Structuralism & Poststructuralism for Beginners

Writers & Readers Documentary Comic Book #58

by Donald D. Palmer

"What is Structuralism? How is it possible? And once the structures of Structuralism have been discovered, how is Poststructuralism possible?" Thus begins Don Palmer's Structuralism and Poststructuralism For Beginners . If Nobel or Pulitzer ever made a prize for making the most difficult philosophers and ideas accessible to the greatest number of people, one of the leading candidates would certainly be Professor Don Palmer. From his Sartre For Beginners and Kierkegaard For Beginners to his Looking at Philosophy , author/illustrator Don Palmer has the magic touch when it comes to translating the most brutally difficult ideas into language and images that non-specialists can understand. "In its less dramatic versions," writes Palme, "structuralism is just a method of studying language, society, and the works of artists and novelists. But in its most exuberant form, it is a philosophy, an overall worldview that provides an account of reality and knowledge." Poststructuralism is a loosely knit intellectual movement, comprised mainly of ex-structuralists, who either became dissatisfied with the theory or felt they could improve it. Structuralism and Poststructuralism For Beginners is an illustrated tour through the mysterious landscape of Structuralism and Poststructuralism. The book's starting point is the linguistic theory of Ferdinand de Sausser. The book moves on to the anthropologist and literary critic Claude Lévi-Strauss; the semiologost and literary critic Roland Barthes; the Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser; the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan; the deconstructionist Jacques Derrida. Learn among other things, why structuralists
The book concludes by examining the postmodern obsession with language and with the radical claim of the disappearance of the individual - obsessions that unite the work of all these theorists.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Comics, Grad School

154 pages, Paperback

First published December 19, 1997

About the author

Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the College of Marin in Kentfield, California. He is known for writing introductory books on philosophy and philosophers which attempt to make philosophical ideas accessible to novices. He also illustrates his own books.

Currently he is visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Reviews

[Rozhan Sadeghi · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتاب، مقدمه‌ی خوب و گویایه برای ورود به مبحث ساختارگرایی و پساساختارگرایی. هر چند فکر می‌کنم برای اینکه بتونید از کتاب لذت ببرید و استفاده کنید، باید قبلش از خودتون بپرسید اصلاً چرا می‌خواید در مورد چنین چیزی کتاب بخونید؟

من سراغ نسخه‌ی انگلیسی‌زبان کتاب رفتم چون معنای خیلی از اصطلاحات تخصصی ممکنه در ترجمه‌ی نادرست گم و حیف بشه و از گویایی مطلب کم کنه. با توجه به تجربه‌ای که دوستانم داشتن، حدسم درست بوده و بهتون توصیه می‌کنم اگه با انگلیسی میونه‌ی خوبی دارید، سمت ترجمه‌ش نرید.

نویسنده تو این کتاب سراغ ۶ تا فیلسوف ساختارگرا و پساساختارگرا می‌ره: سوسور، لوی‌ استراوس، بارت، لکان، فوکو و دریدا.
و جذابیت کتاب هم برای من همین تنوع آدم‌هایی بود که بهشون پرداخته شده. با سوسور شما با فلسفه‌ی زبان‌شناسی آشنا می‌شید، با خوندن فصل لوی استراوس سری به مبحث انسان‌شناسی ساختارگرایی می‌زنید، با نشانه‌شناسی و نقد ادبی در فصل بارت برخورد می‌کنید، با لکان به سختی روانشناسی می‌خونید، فوکوی جالب کمی از تاریخ جنون، نهادهای قدرت و سکسوالیته می‌گه و دریدای عزیز هم شما رو نسبت به دوگانه‌ها به خصوص متن/کلام حساس‌تر می‌کنه.

مشکل اصلیم با کتاب، دو فصل لکان و فوکو بود که اصلاً گویا نبودن. لکان و فوکو در مورد خیلی چیزها، چیزهای زیادی گفتن. و حتی اگر با گستردگی نظراتشون بتونیم کنار بیایم، پیچیدگی هر کدوم رو نمی‌شه نادیده گرفت. نویسنده اکثر مباحثی که لکان و فوکو می‌گن رو باز کرده بود اما تو جمع کردنشون مونده بود. اگر این دو فصل رو همراه با «بازگو» نمی‌خوندم و خودم درس‌گفتارهای مرتبط بهشون رو گوش نمی‌دادم محال بود فقط با این کتاب بتونم متوجه بشم که نظریات این دو عزیز چی بودن.

خلاصه اگر نسبت به فلسفه‌ی ساختارگرا کنجکاوید یا دوست دارید در مورد نظریات این ۷ تا فیلسوف بیشتر بدونید، حتماً کتاب رو پیشنهاد می‌کنم. اما باید سر صبر بخونید و احتمالاً از چند منبع کمکی دیگه هم کنارش استفاده کنید.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

very fun read-even Derrida who sucks- the idea of the snobbery that intellectuals have had of speaking as opposed to written text, and comparing the written word to masturbation as the spoken word is compared to sexual intercourse- that ammussed the hell out of me.

