Summary:
Structuralism enabled the opening of literary studies into cultural studies and helped break down the strict division of literature and popular writing. Structuralist approaches laid the foundations for other critical theories to evolve much of this involved with resisting what poststructuralists called the `violent hierarchies' revealed by structuralist methodology.
In what ways has structuralism impacted on literary criticism?
Since the mid twentieth century, the rise of structuralist methodology in literary theory has created seismic shifts opening up the study of text to cultural study and assisting in the development of other theories such as poststructuralism, feminism and postcolonialism. Structuralism challenged the idea of a politically detached study of text, epitomised in the then dominant new/practical criticism approaches. It reinforced the challenge to the tradition of the Leavisite canon already under attack with feminist writers, and encouraged the development of other critical theories which have radically influenced the study of literature today. Traditional literary criticism would be seen as inadequate for many later thinkers such as Eagleton (cited in Pope, 2002, p. 87) who would call it a "recipe for political inertia."
This essay will give a.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. There are 2,388 words (approx.
8 pages at 300 words per page) in the full essay.
Read the rest of this Essay with our In What Ways Has Structuralism Impacted on Literary Criticism? Access Pass.
