Structuralism

Post-modern theology is highly suspicious of social theory and its secular origins. After all, the founder who gave us the word “sociology” also coined the term “positivism.” An alternative strategy is that of Bernard Lonergan, a theologian with a highly developed sociological imagination. He was quite aware of the secularity but devoted a life-time in trying to think through some of the key issues. His was a mind on the move and perhaps it is not surprising that his contribution has yet to be assimilated.
In this paper I shall take a look at a key text from Lonergan’s magnum opus, Insight. I will suggest that, in a sense, this may be regarded as “social physics” (another phrase from Auguste Comte). As we shall see, Lonergan’s thought wrestled with many issues of concern to the other founders of sociology: Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim, and Max Weber, but his vision is quite original, and in fact, he will draw on Arnold J. Toynbee.
I do not believe Lonergan’s work is beyond criticism—as his later developments suggest—so I will try to identify some difficulties by examining closely some of those later changes. Before offering my appraisal, then, I will look at Lonergan’s social theory from five periods. First, I shall simply record his interest in the 1930s by referring to some work he retained in a file but never published. Then I shall give a more careful exposition of a chapter written in the early 1950s. I will suggest that Lonergan’s deployment of mathematical analogies to understand social theory underwent some changes and so I will look at that transition in the 1960s. I will then be able to take a glance at the new way Lonergan presented his ideas in Method in Theology (1972) and go on to sample a few developments in the last decade up to 1980. In my appraisal we will be able to see some of the strengths and weaknesses Lonergan encountered in his project of social physics and perhaps make a small increase to the stock of ideas myself.

Enclosed is the syllabus and course notes from the upper division course I teach in PostModernism and Post-Marxist Critical Theory. It occurs to me that some of these essays--ranging from Horkheimer and Adorno, Baudrillard, Foucault, and the feminist post-modern theorist Donna Haraway may offer some insight and some tools for comprehending the dark times in which we live. While these essays may not be directly aimed at understanding the rise of phenomena like the Alt-Right, toxic masculinity, and particularly violent forms of patriarchy, I think they can show us something about the ideological trends that set us on out current morally troubling path.

Sažetak: Altiserov neosporni doprinos istoriji marksizma je u tome što je pokazao da apstraktan filozofski diksurs o čoveku, njegovom otuđenju i razotuđenju (oslobođenju), koji je dominirao i dotadašnjom marksističkom filozofijom, predstavlja ozbiljnu prepreku za jednu radikalnu teorijsku i političku praksu. Naime, takav humanizam previđa suštinski značaj klasne borbe i klasne analize. On je s pravom ukazao i na odsustvo razvijene teorije ideologije u marksističkoj filozofiji, ispravno kritikujući neke ograničenosti Marksovog shvatanja ideologije. Ipak, njegov krajnji stav da ideologija ostaje trajan element društvene stvarnosti, tj. da je nužna za svako, a ne samo klasno društvo, nije prihvatljiv. On negira mogućnost da čovek ovlada strukturama svog društvenog života; one neminovno dominiraju nad životom i svešću pojedinaca, uprkos iščezavanju klasnih odnosa eksploatacije. Uticaj strukturalizma dolazi ovde do punog izražaja: subjekti su zahvaćeni anonimnim objektivnim strukturama, a njihova svest (subjektivnost) samo je učinak delovanja (ideoloških) struktura. Strukturalizam kod Altisera odnosi tako prevagu nad Marks(izm)om. Čini se stoga da Altiserova teorija ideologije, koja projektuje otuđenu podelu rada i postojanje ideologije i u samo besklasno društvo, u krajnjem završava kao jedna teorijska ideologija. Ključne reči: ideologija, marksizam, strukturalizam, humanizam, materijalizam, idealizam, nauka, utopija, kritika, revolucija, (bes)klasno društvo Summary: Altiserov unquestionable contribution to the history of Marxism is in prove that an abstract philosophical discourse about the man, his alienation and de-alienation (liberation), which was dominant in the Marxist philosophy too, is a serious obstacle to a radical theoretical and political practice. Namely, such a humanism overlooks the crucial importance of class struggle and class analysis. He also rightly pointed to the lack of developed theory of ideology in Marxist philosophy, properly criticized some of the limitations of Marx's conception of ideology. However, his ultimate position that ideology remains a permanent element of social reality, ie. it is a necessary for each, not just a class society, is unacceptable. He denies the possibility that man can overmaster the structures of his social life; they inevitably dominate the life and consciousness of individuals, despite the disappearance of class relations of exploitation. The influence of structuralism comes here to the fore: the subjects are affected by anonymous objective structures, and their consciousness (subjectivity) is just the effect of action of these (ideological) structures. So, structuralism prevails Marx(ism) in Althusser’s thought. It appears therefore that Althusser's theory of ideology, which projects the alienated division of labor and the existence of ideology in a classless society too, ultimately ends up as a theoretical ideology. Key words: ideology, Marxism, structuralism, humanism, materialism, idealism, science, utopia, criticism, revolution, class(less) society

