Formalism and Structuralism

It is an interpretive approach that emphasizes literary form and the study of literary devices “within” the text.

• Formalism

• Structuralism

• Literary Devices

• Literary Criticism

It deals about discovering the structures or rules that govern groups of literary works.

e.g. narrative elements (plot, character, conflict, setting, point of view); there are certain principles or structures that can be found in all novels, or other types of literature.

• Formalism

• Structuralism

• Literary Devices

• Literary Criticism

It is essentially an opinion, supported by evidence, relating to theme, style, setting or historical or political context. It also includes discussion of the work’s content and integrates your ideas with other insights gained from research.

• Formalism

• Structuralism

• Literary Devices

• Literary Criticism

These are the various elements or techniques used in writing to achieve the purpose of the author.

• Formalism

• Structuralism

• Literary Devices

• Literary Criticism

FORMALISM connects the work of a particular author with works of similar structures, while STRUCTURALISM only analyses one particular work at a time.

• True

• False

FORMALISM analyses the genre, mode, form and discourse while rejecting bibliographical, cultural, historical and social contexts, while STRUCTURALISM analyses universal, underlying structures in a text.

• False

• True

For structuralists, language can be any form of signaling—not just speech or words, but anything that involves communication.

• True

• False

The signifier is the thing, item, or code that we ‘read’ – so, a drawing, a word, a photo, while the signified is the idea or meaning being expressed by that signifier.

• False

• True

The SIGNIFIED can be broken into two parts: the SIGN and the SIGNIFIER.

• True

• False

The one who introduced the two dominant models (SIGNIFIER and SIGNIFIED).

• Ferdinand de Sossure

• Fernando de Sassure

• Ferdinand de Saussure

• Ferdie de Sure