English - Literary Theory - Structuralism and post-structuralism - Structures of Meaning

6 steps: (1) STRUCTURALISM (Saussure, Lévi-Strauss): Meaning comes from SYSTEMS of differences and relationships, not individual elements. Language is a system of signs. (2) Key concept: BINARY OPPOSITIONS structure all meaning: good/evil, nature/culture, male/female, light/dark. We understand conce