poststructuralism

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poststructuralism, movement in literary criticism and philosophy begun in France in the late 1960s. Drawing upon the linguistic theories of Ferdinand de Saussure, the anthropology of Claude Lévi-Strauss (see structuralism), and the deconstructionist theories of Jacques Derrida (see deconstruction), it held that language is not a transparent medium that connects one directly with a “truth” or “reality” outside it but rather a structure or code, whose parts derive their meaning from their contrast with one another and not from any connection with an outside world. Writers associated with the movement include Roland Barthes, Jacques Lacan, Julia Kristeva, and Michel Foucault.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.