Page 115 - DENG501_LITERARY_CRITICISM_AND_THEORIES

Unit 9: Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences’—Jacques Derrida: Critical Appreciation

These two finally irreconcilable interpretations of interpretation share the field of the social sciences. Notes
It seems trivial to talk of choosing between them, since their common field is not yet conceived.
We are just in the beginning of the conception, formation, gestation, and labor to bring forth a
monstrosity, as any new birth is, formless, mute, infant.
Self-Assessment
1. Choose the correct options:
(i) Derrida demonstrates how structuralism as represented by the anthropologist Clande
Levi-Strauss in ............... .
(a) 1965 (b) 1966
(c) 1950 (d) 1985
(ii) Derrida’s structure published in ............... .
(a) 1970 (b) 1975
(c) 1966 (d) 1985
(iii) In “Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences”, Derrida starts off
hinting at an event, a ............... .
(a) change (b) rupture
(c) ideas (d) structure
(iv) By structure, Derrida means ............... .
(a) an intellectual edifice (b) philosophical system of ideas
(c) a kind of diseases (d) all of these
(e) none of these
9.3 Summary

• Although an analysis of structure cannot provide a complete analysis of a literary work, it
can be used as a method of approach in interpretation. Robert Detweiler, in his book Story,
Sign, and Self: Phenomenology and Structuralism as Literary-Critical Methods, describes
how structuralism attempts to analyze literature: "In every instance it is the structure, the
relationship among phonemes, sentences, and other elements of discourse, and not the
individual elements by themselves that produces meaning". In other words, studying the
structure of language and the work as a whole does not explain the meaning, but it can
provide an understanding of how a piece of literature takes on meaning. Miramar, by Naguib
Mahfouz, provides an example of the uses of structural analysis. Miramar consists of the
same basic story, told from the point of view of four different characters. On the language
level, the diction each narrator uses to tell their story sets them apart from the others, while
highlighting the division of culture that each comes to represent. On the plot level, the
repetition of the same basic events works to further develop the story each time it is told,
while the unique point of view of each telling provides a well-rounded view through pluralistic
storytelling. These central ideas come together to form the whole: a slice out of life in Egypt,
the Pension Miramar, and the lives of its residents.
• In his essay "Structuralism, Semiotics, and Deconstruction," David Richter discusses Saussure's
concept of parataxis. In order to illustrate the concept, Richter compares words of a certain
type (e.g. nouns or verbs) to the items listed on a restaurant's menu under the soup category:
"The items are similar enough to belong to one category (soups) yet different (in their
ingredients)". In other words (no pun intended), words can exists in the same category yet
have very different shades of meaning or levels of uses. In Miramar, Mahfouz plays with the
language in order to indicate different personalities and class backgrounds in his narrators.
For example, Amer Wagdi, an elderly man who was once a well-known journalist, uses
eloquent speech and high diction in his narration. He starts off the novel with a poetic air:
"Alexandria. At last. Alexandria, Lady of the Dew. Bloom of white nimbus. Bosom of radiance,
wet with sky-water. Core of nostalgia steeped in honey and tears". The words he chooses to

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 109