The Usefulness of Structuralism as an Analytical Tool for Uncovering Ho

In the words of Michael OShaughnessy, narratives, or stories, are a basic port of making common sense of our experience (1999 266). As a society and a culture, we use stories to bosom and share our experiences, typically by constructing them with a beginning, middle and an end. In fact, the put up that a narrative is structured provide directly impact the way it is understood, particularly across cultures. This idea originated through Claude Lvi-Strausss imagination of structuralism in anthropology which is concerned with uncovering the common structural principles rudimentary specific and historically variable cultures and myth in pre-industrial societies (Strinati 2003 85). In ground of media studies, structuralisms inherent objective is to dig beneath the appear of a media text to identify how the structure of a narrative contributes to its meaning. Structuralism encompasses a large range of analytical tools, however, this essay will examine Joseph Campbells monomyth and Claude Lvi-Strausss theory of binary star oppositions. by analysis of Victor Flemings film, The Wizard of Oz (1939), it will be shown that although the monomyth and binary oppositions are useful tools with which to unveil how meaning is generated in this text, structuralism coffin nail undermine the audiences ability to engage with their own interpretations of the film. In the simplest form, there is a basic structural pattern to narratives, as show through Tzvetan Todorovs explanation of narrative movement between both equilibriums. A narrative begins in a stable position until something causes disequilibrium, however, by the end of the story, the equilibrium is re-established, though it is different than the beginning (OShaughnessy 1999 268). Joseph Cam... ...an adequate mechanism for unveiling the techniques used to create messages in a text. Works CitedCampbell, Joseph (1968), The crampfish with a Thousand Faces, Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press, pp. viii-9 7.Eco, Umberto (1979), Narrative structures in Fleming, in his, The Role of the subscriber Explorations in the Semiotics of Texts, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, pp. 144-172.Hartley, John (2002), Communication, Cultural and Media Studies The Key Concepts, London, Routledge, pp. 19-21.OShaughnessy, Michael (1999), Media and Society An Introduction, Melbourne, Oxford University Press, pp. 266-290.Strinati, Dominic (2003), Structuralism, semiology and popular culture (extract), in his An Introduction to Theories of Popular goal 2nd Ed., London, Routledge, pp. 82-85.The Wizard of Oz (film), 1939, Director Victor Fleming.