[Fraser Bonar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genuinely funny, engaging, and surprisingly in-depth account of these intellectual movements.

Plus... see your favourite superacademics in comic form!

[George Pollard]

This felt more like “Structuralists and Poststructuralists For Beginners”

[Nabilah · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a primer, this is really great.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a quick and accessible introduction to structuralism and post-structuralism, beginning with a discussion of Saussure's theory of linguistics, including a discussion of the sign, and ending with Derrida and a discussion of deconstructionism. I've read most of the authors discussed in this introduction, but this was a nice overview of the major points of structuralism and post-structuralism, especially because it articulates the break down in the Platonic notion of forms and replaces ideology with the assertion that all meaning is derived from the negative relationships that exist between signs, i.e. they are defined by what they are not. This was definitely a helpful guide in reminding myself of things that I had once known, and clarifying things that I had found confusing the first time I engaged this topic.

[Luís Branco · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has enough information to let one know that is Structuralism and Poststructuralism, but is very shallow if you need something with more content. I miss Jean-François Lyotard in this book. He is not mentioned even a single time, and he was so important in the Poststructuralism.

[Steve Klabnik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since it's such a high-level overview, the terminology comes on fast. Towards the end I was still trying to remember the definitions of some terms; I probably just read it too fast.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

It sounds very much to me like these people are struggling with a theory of incompleteness for language.

[Ray Zimmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been Deconstructed.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ctrl-V. That is the sign for the signifier of me trying to paste my image of how the phrase " bus passenger" has been stripped of its meaning by capitalist propaganda.

[Rachel Loyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly helpful for understanding structuralism and post structuralism!

[C. Drying · Rating 3 out of 5]

WHY DID YOU READ THIS BOOK?
I collect these non-fiction graphic books and can’t remember exactly when I purchased this one, but I do know I chose to read it now because I was in the middle of reading Provocations: Collected Essays on Art, Feminism, Politics, Sex, and Education by Camille Paglia, and since she rails heartily against poststructuralism, I felt it necessary to have a better understanding of what she loathes so much.

WHAT DID YOU LIKE ABOUT THIS BOOK?
Well, I like the mixing of graphics and texts especially for learning difficult-to-understand concepts like poststructuralism. The author does a fairly good job at explaining.

WHAT DID YOU NOT LIKE ABOUT THIS BOOK?
As I mentioned I collect these graphic books, and I can say so far this particular book contains the worst graphics.

DO YOU RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO OTHERS?
Most definitely I do because it is becoming more apparent that poststructuralism is affecting the minds of the young generation. Whether it is inevitable that we are indeed entering postmodernism and exiting modernism's enlightenment, I do not know. However, if we are, then I cannot encourage it enough to read this book and others on the subject because it seems like postmodernism (especially its deconstructionism) is not favorable to the advancement of civilization on many levels.

Also, note that one ought to have a firm grasp of the history of philosophy, especially Kant and Kierkegaard, to understand some of the more difficult concepts presented in this book. The book's complete title includes “for Beginners,” but I felt I wasn’t as equipped as I should have been, especially since it was a book I was reading to understand another book.

[Alireza Saramad · Rating 4 out of 5]

مقدمه ی خوبی برای اشنایی خیلی مختصر با متفکرانی چون سوسور،لوی استروس،بارت،لکان،فوکو،دریدا است .
ساختارگرایی با کار سوسور اغاز می شود. در ادامه لوی استروس را میخوانیم که زبان شناسی سوسور را در قوم شناسی به کار میگیرد و به نوعی نقطه ی عطفی در عرصه ی روشنفکری ان زمان فرانسه پدید می اورد
رولان بارت هم که انگار نمی دانسته چه میکرده از سارتر شروع می کند و به هدونیسم میکشد کارش. البته بارت متفکر تاثیر گذاری است
در فصل فوکو به شرح خلاصه ای از تاریخ جنون می پردازد که بدک نیست.
در مورد دریدا اما درست نفهمیدم که مساله اش چیست.متافیزیک را خوش نمیدارد .شاید اشنایی این کتاب درست حسابی نباشد.
در مورد لکان خوب توضیح می دهد البته باز کمی باید خیلی کم از فروید بلد بود تا اعمال ساختار گرایی در کار فروید توسط لکان را فهمید.

کتاب خسته کننده نیست و با تصاوبر و کاریکاتور ها و تیکه های جالب و جذاب به توضیح مطالب می پردازد.
کتاب خیلی خوبی برای ورود به این مباحث می تواند باشد.

