Post-Structuralism: An Indian Preview - Igcollege.org

Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded
of reality and those of ideas or the imagination—the "third order". In Lacan's psychoanalytic theory, for
example, the structural order of "the Symbolic" is distinguished both from "the Real" and "the
Imaginary"; similarly, in Althusser's Marxist theory, the structural order of the capitalist mode of
production is distinct both from the actual, real agents involved in its relations and from
the ideological forms in which those relations are understood. According to Alison Assiter, four ideas are
common to the various forms of structuralism. First, that a structure determines the position of each
element of a whole. Second, that every system has a structure. Third, structural laws deal with coexistence
rather than change. Fourth, structures are the "real things" that lie beneath the surface or the
appearance of meaning. In the 1970s, structuralism was criticized for its rigidity and ahistoricism. Despite
this, many of structuralism's proponents, such as Jacques Lacan, continue to assert an influence
on continental philosophy and many of the fundamental assumptions of some of structuralism's critics
(who have been associated with "post-structuralism") are a continuation of structuralism.
Post-structuralism is a label formulated by American academics to denote the heterogeneous works of a
series of French intellectuals who came to international prominence in the 1960s and '70s. The label
primarily encompasses the intellectual developments of prominent mid-20th-century
French and continental philosophers and theorists. The post-structuralist movement is difficult to
summarize, but may be broadly understood as a body of distinct responses to Structuralism. An
intellectual movement developed in Europe from the early to mid-20th century, Structuralism argued that
human culture may be understood by means of a structure-—modeled on language (ie., structural
linguistics)—that is distinct both from the organizations of reality and the organization of ideas and
imagination—a third order.(Richard:p8) The precise nature of the revision or critique of structuralism
differs with each post-structuralist author, though common themes include the rejection of the selfsufficiency
of the structures that structuralism posits and an interrogation of the binary oppositions that
constitute those structures.Writers whose work is often characterised as post-structuralist include Jacques
Derrida, Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Judith Butler and Julia Kristeva. The movement is closely
related to postmodernism. As with structuralism, antihumanism, as a rejection of
the enlightenment subject, is often a central tenet. Existential phenomenology is a significant influence;
one commentator has argued that post-structuralists might just as accurately be called "postphenomenologists."
Some have argued that the term "post-structuralism" arose in Anglo-
American academia as a means of grouping together continental philosophers who rejected the methods
and assumptions of analytical philosophy. Further controversy owes to the way in which looselyconnected
thinkers tended to dispense with theories claiming to have discovered absolute truths about the
world. Although such ideas generally relate only to the metaphysical (for instance, metanarratives of
historical progress, such as those of dialectical materialism), many commentators have criticized the
movement as relativist, nihilist, or simply indulgent to the extreme. Many so-called "post-structuralist"
writers rejected the label and they don’t have any manifesto.
It’s not hard to see that we are living in a time of rapid and radical social change. But it is quite hard to
grasp the fact that such change will inevitably affect the nature of those disciplines that both reflect our
society and help to shape it. It’s also true that inherited from the past no longer seem to fit the reality
experienced by a new generation. Therefore in various parts of the world, new methods of analysis have
been developed whose conclusions reveal the limitations one of Eurocentric philosophy and thinking.
New concepts of literary forms and modes have been proposed new notions of the natural perception.
Superstructuralism is a fine example of this. Super structuralism tries to cope with structuralism and poststructuralism
harmonious.
According to Harland Superstructuralism is not a theory or an ideology, rather it’s a fragmental discourse
of continues thinking. He asserts –
103 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1