This work outlines the nature of free will and determinism in the universe according to Paul C. Mocombe’s theory of phenomenological structuralism.  The author posits that phenomenological structuralism is a deterministic theory, which sees free will as an illusion and the product of the human ability to defer meaning in ego-centered communicative discourse.

The active-organism and reactive-organism concepts are meaningful in psychology to the extent that they are understood as basic and essential metaphors which form the context for the definition of other concepts. The origin of the active-organism metaphor is found in philosophical positions which accept activity as primary and the object as derived. The reverse is the case for the reactive-organism metaphor. The consequences of an active-organism metaphor include the development of alternative paradigms for the understanding of diverse areas such as language, conception, perception, and motivation.

the formulation of social policy in Latin America in the 80's was influenced in an adverse economic context due not only to the effects of the international crisis of those years but also because of the strong confrontation by many upon the prevailing policies of economic development (Structuralism), as well as by the prevalence then reached.

This article serves as a demonstration of how certain models of literary analysis, used to theorize and analyze fiction and narrative, can also be applied to scientific communication in such a manner as to promote the accessibility of science to the general public and a greater awareness of the methodology used in making scientific discovery. The approach of this article is based on the assumption that the principles of structuralism and semiotics can provide plausible explanations for the divide between the reception of science and literature. We provide a semiotic analysis of a scientific article that has had significant impact in the field of molecular biology with profound medical implications. Furthermore, we show how the structural and semiotic characteristics of literary texts are also evident in the scientific papers, and we address how these characteristics can be applied to scientific prose in order to propose a model of scientific communication that reaches the public. By applying this theoretical framework to the analysis of both scientific and literary communication, we establish parallels between primary scientific texts and literary prose.

The burial photograph taken at a German Cemetery on the 4 April 1944 is of Flight Sergeant Jones DFM’s funeral. His daughter Gill Sarsby was born one month after this event so they never met. Gill has always mourned not knowing her father, and only having a small amount of material culture linking them, the objects have an elevated importance. The artefact investigated in this study is the burial photograph of Flight Sergeant Jones. This precious object is deciphered using the interdisciplinary approach of Modern Conflict Archaeology, by which the photograph becomes a conduit for discovery. But also the main informant Gill is a focus of investigation to better understand the relationships between loss, material culture, memorialisation and memory. Through material culture research, engagement with landscape, memory and imagination, it will be shown an individual who had never known her father was able to feel an emotional connection with him and a gap between generations created by twentieth century conflict was bridged.

L’Homme pet (Mitshishkapeu), le Maître de la merde (Meiatshi) et l’Anus parlant du mythe de Carcajou sont-ils la même entité ? Un examen de la cosmologie et de la mythologie innues nous amène à penser que ces trois figures gagnent à être examinées conjointement. Les auteurs situent cette démonstration dans une réflexion plus large sur les rapports entre entités maîtres et figures prototypiques des temps mythiques dans les cosmologies autochtones. Dans un premier temps, ils confirment le statut de Maître de la merde de Meiatshi au sein de la cosmologie innue à partir d’une revue de la littérature et de données ethnographiques provenant d’Unamen Shipu (La Romaine). S’ensuit une analyse théorique des rapports entre entités mythiques et personnes autres qu’humaines dans les mondes autochtones. Cette réflexion amène à formuler l’hypothèse que, en contexte innu, les entités prototypiques des temps mythiques sont à situer dans une continuité avec les entités-maîtres du présent. Cet article se conclut sur une analyse de la figure de l’Anus parlant du mythe de Carcajou, qui établit une équivalence topologique entre cette figure et Mitshishkapeu.