بسیار به درد بخورند برای خواندن 1.کتاب به زبان انگلیسی و 2.اشنایی ابتدایی با اندیشه های پیچیده ی انواع متفکران for beginners کلا این سری

[Clay Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like books and podcasts that survey philosophical movements, as they're often a good way to get your feet wet before you dive in to something really technical. This book reflects the difficulty of it's subject matter by being pretty difficult itself. Don't let the "For Beginners" part of the title fool you. It helps to have a pretty strong background in 20th century philosophy, or so I assume. Mine wasn't quite strong enough. It pretty much kept me at the edge of my brain capacity the whole time. Nonetheless, I had a good time with it and I feel like I have a pretty good working understanding of what Structuralism is now, at least.

[Samuel Rhodes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not really a beginner, but I wanted a quick refresher. I find that having some good “intro” books around is helpful for topics I come back to repeatedly. I think this one is great for that purpose. Goofy, a little corny, but really clear and concise explanation of the topics. It might be the best intro to any of these individual topics, and certainly the best for all in one place. If you’re truly coming to it cold, maybe it’s still a bit much, but for my purposes it’s great and a pretty zippy read (I mean...it’s 45% cartoons).

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short introduction (~140 pages) that uses silly comics to explain challenging concepts primarily in structuralism. I read the first half of the book twice and that seemed to help my understanding but I still don’t feel real confident about the concepts outlined. I’ll need to dig into these topics more in the future to get a better grasp. Overall, a decent introduction with fun comics.

[Ged · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars bc of my subjective bias and less w the author’s writing.

Just realized that while I am still curious about linguistics, I am not curious enough to the extent that I would care to understand the plethora of terms in structuralist and post-structuralist philosophy.

No hate on anyone!! It’s just my preference speaking. So take this as a purely subjective review.

[Chase Newberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having some introduction for Foucault and Lacan this was a good supplement to understand more about the linguistics of their philosophy and psychoanalysis theory respectively.

[Mack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and humorous introduction to theory

[Mavaddat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since I did not yet understand them as moments in human thought, this book was a nice little romp through the historical thought of structuralism and poststructuralism. I especially liked the sections on Saussure and the one on Foucault. The least comprehensible section was on Lacan, but to be fair, Lacan was also the one I was least prepared to understand when I started reading the book. The art is inconsistent and poorly done yet somehow also charming.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The concepts in this book are high level, and they permeate much academic discourse. The author presents the basics of understanding structuralism and post-structuralism in an interesting format. Readers are introduced to Saussure, Levi-Strauss, Barthes, Lacan, Foucault, and Derrida in order to understand their similarities and differences. The book is filled with cartoons meant to support learning by providing a visual, without detracting from the meaning of these classical philosophers' ideas. I'd recommend this book for any Masters or Doctoral student or professional academic who is interested in an introduction to understanding these two philosophies.

[Jason Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the "for beginners" cartoon books. They get to the meat without bogging you down in all that long-winded self-indulgent pandering. Maybe there's nuance on reading those old philosophers, but honestly, just because a bloke had deep thoughts doesn't mean he's a good writer. So call me shallow, but at least these "for beginner" books spark ideas and get me to "philosophizing" on my own.

This one, about structuralism and poststructuralism, is par for the course, and sets one up to read more, if one wants, about Saussure, Foucault, Derrida, and all those guys.

Good stuff.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is actually pretty funny and helpful. The illustrations and presentation bring some humor to a rather ponderous subject that can take itself too seriously. It covers Saussure, Levi-Strauss, Barthes, Lacan, Foucault, and Derrida, with a brief sprinkling of the Greeks and Freud..all the heavy-hitters! It doesn't go too deep into specifics, so it really serves best as an introduction or as a summary overview of the subject and it adds a lighthearted perspective.

[Jack Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good (and humorous) book by Palmer on structuralism and poststructuralism. It only briefly touches upon the thought of each person and generally brushes over their larger contributions to European philosophy. The only qualm I had with the book was his take on Foucault, maybe this is because I'm read up on the guy, but soley focusing on his theory of Madness is a little perplexing to me as it would have been better to focus on The Archeology of Knowledge.

[Daniel Schotman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice and entertaining. Complex material made simple.
Ideal for the beginner. Can be read in one day. I am sure Palmer does a much better job in explaining the terminology and ideas used by Saussure, Levi-Strauss, Lacan, Foucault & Derrida. Their own work can at times come across as daunting.

Or if you are as ambitious, bold and courageous as me you can start reading Foucault straight away :-)

[Heather]

I want to finish this book, but I just don't have the time for philosophy right now.

[Brent]

I love Beginners books.

[Ryan (Glay)]

Surprisingly in-depth.

[Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simplizes a lot of thing, learned enough from it.