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Literature vocabulary · Criticism and Analysis

Structuralism

Meaning in literature, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In literature, structuralism means: An approach examining the underlying systems and relationships that make literary meaning possible.

In Turkish: yapısalcılık

How it is used

Use when analyzing shared narrative patterns or systems of differences rather than isolated symbols.

Example sentences

  1. Structuralism helped the class compare the same sequence of roles across three different tales.

    The analysis looks for relationships beneath differing surface details.

  2. The essay uses structuralism to examine how the story organizes oppositions between home and wilderness.

    The paired settings gain meaning through their relation to each other.

Common collocations

  • literary structuralism
  • structuralism and narrative
  • literary theoryThe study of the ideas and methods used to read and interpret literature, such as structuralism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, feminism and postcolonial theory.
  • narratologyThe study of how narratives are structured and how storytelling techniques shape meaning, perspective, time, and reader response.

More terms: Criticism and Analysis

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