This paper explores parallels between Native American ritual and Jewish, specifically Kabbalistic thought, from several perspectives, focusing on the very precise parallels between the structure of the Inipi or sweatlodge ceremony, and Kabbalistic ideas about the unification of Tiferet and Shekhinah, the divine masculine and feminine. It also explores the issues of cultural appropriation with respect to both Judaism and Native American religions. The framework of this paper is in many senses outdated, but the structuralist exploration of ritual and theology remains potentially useful. Delivered at 2010 symposium on Jews and Native Americans held at Columbia University.

belonged to the core of the Prague School and after the death of Vilém Mathesius he was even the president of the Prague Linguistic Circle. In spite of this he is almost unknown in the world. With the present volume, the authors wish -in the year of the 120th anniversary of Havránek's birth -to remind the world linguistics of his existence.

This paper is the result of an attempt to carry out a close reading ofthe videogames series God of War (GOW). The purpose of thisstudy was to scrutinise the structure of the plot in such as way asto better understand how game developers use this medium todeliver stories. The tool used to undertake this task was JosephCampbell’s monomyth (Hero’s journey) as adapted by ChristopherVogler in his ‘Writer’s Journey’. The analysis was mostlyconcerned with the type of narrative components and structurespresent in the game/s. The researcher position in this study is thesame one used by Carr (2002); that is from the perspective of an‘academic fan’. Ultimately this work’s ontology was inductivelydeveloped from data collected from different sources; including fieldnotes of personal gaming sessions and documents associated withthe game such as game manuals, reviews, articles and otherrelated content.

Michel Foucault (1926-84) was a philosopher, social scientist and historian of ideas. He died as professor of the History of Systems of thought at the college De France in Paris. He has exerted an enormous influence on many branches of thoughts in the later twentieth century, including what is broadly known as ‘Cultural Studies’. The paper aims to highlight that he has a seminal impact on the New Historicism that was initiated by Stephen Greenblatt, as well as on queer theory. The central theme of most of Foucault’s works is “the methods with which modern civilization creates and controls human subjects through institutions such as hospitals, prisons, education, and knowledge. The corollary to these investigations was Foucault’s examination of power, its execution and distribution” (Habib, 766). His works offer a characterization of the growth of knowledge in the modern western world as manifested in the emergence of disciplines such as linguistics, economies and biology.

We turn our attention to the role of money for determining nominal magnitudes. Using US data, we find that the aggregate “nominal output plus and stock market capitalisation” is closely related to the money stock, lending support to one of Milton Friedman’s key monetarist propositions. This finding should be particularly important for ECB monetary policy: an inflation-free euro plays a

At the heart of this article is a fairly straightforward assertion: that literature has a trans-verbal level at which it affects us as a work of art. Hence discussing a novel means bringing to the fore not only its overt narrative function but also its covert artistic function: a consideration of the work in light of its aesthetic intention. Following the phenomenological traditions of Roman Ingarden and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, I argue that aesthetic intention does not determine the significance of the art object, which is presumed to be dynamic within a spectrum of meanings. Rather, aesthetic intention takes into account the circumstance of the novel having been actuated into form by an " artistic gesture. " This " gesture " is not physical: it is a metaphorical motion referring to the artist's actuation of an aesthetic intention using one or another medium to give an artwork its perceivable form. In painting, this " gesture " can sometimes be traced through a work's visible brushstrokes or formal composition, but in literature such " gestures " can appear beyond the literal text and remain invisible even while they are experienced in the literary work. The conception of such a " gesture " is meant to incorporate the insights of literary and aesthetic theory, along with poststructuralism, in a critique that allows for structural analysis to also pursue a reconstituted significance. What appears below is more a program of the problem than a full treatment of its implications – a stretching of the canvas, so to speak. But I believe that the articulation of this kernel has a value in itself even if the full unraveling of the subject is yet to come.

