Structuralist Poetics : Structuralism, Linguist... ●

There is no "natural" reason why the word "rose" means that flower; it’s just a social agreement.

Structuralism takes its cues from , the "father of modern linguistics". He proposed that language is a system of signs where nothing has meaning on its own—only in relation to other things.

In his landmark 1975 book, , Jonathan Culler argues that reading literature is a lot like speaking a language. You don't just naturally "know" how to interpret a poem; you have mastered a hidden system of rules that makes that interpretation possible. 1. The Blueprint: Linguistics as the Model Structuralist poetics : structuralism, linguist...

If you want to understand how we find meaning in a story without just "guessing" what the author felt, you have to look at the

If linguistics studies the system of language ( langue ), then a "Poetics" should study the system of literature. 2. "Literary Competence": How You Learned to Read There is no "natural" reason why the word

Langue is the abstract system of rules (Grammar), while parole is the actual speaking we do.

The word "Rose" (the sound/ink) is the signifier . The concept of a flower is the signified . In his landmark 1975 book, , Jonathan Culler

Why do you know that a "dark and stormy night" in a novel suggests something bad is coming, but the same sentence in a weather report is just a fact?