#structuralism

[kobiamu58]

Invisible Structures

Every story has a hidden architecture.

A pattern beneath the sentences. A system beneath emotion.

Structuralism asks us to pause— and look at the framework holding meaning together.

Not just literature. Language itself.

Maybe that’s why some stories feel universal. Maybe we’ve all been reading structures without realizing it.

Read softly into the theory here: https://worldliterature24.blogspot.com/2026/05/structuralism-literature.html

[khlishadn]

WOII || Summary

Looking back at all my WOII posts, I realised how much my way of seeing design has changed over time. At the start in

Week 1 with Phenomenology, it was more about personal experience, like how different people can see the same thing but feel completely different about it.

Then in Week 3, Semiotics made me more aware of how visuals actually communicate meaning through signs and symbols, which I started noticing more in everyday things without even trying.

Weeks 4 and 5, with the design analysis and field trip, felt more practical. I had to actually go out, observe, and think about design in real life, not just in theory. It made me pay attention to small details that I would normally ignore, like layout, colour, and how people interact with spaces.

By Week 9, Cultural Materialism made me realise that design is not just about how it looks, but also about the social and cultural context behind it. It showed me how design connects to real world issues and influences people in different ways.

Finally, Week 10 on Structuralism and Post-Structuralism challenged my thinking again, especially the idea that meaning isn’t fixed and can change depending on interpretation.

Overall, this whole journey made me more observant, more critical, and more aware that design is not just visual it’s something that carries meaning, context, and different perspectives.

[224 words.]

[creativeconclusion]

WOII: Week 10 - Poststructuralism

I think the most simplified version of the meaning of Post-Structuralism to me is inspired by the phrase ‘thinking outside the box’. The main idea of it is to challenge the socially accepted meaning of certain things or ideas to find a non-linear way of thinking (Refer to Fig. 1). As opposed to Structuralism, where meaning is derived from the relationship between the concept and the source material directly, Post-Structuralism argues that new meanings can constantly be derived in an endless loop. 

I think Post-Structuralism is an extremely important concept in the world of design and art. I think many artists deconstruct certain ideas, meanings and structures to challenge them, creating art with a purpose (Refer to Fig. 3). By leading the viewer or user through non-linear pathways when experiencing the art, it can influence social beliefs and relationships between them and the signifier. I believe this is also a necessary part in the creative process, where a designer looks deeper into a structure to create a more innovative design with new meanings derived.

I found that the meanings I accept are based on my position in the world. Due to new standards, experiences and ways of thinking in my time, I will accept certain ‘truths’ over others compared to other people who are familiar with different structures such as culture or language. Thus, the different environments people are bound to live in will influence their views on certain things to develop their own individualised and innovative meanings (Kushi and Yanagisawa 38-39).

(252 words)

References:

Argun, Erin-Atlanta. “The Banksy Shred: Five Years in the Market.” MyArtBroker, 9 Jan. 2026. www.myartbroker.com/artist-banksy/articles/banksy-shred-five-years-in-the-market. Accessed 9 April. 2026.

Kushi, Shotaro, and Hideyoshi Yanagisawa. “Innovation of meaning: design-driven study based on the interpretive theory of new meaning.” Proceedings of the Design Society, 2024, pp. 38-39. Cambridge Core, http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/pds.2024.6.

The Museum of Modern Art. “Barbara Kruger.” 2022, www.moma.org/artists/3266-barbara-kruger#:~:text=Barbara%20Kruger%20is%20an%20American%20artist%20whose,*%20Who%20has%20a%20voice%20in%20society. Accessed 17 Apr. 2026.

[htetarkarwin]

WOII: Week 10 - Post Structuralism

My opinion on Post Structuralism also based on the lecture is {1} the way we understand the meaning of something whether be architectures or signs can have multiple meanings without the definite truth and is affected by our unconscious perspective differences such as culture, political, religion, etc. Another example I can think of is the similarities of language alphabets between Japanese kanjis and Chinese characters although they have different meanings, that is based on the nation they are being used to communicate and I have actually seen misunderstanding between Japanese and Chinese people on Twitter too. 

But still, {2} it is still a deconstruction of Structuralism since we have to consider our criticism based on a pre-existing structure designed by its creator with their own interpretation, the original story they wanted to tell. Therefore, the ideology of Post Structuralism is to challenge the tradition of structures and to think out of the box which can be used to further evolve said structures into familiar yet different structures with different meanings. Just like how David Carson was able to figure out his own style via post structuralism in experimental or creative ways based on his prior surfer career.

For the related activity, we formed a 3 member group to take pictures of “texts” and “images” then we set off to a nearby mall. We then came back 15 minutes later, selected some of our captured pictures, put in a google slide then paired them with some explanations as shown in the image.

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References

{1} Palumbo, Angela. “Eagleton’s Description of Post-Structuralism.” Seton Hill University Hosted Blogs, 20 Mar. 2009, https://blogs.setonhill.edu/AngelaPalumbo/2009/03/eagletons_description_of_post-.html.  

{2} Eagleton, Terry. “3. Literary Theory: An Introduction, Terry Eagleton.” Wordpress, 1996, mthoyibi.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/literary-theory_an-introduction_terry-eagleton.pdf.

[xjmlm]

Speaking of cartoonishly French, how about this drawing of "structuralists" (from left-to-right: Foucault, Lacan, Levi-Strauss, and Barthes) from 1967?

[germanpostwarmodern]

Hubertushuis/Moederhuis (1973-78) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, by Aldo van Eyck. Photo by Ger van der Vlugt.

[philosophiesde]

🧠✨ What is consciousness—and how can it be scientifically researched? ✨🧠

In our latest Zoomposium, we talk to Dr. Lukas Kob, an interdisciplinary philosopher working at the intersection of consciousness, language, and artificial intelligence.

After studying psychology, philosophy, and neuroscience and earning his doctorate at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain, he now conducts research on structuralist approaches in the mind sciences.

Instead of taking consciousness for granted, Dr. Kob asks: 👉 What do neural activity patterns really tell us about subjective experience—and where are their limits? 👉 Can states of consciousness only be understood through their relational structures? 👉 How can structuralist methods help to identify the neural correlates of consciousness more precisely? It gets particularly exciting where philosophy, neuroscience, and AI come together:

Could artificial systems one day not only exhibit intelligent behavior, but also understand the structure of conscious states? And how could we even assess whether an AI is “conscious” – or only appears to be?

📎Information: https://philosophies.de/index.php/2026/01/14/struktur-des-bewusstseins/

📽️ Interview: https://youtu.be/1zUuoApblYE