 Post-structuralism is a modern philosophical school of thought. It grew out of, and in
response to, the philosophy of structuralism.
 Structuralism as a school of thought hit its stride during the radical movements of the
1950s and 1960s, particularly in France, although it had its roots back at the beginning of
the 20th century.
 Structuralists look at the foundational structures implicit in all productions of a culture,
and undertake an analysis of the many parts that create something, to get a better
understanding of the creation. The basic premise of structuralism is that all things have a
structure below the level of meaning, and that this structure constitutes the reality of that
thing.
 Post-structuralists hold that in fact even in an examination of underlying structures, a
slew of biases introduce themselves, based on the conditioning of the examiner. At the
root of post-structuralism is the rejection of the idea that there is any truly essential form
to a cultural product, as all cultural products are by their very nature formed, and
therefore artificial.
 Structuralism
 Intellectual movement in France in the 1950s and 1960s.
 Structuralism posits that discrete cultural elements are not explanatory in and of
themselves, but rather form part of a meaningful system and are best understood
with respect to their location within the structure as a whole.
 Post-Structuralism
 Post-structuralism emerged in France during the 1960s as an antinomian
movement critiquing structuralism.
 Post-structuralism is the rejection of the idea that there is any truly essential form
to a cultural product, as all cultural products are by their very nature formed, and
therefore artificial.
 Post-Structuralism was created as a counter thought movement to counter act the growing
structuralism movement. There is no specific definition to give Post-Structuralism but to
easiest way to describe it is that it is the rejection of the idea that there is any truly
essential form to a cultural product, as all cultural products are by their very nature
formed, and therefore artificial.