struc·tur·al·ism

(strŭk′chər-ə-lĭz′əm)

A method of analyzing phenomena, as in anthropology, linguistics, psychology, or literature, chiefly characterized by contrasting the elemental components of the phenomena in a system of binary opposition and examining how the elemental components are combined to make larger units.

struc′tur·al·ist adj. & n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

structuralism

(ˈstrʌktʃərəˌlɪzəm)

1. (Anthropology & Ethnology) an approach to anthropology and other social sciences and to literature that interprets and analyses its material in terms of oppositions, contrasts, and hierarchical structures, esp as they might reflect universal mental characteristics or organizing principles. Compare functionalism

2. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) an approach to anthropology and other social sciences and to literature that interprets and analyses its material in terms of oppositions, contrasts, and hierarchical structures, esp as they might reflect universal mental characteristics or organizing principles. Compare functionalism

3. (Linguistics) an approach to linguistics that analyses and describes the structure of language, as distinguished from its comparative and historical aspects

ˈstructuralist n, adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

struc•tur•al•ism

(ˈstrʌk tʃər əˌlɪz əm)

n.

1. any study or theory that embodies structural principles.

2. structural anthropology.

3. structural linguistics.

4. a school of psychology that analyzes conscious mental activity by studying the hierarchical association of structures, or complex ideas, with simpler ideas, perceptions, and sensations.

[1945–50]

struc′tur•al•ist, n., adj.

struc`tur•al•is′tic, adj.

structuralism

an emphasis in research and description upon the systematic relations of formal distinctions in a given language. Also called structural linguistics. — structuralist, n.

structuralism

1. An approach to the study of language that concentrates on its internal structure as opposed to the history of its development or its relationships with other languages.

2. A critical discipline which studies a text in relation to other known elements, including knowledge of the author, contemporaneous culture, literary convention, and facts not mentioned in the text but known to intended readers in addition to the text itself.

3. Structural anthropologists see cultural forms (e.g. customs, language, and tools used by man) as projections into this world of the inner workings of the human mind. The task of anthropology is to decode these cultural forms to reveal the principles through which the human mind operates.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	structuralism - linguistics defined as the analysis of formal structures in a text or discourse structural linguistics linguistics - the scientific study of language
	2.	structuralism - an anthropological theory that there are unobservable social structures that generate observable social phenomena structural anthropology theory - a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena; "theories can incorporate facts and laws and tested hypotheses"; "true in fact and theory" anthropology - the social science that studies the origins and social relationships of human beings
	3.	structuralism - a sociological theory based on the premise that society comes before individuals structural sociology theory - a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena; "theories can incorporate facts and laws and tested hypotheses"; "true in fact and theory" sociology - the study and classification of human societies

Translations

στρουκτουραλισμός

structuralisme

strukturalizmus

structuralism

[ˈstrʌktʃərəlɪzəm] N → estructuralismo m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

structuralism

n → der Strukturalismus

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

structuralism

[ˈstrʌktʃ/ərəˌlɪz/əm] n → strutturalismo

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

His topics are vicissitudes of Soviet Marxism; neo-rationalism, structuralism, and general methodology; the philosophy of personality and freedom; and culturology, or, the philosophy of culture.

The Phoenix of Philosophy: Russian Though of the Late Soviet Period (1953-1991)

Structuralism as a Response to Skepticism, DAVID J.

THE JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY: Vol. 115, No. 12, December 2018

In the late 1960's and early 1970's the philosopher Gilles Deleuze produced two important pieces, 'The Method of Dramatisation' and 'How Do We Recognise Structuralism?', that prefigure and summarise the approach developed in his major work Difference and Repetition.

The Obscure Drama of the Political Idea: Postcolonial Negotiations, Deleuzian Structures and the Concept of Cooperation

Fired from his university job by the dictatorship in '66, he led workshops on structuralism and Marshall McLuhan from his apartment, ultimately yielding a wholly informational genre--"mass media art"--that marked one of the earliest instances of Conceptualism in Latin America.

"Oscar Masotta: Theory As Action"

The Article concludes that amendment creep is an extension of a familiar form of constitutional reasoning known as structuralism, and that it may have several normative benefits for constitutional adjudication--such as promoting overall constitutional coherence and ensuring that judges give appropriate consideration to the democratic values that amendment rules embed in the constitutional framework.

Amendment creep

But before the hints, a little primer on structuralism.

Structuralist legal histories

Given the role played by the Prague Linguistic Circle in the emergence and development of structuralism, it is, of course, not surprising that its foundational texts and other major writings have been collected in anthologies (e.g.

Martin Prochazka, Ondfej Pilny (eds.). 2012. Prague English Studies and the Transformation of Philologies

The conclusion reflects on concepts of institutional structuralism and managed pluralism in the implementation of social development strategies.

Social Development: Theory & Practice

As a manifestation of Heidegger's question of the "ontic priority of Being," structuralism posits not an answer, but a methodology to isolate the nature of Being--the grounds for existence--by dissecting lived experience and rendering it comprehensible to the human intellect.

Structural convergence: Barthes and Buddhism

They have retained the earlier arrangement in which each author has his own introduction concerning psychoanalysis in modernism and as method, the social history of art both in models and in concepts, formalism and structuralism, and poststructuralism and deconstruction.

Art since 1900: Modernism, Anti-modernism, Postmodernism

There are also many summations and critical assessments of Levi-Straussian structuralism that have been produced over a number of decades, some of which contain biographical fragments.

Claude Levi-Strauss: the poet in the laboratory

CATHERINE W GICHUKI DOHA TWENTY-six exclusive art pieces by Iraqi-Armenian artist Shetha Faraj Abbo al Numan are on display at an exhibition titled 'Between Gestalt and Structuralism' at the Katara Gallery, building 19.

Katara to host 26 works of Iraqi-Armenian artist