บทความนี้มุ่งศึกษาโครงสร้างของนิทานในวรรณคดีเรื่องมหาชาติคำหลวง โดยอาศัยทฤษฎีโครงสร้างสองทฤษฏีคือ ทฤษฎีโครงสร้างนิทานของวลาดิมีร์ พร็อพพ์ และทฤษฎีโครงสร้างเรื่องเล่าของ เอ เจ เกรมาส การพินิจโครงสร้างของนิทานในมหาชาติคำหลวงโดยละเอียดทำให้เห็นมุมมองใหม่ต่อวรรณคดีเรื่องนี้ว่า นิทานในมหาชาติคำหลวงแม้จะจัดว่าเป็นนิทานศาสนา แต่เมื่อพิจารณาจากโครงสร้างแล้วทำให้เห็นว่ามหาชาติคำหลวงมีความเป็นนิทานมหัศจรรย์อยู่ไม่ต่างจากนิทานรัสเซียหรือนิทานจักรๆ วงศ์ๆ ของไทย นอกจากนั้นแล้วแม้ตัวบทวรรณคดีจะเสนอว่าสิ่งที่ตัวเอกหรือพระเวสสันดรปรารถนาคือทานบารมี แต่ในระดับโครงสร้างจะพบว่าการได้กลับไปครอบครองบ้านเมืองของพระองค์ก็เป็นเป้าหมายสำคัญของเรื่องเช่นกัน กล่าวได้ว่าตัวบทได้นำเสนอแนวคิดสองอย่างที่เป็นคู่ตรงข้ามไปพร้อมกัน คือ โลกียะ-โลกุตระ ผ่านตัวเชื่อมคือชูชกและพระอินทร์ ทำให้เห็นว่าตัวบทมหาชาติคำหลวงให้ความสำคัญกับทั้งเรื่องของโลกและธรรม นอกจากนี้แนวคิดเรื่องบารมีในเรื่องก็เป็นบารมีทั้งทางโลกและทางธรรมด้วยเช่นกัน

The present study has a twofold purpose: Firstly, it is an analysis of the Karbalā´ Drama—i.e. the death of Ḥusayn b. `Alī in the hands of an army which had been sent out by the Umayyad authorities, at Karbalā´ in 60/680—as it is retold by the Muslim jurist and historiographer Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923). Despite its importance, especially to Shī`ite Islam, this text as such has received relatively little attention among scholars of Islam. In this study, the Karbalā´ Drama is regarded as a myth and the method used to analyze it is inspired by the structuralism of Claude Lévi-Strauss. Lévi-Straussian structuralism has probably never before been applied to early Arabic material to the extent that it is used here. The second purpose of the study, then, is to investigate to what extent and in what mode such a method is applicable to this material.
A portion of the text, called the “Text of Reference,” has been selected and thoroughly analyzed. In that analysis, a number of structural features such as codes, oppositions, mediations, and transformations has been identified and made the basis for a more cursory study of the rest of the story. An important structural feature that is detected in this way is the way the argument of the story is forwarded. By the transformation of metaphors into metonyms, the story attempts to make arbitrary relationships look natural and intrinsic. Such a relationship is that between water and blood—two liquids which are at times shed, at times withheld in the story. Husayn takes a mediating position in that he gives his water and his blood. He acts as mediator both in a negative sense (he establishes the basic Islamic opposition of good and evil), and in a positive sense (as religious guide he acts as a bridge between them).

Structuralism and dependency theory were the first significant contributions to political economy to arise from Latin America. Their enduring influence can be gauged by the casual manner in which the previous sentence uses the term 'periphery' -no explanation is required, because it seems to express an obvious feature of the contemporary world. Yet, on reflection, there is nothing simple about it: dividing the world into 'centre' and 'periphery' implies the existence of systemic and possibly insurmountable differences between rich and poor countries, which must themselves be explained, both historically and analytically. This is what these theories set out to do, initially in the context of the Latin American transition from primary export-led growth to import-substituting industrialisation (ISI). In spite of this geographically and historically specific frame of reference, the insights of structuralists and dependency theorists have been incorporated into a rich literature on development policy, and the condition of underdevelopment, spanning most of the world.

