Origins

Structuralism originated in the 1950’s in France. It began in the linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure, and the schools of linguistics in Prague and Moscow. In the second half of the 20th century, structuralism began to appear in academia. It quickly became one of the most popular viewpoints for many different academic fields. At first, it was used to analyze linguistics only, as a means by which to view literary technique and form. Then, use began to expand to anthropology, as proponents of structuralism came up with the argument that if the details of literature can be viewed through structuralist ideas, so can the entire human race. They argued that every action and thought from humans can be explained in the context of a greater structure and pattern, that all humans adhere to. Following this, structuralism was applied to social behavior, and this study became very complicated as theorists argued that there is a determined pattern to every social interaction, and the outcomes follow a set pattern. Naturally, from this study came the application of structuralism to psychology. Psychologists said that the human brain follows a set structure, and therefore most human actions and thoughts can be understood and analyzed correctly. Some even said they could be predicted. The structuralism theory was even applied to architecture, as scientists said the proportions of the greatest works of architecture all followed the same overall pattern. Some of the most famous thinkers associated with structuralism include the linguist Roman Jakobson, anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, philosopher and historian Michel Foucault, Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser, and literary critic Roland Barthes. In 1960 in France, structuralism began to emerge as an existentialist viewpoint for the first time. After that, the structuralist viewpoint became an essential part of the existentialist study, and it is still an important part today.