structuralism

signifier

Meaning-bearing form

• signifiedExpressed meaning symbolically
• langueLinguistic system, not speech
• paroleConditional early release
• phonemeMinimal distinctive sound unit

morpheme · syntax · semantics · phonology · morphology · synchronic · diachronic · paradigm

Lévi-Strauss

French structural anthropologist

• kinshipState of being related
• mythTraditional explanatory tale
• totemismBelief linking clans to symbols
• clanRelated group sharing ancestry

rituals · taboo · bricolage

epistemology

Theory of knowledge

• anti-humanismRejection of human-centered worldviews
• subjectMatter under discussion
• decenteringShifting away from self-focus
• AlthusserStructuralist Marxist thinker

ideology · Foucault · determinism · totality · system · synchrony

concrete

Solid building mixture

• steelCarbon-hardened iron alloy
• glassTransparent solid from sand
• brutalismHarsh, unsparing conduct
• formShape or document

function · modular · grid · geometric · prefabrication · rationalist · post-war · Smithsons

sign

Mark conveying information

• significationExpressed or intended meaning
• codeSymbolic communication system
• semiologyTheory of sign systems
• mythologiesBodies of traditional narratives

denotation · connotation · advertising · ideology · Eco · communication

Genette

• focalizationNarrative point of view

Derrida

Grammatology's French author

• deconstructionAnalysis exposing self-contradiction
• FoucaultProminent French family name
• critiqueDetailed evaluative analysis
• anti-foundationalismDenial of certain foundations

play · indeterminacy · discourse · genealogy · rhizome · multiplicity · Butler · Baudrillard

Lacan

French psychoanalytic theorist

• PiagetChild cognition researcher
• unconsciousNot awake or aware
• imaginaryExisting only in thought
• realTruly existing, not fake

schema · assimilation · accommodation · psychoanalysis