In his novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane (2013), Neil Gaiman has succeeded in telling another spellbinding ―fairy-tale‖ for adults. It is unique among Gaiman's novels, as it features a child protagonist and his specific worldview. Despite being a fantasy novel, with a narrative filled with magic and wonder, it tells the traumatic tale of memory, identity, self-sacrifice, and survival. It portrays the essential role of memory as a coping mechanism, necessary for survival, and the ways in which childhood occurrences ultimately shape the adult's identity. This article aims to address and analyse the identity formation and the role of the memory in this process in The Ocean at the End of the Lane, through the lens of memory studies, and structuralist theory.

This book presents a selection of several articles that characterize the main strands of linguistic thinking of Czech functionalists, particularly with respect to the English language. Several classic and well-known papers are complemented with an introductory chapter that outlines the basic theoretical concepts of Czech functionally-oriented linguistics as it developed in the first half of the twentieth century ("the Prague School"). The book is freely available online in multiple formats (PDF, EPUB, MOBI; see the link below).

The starting question is: to what extent is structural dance analysis related to structuralism and structural linguistics in the narrow sense? In this paper, which is intended to be the first part of a longer study, the author is examining the work of György Martin, one of the internationally recognized founders of the structural analysis of dance, concluding that he uses the concept of structure very differently from that developed by classical international structuralism based on structural linguistics, which envisions structure as a cognitive system located in the depth of the unconscious, which is being transformed over and over again into tangible, visible, empirically graspable surface forms. Structuralism in this narrow and concrete meaning is firmly mentalist and universalist, as it draws back all cultural diversity to permanent basic patterns underlying the functioning of the human mind. In the understanding of the author, the concept of structure in the perception of Martin refers to the formal architecture of dance movements, and is used in a generalized way, different from the structuralist view in a strict sense. In the case of György Martin, the concept of ‘structure’ refers to the structure and organization of the physically realized form of dances, which, according to the use of the structuralist concept, would be identical to the ‘surface structure’. He does not take into account the concept of ‘deep structure’ developed by structuralism, which presupposes an associatively organized system in which all elements are interrelated, not only in linearly realized forms, i.e. in the sequence of hierarchically interdependent elements, but also in a dimension outside of linear time. For Martin, the terms of ‘structural’, ‘morphological’ and ‘formal’ analysis ultimately often become synonymous with each other.

Mapping the historical and political context of the start of his career, it becomes clearer why the structuralist model remained limited in Martin's theory. The construction of the intellectual habitus of a researcher can be better understood when taking into account what type of theoretical paradigms his generation had access to. Martin graduated as a Hungarian language teacher and completed his studies licencing in history and ethnography at ELTE University in the 1950s, in the darkest years of Stalinism in Hungary. As structuralism was considered idealistic along with other theories in Hungary in the 1950s due to its mentalism, it had been practically excluded from education together with Saussurean general linguistics, which had been objected to by Soviet linguists as being a product of reactionary and decadent bourgois ideology.

Keywords:
Martin György, structural analysis, structuralism, dance and language, political power and scientific life

