The concept of structuralism is related to the meaning of culture through ideological representation. In social and anthropological terms, the definition is closely connected to cultural development through different phenomena, practices, and activities serving as signifying systems. Also, structuralism significantly differs from real and imaginary organizations. In contrast, post-structuralism is more focused on the refusal of the self-sufficiency in the structured others, as well on the introduction of binary oppositions defining those structures. The identified discrepancies can be brightly exemplified by the representatives of structuralism and post-structuralism movements, including Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, and Gilles Deleuze who are specifically concerned with a different representation of culture and morality.
According to Foucault (1966), knowledge is represented through episteme as a priori shaping the ground knowledge and representing it in a particular epoch. In this respect, Foucault’s work called The Order of Things belongs to the structuralism movement because the book claims that all historical periods refer to certain conditions of truth disclosing which norms were accessible and which ones were not. However, the scholar became noteworthy for his works in the sphere of post-structuralism. Despite the necessity to refer to episteme, there is also an urge to consider the object itself, as well as personal experience, to define which knowledge systems reproduce this object (Foucault, 1999).
While structuralism is concerned with the abstract and systematic representation of knowledge outside the object, post-structuralism admits the necessity to introduce personal experiences for acquiring information about the identified object. Similar to Foucault, Deleuze also belonged to both movements by providing prominent works in the sphere of structuralism and post-structuralism. While reviewing both of his works – The Nomadic Thought and Control and Becoming – one can encounter several inconsistencies used to demonstrate that the criticism and interpretation can be presented differently depending on the reader’s intelligence and personal opinion (Deleuze, 2004; Deleuze, 2003). In this respect, the scholar, along with other scientists, insisted that textual analysis could discover many misconceptions due to the existence of diverse experiences imposing another meaning on literary works.
Finally, the difference between structuralism and post-structuralism is confined to the disciplines that both movements apply to while introducing basic concepts. In this respect, structuralism relies mostly on the analytical concepts taken from anthropology, linguistics, and psychology to emphasize the scientific nature of the studies. In its turn, the post-structuralism movement criticizes strict adherence to theoretical foundations and focuses more on the study of the object, as well as on knowledge that is directly associated with the object produced. All these considerations are brightly presented by Butler (2005) whose work called Giving an Account of Oneself promulgates the importance of “I” morality.
In conclusion, it should be stressed that, despite certain similarities of structuralism and post-structuralism, the discrepancies between the movements are better highlighted. Specifically, structuralism is more based on the representation of culture as a structure that excludes real and symbolic representations. Post-structuralism, however, undermines the consistency of perceiving culture as a structure due to the existence of personal experiences. Also, structuralism is based on theoretical disciplines such as anthropology and linguistics disclosing knowledge as episteme whereas post-structuralism argues that subjective views matter while interpreting a specific notion or definition.
References
Butler, J. P. (2005) Giving an Account of Oneself. US, Fordham University Press.
Deleuze, Gilles. (2003) Control and Becoming. In. G. Deleuze (author) Politics. US, Semiotext. Pp. 169-176.
Deleuze, Gilles. (2004) Nomadic Thought. In. G. Deleuze (author) Desert Islands: and Other Texts. 1953-1974. US, Semiotext.
Foucault, Michel (1966) The Order of Things. US, Pantheon Books.
Foucault, Michel. (1999) My body, this paper, this fire. In: J.D. Faubion. Aesthetics, Method, and Epistemology: Essential Works of Foucault, 1954-1984. pp.393-418.