structuralistinsights

Remember that a structuralist offers three important insights:

First, meaning is not inherent in a word, action, image, gesture, or quality. In
other words, there is no inherent connection between a concept, object,
action, or quality and the sign we use to represent it. Value, meaning, and
identity are not determined by an inherent or essential trait or attribute. For
example, when we refer to that thing outside with leaves and a trunk, we can
say "arbre," "tree," or "arbor," (and we could multiply examples by multiplying
languages). There is absolutely nothing inherent about the letters or sounds of
"t-r-e-e" and that leafy thing outside. So how does something gain value? See
insight number two.

Second, the context or system, not the essence, determines meaning. In other
words, something has value and identity only to the degree that it is part of a
system. Identity and value are determined by something's relation to other
parts in the system. For example, if you lose a chess piece, you can take a
wad of paper and say, "This is my rook," and you can continue to play the
game. The fact that the wad of paper doesn't look like a rook is irrelevant.
The wad of paper functions like a rook, and that's what counts. Saussure
provides an example of the 12:05 train to Geneva. The 12:05 train to Geneva
isn't necessarily the same train; it's the train that leaves for Geneva at 12:05. If
the train is broken down, the "train" could actually be a bus or a bunch of
helium balloons so long as the bus and balloons serve the same function by
taking people to Geneva.

The word "function" is important in that it suggests that objects, actions,
characters, places, etc. don't have an essential "meaning" that stays the same.
For example, we often say that the color "white" means purity, but the
meaning of "white" really depends on how that color functions within a
particular system. There is nothing essential about that color. We see clear
examples of how meaning can change when we look at how words have been
"recoded" in our culture. "Gay," "queer," "bad," "shag," "conservative,"
"liberal" are all examples of words that have changed their meaning because
the have a new function within a sign system.

Third, there is a difference between surface structure and deep structure.
Saussure in particular emphasizes the difference between what he calls
"langue" and "parole," or between the rules and structures that create meaning
and the particular meanings that result from those rules. What is interesting
about the sentences "He bought a loaf of bread. I have three children. We lost
three games." is not the content, but the deep structure. All three sentences
share the same pattern "subject-verb-object." Knowing the deep structure or
fundamental rules allows us to spin out a limitless number of sentences, but in
a sense, they are the same sentence: subject-verb-object.

Fourth, language constructs reality; naming is the act of positioning something
within a system. As noted earlier, the identity, value, and existence of
something depends on our ability to perceive and categorize it. For example,
we often talk of four seasons--spring, summer, fall, and winter--but there is
nothing inherent about four seasons. Sure, the seasons mark the longest day
and the shortest day and the half way points between the two, but why not
double the number of seasons by marking the half way points between the half
ways points? We would then actually notice more seasons. And why not
dump the idea of defining the seasons by the earth's position to the sun and
label seasons by temperature--anything above 80 is summer, anthing below
40 is winter and so on. Some people talk about a fifth season--mud season.
We talk about seven colors in the rainbow, but we could easily locate finer
distinctions. And here is yet another example... that period we call
"adolescence," a period between childhood and adulthood, didn't really exist
until the last 100 years or so until modern psychology started talking about it.
Thus we see the powerful effect of language to create and shape reality.