جامعه به عنوان بنیادی­ترین عامل شکل­‌دهنده­‌ی فرهنگ و ساختار اجتماعی، حامل تمامی ابعاد فرهنگ، سیاست، هنر و ادبیات است. جامعه و فراورده­‌های بشری در تقابلی همه­‌جانبه در حال تولید و بازتولید هستند؛ بنابراین اجتماع، آن چهارچوب بنیادینی است که فعالیت­ها و کنش­‌های بشری را جهت می­‌بخشد. هنر، به ویژه ادبیات، به مثابه‌­ی یکی از تولیدات بشری، برخلاف تصور پیشین که آن را تنها محصول ذوق و خلّاقیّت و دارای جنبه­‌ی ­تخیّلی صرف می‌­پنداشتند، کاملاً در احاطه­‌ی امر اجتماعی قرار دارد؛ برای تحلیل ادبیات باید دست به دامن نظریه­‌های اجتماعی شویم و ادبیات را در داخل چهارچوب اجتماع بررسی کنیم. آنچه که داعیه­‌دار این موضوع است، جامعه‌شناسی ادبیات تلقی می‌شود. پژوهشگران معتقدند عرصه‌ی جامعه‌­شناسی ادبیات هر قصه و اثر ادبی دیگر، وقایع زمانه‌ی خود را بازگو می­‌کند. هدف این مقاله بررسی ساختارهای ذهنی و زیبایی‌­شناختی سازنده­‌ی آگاهی جمعی موجود در رمان آخرین انار دنیا با تمرکز بر ساخت­گرایی تکوینی لوسین گلدمن بوده است. در این شیوه، محتوای اثر ادبی و رابطه‌­ی آن را با جامعه‌­ای بررسی می­‌کند که اثر در آن خلق شده است و به جای توصیف محتوای اثر ادبی به بررسی محتوا و رابطه­ی آن با جهان­‌نگری در یک دوران خاص می­‌پردازد. نتایج پژوهش نشان می­‌دهد که در این رمان با سه دوره از تاریخ سیاسی-اجتماعی کردستان روبه‌­رو هستیم. ادبیات خلق شده از نظر جان و صورت توأمان شده با شخصیت­‌هایی که هر کدام نماینده­‌ی دوره‌ه­ای خاص از تاریخ سیاسی-اجتماعی کردستان هستند. کردستان قبل از انتفاضه و بعد از انتفاضه که در آن جنگ داخلی روی می‌­دهد و عارضه‌­ها و پیامدهای سیاسی و اجتماعی بعد از شکل­‌گیری ایده­‌های سیاسی کردها.

The chapter provides an overview of proto-structuralist trends in various disciplines and fields and focuses on the most prominent developments in mid and late century structuralisms in Prague, Paris, Tartu and other centers. It also discusses the role of structuralism and semiotics in a major epistemological turn of the 20th century and the meanings and functions of "structure" in various disciplines.

This study applies phylogenetic software to motifs connected with the Pleiades as identified in Yuri Berezkin’s database, The Analytical Catalogue of World Mythology and Folklore. The aim of analysis is to determine which, if any, of the analysed motifs are likely to have spread in conjunction with the earliest migrations out of Africa and to the Americas. The Pleiades analysis is compared to an analysis of Orion motifs.

The rereading of the origins of the theory of the separation of powers leads us to several ideas that have the potential to reconfigure it for the future. Locke, Montesquieu and the French revolutionaries distinguish functions from bodies, even though their delineation criterion is intuited rather than constructed, announcing the need for the systemic and functional nature of the power of devolution. The jurisdictional power is situated somewhat outside the separation of state powers. Justice resembles an intermediary body between state and community rather than a power of the state. The (horizontal) separation of the central powers of the state is merely a power limitation technique situated in a larger system. The vertical structuring of power, the pluralist structuring of intermediary bodies and the autonomy of civil society, understood firstly and foremost as autonomy of the bourgeois economy from political power, are concerned. Since the origins of the theory, the structuring of the system of parties, the structuring of the right of suffrage and the autonomous structuring of the economy have been understood as necessary fundaments of the functionalization of the separation of powers. The re-evaluation of the origins of the theory of the separation of powers indicates that it has always been about the separation of state, justice and civil society rather than the separation of powers.

In Algorithmic Desire, Matthew Flisfeder shows that social media is a metaphor that reveals the dominant form of contemporary ideology: neoliberal capitalism. The preeminent medium of our time, social media’s digital platform and algorithmic logic shapes our experience of democracy, enjoyment, and desire. Weaving between critical theory and analyses of popular culture, Flisfeder uses examples from The King’s Speech, Black Mirror, Gone Girl, The Circle, and Arrival to argue that social media highlights the antisocial dimensions of twenty‑first century capitalism. He counters leading critical theories of social media—such as new materialism and accelerationism—and thinkers such as Gilles Deleuze and Michel Foucault, proposing instead a new structuralist account of the ideology and metaphor of social media. Emphasizing the structural role of crises, gaps, and negativity as central to our experiences of reality, Flisfeder interprets the social media metaphor through a combination of dialectical, Marxist, and Lacanian frameworks to show that algorithms may indeed read our desire, but capitalism, not social media, truly makes us antisocial. Wholly original in its interdisciplinary approach to social media and ideology, Flisfeder’s conception of “algorithmic desire” is timely, intriguing, and sure to inspire debate.

