Structuralism And Literary Criticism

                                               

Hello Reader,

This blog is a part of my academic activity which is given on this blog. In this theory, Structuralism is an approach to analyzing the narrative material by examining the underlying invariant structure. There are many structuralist critics like Ferdinand Saussure, Gerard Genette, Roland Barthes, Claude Levi-Strauss etc. Structuralist critics found basic common structure in every work. As all the human beings have a same structure from inside, similarly literature has basic structure and it is same everywhere whether it movies, Tv serials or advertisement.

So, here being a structuralist I am going to analyse one poetry 'Meri Saree' by Sabika Abbas Naqvi with the help of different perspective or term of structuralism like: 

                                 

• Wider contextual literature
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• Sign, signifier and signified 
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•  Langage, Langue and Paro
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• code without message.
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1) Wider contextual  literature:

In this perspective wide range reading of any kind of literature, reader should be familiar with the intentionally metaphoric meaning of the words and different phenomena used in work. In this poem she mingled all women from Kashmir to kanyakumari and portrayed their strength in the form of saree and also connected the poem with various historical events and characters like Savitribai Phule, Dropadi's disrobing event, acid attack victim Laxmi Agarwal and Iron lady Irom who protested against government act(AFSPA). Bela Bhatia who working in Bastar district of chhattisgarh for human right and Shabah Haji(social reformer from J&K)The poet also says about fascism that is indicate to Gulabi Gang(the group of women activist from U.P who wear pink Saree and stand for violence against women ). So here we can say that one can not understand without wide knowledge like who was Savitribai, Bela Bhatia, laxmi and Irom. Thus reader should uncover structure of the poem to understand in the proper way. 

       

                                               

2) Sign, signifier and signified:

Here we will analyze this poem with Ferdinand De Saussure's term of sign, signifier and signified that first we can say that signifier means a thing that give us proper meaning so this saree is signifier and then what is evoke in our mind what is mental concept, so our mental concept see that saree as only a clothe or the clothes of ladies that called signified then anything that conveys meaning means outcome of meaning is called sign. So, when poetess says that saree is not just a cloth but saree as a strength of women, future of nation. Then she compare with a garden, coffin, ensign. Furthermore she personified saree as freedom fighter and also compare with sky, floor, waterfall. So, here the nine yard cloth that has been objectified, sexualised and yet remains one of the strongest symbol of female courage and identity that is sign conveys through different point of views and perspective.

3) Langage, Langue and parole:

If we explain these words in a simple way, so we can say that Langage or langue means those words are spoken universally but rarely thought in everyday life whereas parole means individual utterances means we use in day today life. It is by understanding the relationship of the two parts of the sign through langue that the signification of communication or parole may be understood. Without the understanding of langue, parole would be meaningless sounds or symbols grouped together arbitrary. So in this poem we have seen that poetess used metaphoric langue much more e.g नव गज के कप्डे मे खुद के वजुद को लपेटा है, मेरि साडि पुश्ते हवा, कान्जिवरम, बोमकाइ, साभल्पुरि, मबाशेरत, जेह्द?(perseverance), पर्चम(ensign), etc those words we are not use in everyday life that which are under the term of langue therefore reader somewhere feel stranger towards words.So, if you understand the langue of sign than parole may be easy. Thus, we have to uncover the langue of the poem 'Saree' and try to make easy. 

4) Code without Message:

 Russian Formalism regards literature as code without message. Structuralism by structural analysis makes it possible to uncover the connection that exists between a system of forms and a system of meanings, by replacing the search for term by term analysis with one for over all similarity. In traditional criticism believe in message but now critics emphasize on code means doubting. In this poem poetess connected simple cloth with highly things of world. So some may have question she says like इन सारि मे तुम्ने बहोत छेद लगाये है!(sexual harassment, no.freedom.for women), कहि जगह से फाडा है!(rape), फिर्का परस्ति का छेद लगाया है(casteism), इसि साडि मे तुम्ने बस्तर को बाध घसिटा है!(district of Chhatisgadh where Bela bhatiya working for human right against Government). So, in this way we must understand first the code of any work then go to message of that work. If we see any kind of work in this way that literature should be pleasing us moral lesson is not necessary. 

To conclude, we can connect this poem with the term of structuralism like Langage, langue and parole to understand the words of the poem, also we should see saree with different perspective to analyse sign, signifier and signified. As per Russian formalist says that literature should be pleasing the reader in the term of code, moral message is not necessary in literature. We should doubt and uncover the hide meaning and should know that what do poet conveys through any kind of work.

● Significance of ' FIRE ' and ' ICE ' in the both poems : 1) Fire and Ice by Robert Frost and 2) Ice and Fire by Edmund Spenser.

Both the words are destructive, on one hand fire burns our skin, then other hand Ice also give us some kind of burning. Both ice and fire has a power to kill something. There is similarity of perishing the things. We waits for summer for getting cure from disease, summer brings elements of fire, similarly in foreign countries, where there is cold weather the people waits for for snow falling and get cure from any type of disease.

Ice and Fire by Edmund Spenser

The poem by Edmund Spenser “Ice and fire” is about his beloved. He says that his love is like fire and his beloved is like ice which means that poet’s beloved is ignore the love of poet. Here Spenser failed to love with his beloved Elizabeth. So, here he used metaphoric language to address his love with ice and fire.