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Tag Archives: structuralism

The Magic Word: Words Have Power

By ronosaurus | Published: August 26, 2011

“Words are not magical,” one professor said, waving her hand to indicate the empty space in the center of the ring of chairs. “When I say ‘table,’ no table appears.” In her attempts to steer us away from the metaphysical and romantic views of language and ground literary theory and discussion in the relatively more [...] Continue reading …

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To Understand, We Must Produce Narrative

By ronosaurus | Published: January 19, 2011

Like language, narrative refers to concept rather than reality. The structuralist description of the sign can be extended to narrative, since both words and stories are symbols played out across time. A word occurs as a sequence, as when we say or read “T – U – N – D – R – A.” Similarly, [...] Continue reading …

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Extending the Linguistic “Concept” to Include “Narrative Function”

By ronosaurus | Published: January 18, 2011

At the beginning of the last century, Ferdinand de Saussure severed language from reality. In his Course in General Linguistics, he explained that a sign is made up of two parts: the signifier and the signified. The signifier is a word, a set of sounds, sometimes represented by letters. The signified is what the signifier [...] Continue reading …

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A Poem Dangerously About Itself

By ronosaurus | Published: July 20, 2010

word Isn’t “word” a weird word, something blind and burrowing? Where’s it going? Why so blunt? What’s it looking for? Itself?

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Why Meta Matters

By ronosaurus | Published: May 25, 2010

Metafiction is the narrative quest for narrative, an attempt through stories to understand what stories are. Why do stories matter? Because we are stories.

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I am the One the Writer of This Sentence is Referring to

By ronosaurus | Published: May 22, 2010

Who is I? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “I” is “used by the speaker or writer to refer to himself or herself.” Simple enough, but let’s think this out. The dictionary says that “I” is “used by the speaker or writer,” implying that “I” and “the speaker or writer” are not the same. How [...] Continue reading …

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The Truthiness of Apples in a Basket

By ronosaurus | Published: February 17, 2010

Absolute truth: My dad wrote in response to my blog, “There are countless absolute truths. Example: Two apples added to a basket containing two apples will make a total of four apples in the basket.” I agree absolutely. I believe in baskets and apples. I believe in reality. (What a ridiculous statement!) Subjective truth: Let [...] Continue reading …

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