The monograph is an integrated study of the cohesion patterns in the structural elements of the literary-artistic unity of the mine cycle cannon in Kievan Rus in the XI-XIII centuries. In the Introduction it is mentioned that in the medieval literature mine cycle cannon has a structure of multilayer formation and its elements’ cohesion can be traced on three levels: 1) paradigmatic (within one theme which unites 9 songs and is/is not retained by acrostic); 2) integral (within 9 separate local themes that are integrated into irmos and tropars); 3) imagery (within the glorified image which consists of one/several semiotic cores with/without semiotic periphery).

This article pays tribute to Ferdinand de Saussure’s contribution to the study of literature. De Saussure’s idea that the linguistic sign is a combination between sound images and concepts, and that their relationship is arbitrary (De Saussure, 1916) is my starting point to explore Katherine Mansfield’s particular way to combine both music and meaning in order to reveal different, and often opposed, levels of consciousness in the characters of her short story “The Singing Lesson”.  The study is based on a structuralist analysis (Genette, 1972, 1983) of sound and meaning in Mansfield’s short story as it highlights transgressive narrative structures leading to blurring polyphonic voices and discloses the provoking and dual relationship between music and meaning in “The singing Lesson”.

Keywords: Contrapuntal music, Narrative mood, Polyphony, Structuralism

This paper explores parallels between Native American ritual and Jewish, specifically Kabbalistic thought, from several perspectives, focusing on the very precise parallels between the structure of the Inipi or sweatlodge ceremony, and Kabbalistic ideas about the unification of Tiferet and Shekhinah, the divine masculine and feminine. It also examines the romanticization and commodification of tribalism and the concurrent problem of cultural appropriation with respect to both Judaism and Native American religions. The framework of this paper is in many senses outdated, but the structuralist exploration of ritual and theology remains potentially useful. Delivered at 2010 symposium on Jews and Native Americans held at Columbia University.

EL lenguaje humano ha sido observado y estudiado desde hace muchos siglos según enfoques e intereses varios. Hasta casi el comienzo de nuestra centuria esta larga labor lingüística no se centró en el objeto mismo que pretendía analizar, el lenguaje, pues los viejos gramáticos buscaban fines externos, bien sagrados y religiosos, bien normativos y retóricos. Ahora, por el contrario, parece que todos intentamos estudiar el lenguaje desde un punto de vista inmanente. No obstante, el abanico de métodos es tan amplio y las terminologías empleadas tan dispares, que el neófito de estos estudios se encuentra con una situación tan confusa y tan poco clara como la precedente.

Vladimir Propp'un masallar üzerine yaptığı çalışmalar, yapısalcı yöntemin halkbilimi alanındaki ilk uygulama örnekleri arasındadır. 1928 yılında kaleme aldığı Masalın Biçimbilimi adlı eserinde olağanüstü masallar olarak adlandırdığı masal grubunun aynı biçimsel yapıya sahip olduğunu tespit eden Propp, bu biçimsel özellikleri açıklarken masal kahramanlarının temsil ettiği yedi eylem alanından, anlatının hangi biçimlerde sürdüğüne yönelik anlatı şemalarından ve her olağanüstü masalı kapsadığını öne sürdüğü otuz bir işlevden bahseder. Bu çalışmada Vladimir Propp'un bu yapısalcı yöntemi açıklanmış ve incelenmiştir. Ona getirilen ve getirilebilecek eleştirilerle birlikte Propp'un Ferdinand de Saussure ile Jacquas Derrida'nın kuramları ekseninde değerlendirilmesine de yer verilmiştir. Propp'un yapısalcı yönteminin ve bu kapsamdaki çalışmalarının çok kısıtlı bir geçerlilik alanına sahip olduğu ama bilhassa bazı masal türlerinde evrensel sonuçlar elde edilmesini mümkün kıldığı ortaya koyulmuştur. Temel kaynak kitap olarak yazarın Morphology of the Folktale isimli eseri kullanılmış, ayrıca bu alanda yapılan belli başlı bazı çalışmalara başvurulmuştur. Son bölümde J.R.R. Tolkien'in Hobbit isimli eseri üzerinde Propp'un yöntemi uygulanmaya çalışılmış ve ortaya çıkan sonuçlar detaylı olarak sunulmuştur.