Criticism of the Itsy Bitsy Spider

Marxism in Jane Eyre

Marxist, Moral, and Feminist Criticism

Marxist Criticism
- has to deal with social classes; essential question is "who does it beneift?"
Moral Criticism
- Literary criticism is an analysis – the study, evaluation, and interpretation – of literature

Feminist Criticism
- Feminist criticism is concerned with "...the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women"

Fe

In-Class Stuff

Structuralism and Semiotics believe that, like in language, everything in life has underlying connections with everything else, just like all languages are all connected in small, similar ways
One of the biggest discussion points in

Semiotics, Structuralism, and Television - 

http://journalism.uoregon.edu/~cbybee/j388/semiotics.html

Super Simple Chart that Displays the Basic Idea of Semiotics

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Chart_Semiotics_of_Social_Networking.jpg





A Structuralist Criticism of Alfred Hitchcock -

http://faculty.cua.edu/johnsong/hitchcock/pages/theories.html

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3828358?seq=3&Search=yes&searchText=jane&searchText=eyre&searchText=jamaica&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Djamaica%2Bjane%2Beyre%26amp%3Bacc%3Don%26amp%3Bwc%3Don%26amp%3Bfc%3Doff&prevSearch=&resultsServiceName=null

This article was called "Colonialism and the Figurative Strategy of 'Jane Eyre'," written by Susan L. Meyer. The article’s thesis was that Charlotte Brontë used race in Jane Eyre to showcase gender issues. This is a slight combination of both gender and feminist criticism, as well as a bit of post-colonial criticism, as the article’s usage of race as a contrasting point shows that race (relating to previously British-controlled countries and/or colonies) was another key issue in the day Jane Eyre was written.

Post-Colonial Criticism (1990s-present)

Waylon Jin

Mr. O'Brien British Literature E Block

March 8, 2014

Post-Colonial Criticism

Post-Colonial Criticism- A type of cultural criticism, post colonial criticism usually involves the analysis of literary texts produced in countries and cultures that have come under the control of European colonial powers at some point in their history("The Bedford Glossary").

• History is Written by the Victors
• A Unique Perspective on Empire
• Power, Hegemony, and Literature

Interesting Points-  

• in Things Fall Apart, Achebe details the strife and devastation that occurred when British colonists began moving inland from the Nigerian coast. Rather than glorify from the European point of view, Achebe illustrates destructive events.
• influenced by Marxist thought, by the work of Michel Foucault
• It is not a question of restoring precolonial cultures, but rather showing how former colony and colonizer can establish a mutually respectful relationship in a post colonial world.

http://www.123helpme.com/things-fall-apart-by-chinua-achebe-view.asp?id=162764

^

Thesis- Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe was a perfect example 

of what effect new ideas and technology can have on societies that have 
been isolated for generations and have created a unique culture and 
society because of it.

^Post Colonial Criticism is the school of criticism.

• Nigeria is analyzed with the effect of British colonialism on it. Achebe is the author of the novel and originating from the colonized country. He does not demonstrate the misconception of European influence, but the actual devastating effects in it.

Another Essay- http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/3828358?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=Jane&searchText=Eyre&searchText=post&searchText=colonialism&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DJane%2BEyre%2Bpost%2Bcolonialism%26amp%3Bacc%3Don%26amp%3Bwc%3Don%26amp%3Bfc%3Doff

^Thesis-. Bronte uses references to colonized races to represent various social 

situations in British society: female subordination in sexual relationships, fe- 

male insurrection and rage against male domination, and the oppressive class 

position of the female without family ties and a middle-class income.