CHAPTER II THEORITICAL FRAME WORK
A. Structural Narratology Theory by A. J. Greimas
Structuralism is an intellectual movement which began in France in the 1950s and is first seen in the work of the anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss
1908 — and the literary critic Roland Barthes 1915-1980.
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Definitively, structuralism is the understanding about the elements as a structure with the
mechanism of its relation. Todorov explains that structuralism does not deal with the literary text as it presents itself to the reader but rather with an abstract deep
structure.
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Thus, structuralism according to Todorov, is a study which deals with structure in the literary text without relates with a reader who produces the
meaning of literary text. Besides that, structuralism is considered as anti-humanist which means
that structuralism is concerned on the work itself, not in its author. Structuralism is also considered releases the literary work from history and social culture as its
origin.
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So, a fundamental concept of structuralism theory is the own literary work itself which is an autonomous structure that can be understood as the unity
with the elements of its construction which related. Therefore, to understand the
11
Peter Barry, Beginning Theory; An introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. Second Edition,
UK: University Press, 2002, p. 2.
12
Luc Herman and Bart Vervaeck, Handbook of Narrative Analysis, United States of America: Thomson-Shore, Inc., 2001, p. 41.
13
Nyoman Kutha Ratna, Teori, Metode, dan Teknik Penelitian Sastra, yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar, 2009, pp. 91-92.
meaning of literary works, one must look into its own structures, apart from the historical background, the author and the effect on the reader.
In the context of literary study, there are many structural theory models that can be used. One of structural theory model is structural narratology.
Narratology is also called by the theory of discourse narrative. Both the narratology and discourse theory are defined as a set of concepts about stories and
storytelling. It does not confine itself to literary text but the entire text as a human activity. Narratology is inspired largely by the approaches to folk narratives taken
by Vladimir Propp, the Russian formalist, and Claude Lévi ‐Strauss, the structural
anthropologist.
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Propps work exemplifies the syntagmatic type
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of narrative analysis with its focus on the plotline, and Lévi
‐Strausss work exemplifies the paradigmatic type
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of analysis with its emphasis on underlying semantic
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http:psychology.jrank.orgpages2108narratology.html accessed on 22
nd
february 2011, 12:35 am.
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Syntagmatic type is a structural analysis theory which develops from the notion of syntax in the
study of language. Syntax is the rules of sentence construction or textual structure. In this structural analysis theory, the structure of folkloristic text is described following chronological
order of the linear sequence of elements in the text. The most elementary syntactic division of the sentence unit is between subject and predicate, for example ‗The knight subject slew the dragon
with his sword predicate’. Evidently this sentence could be the core of an episode or even an entire tale. From this Propp’s approach, it can be understood by comparing the ‗subject’ of a
sentence with the typical characters hero, villain, etc. and the ‗predicate’ with the typical actions in such stories.
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Paradigmatic type is a structural analysis theory which borrows from the notion of paradigms in
the study of language. A paradigm is a set of associated signifiers or signified which are all members of some defining category, but in which each is significantly different. This structural
analysis type seeks to describe the pattern usually binary opposition which allegedly underlies the folkloristic text. Claude Levi-Strauss analyses the Oedipus myth. He calls the units of myth
‗mythemes’ which is organized in binary oppositions. The general opposition underlying the Oedipus myth is between two views of the origin of human being: 1 that they are born from the
earth; 2 that they are born from coition. Several mythemes are grouped on one side or the other of the antithesis between 1 the overvaluation of kinship ties Oedipus marries his mother;
Antigone buries her brother unlawfully; and 2 the undervaluation of kinship Oedipus kills his father; Eteocles kills his brother. Levi-Strauss is interested in the structural pattern which gives
the myth its meaning. So, he believes that this linguistic model will uncover the basic structure of the human mind.
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