poststructuralism

American  

[pohst-struhk-cher-uh-liz-uhm] / poʊstˈstrʌk tʃər əˌlɪz əm /

noun

1. a variation of structuralism, often seen as a critique, emphasizing plurality of meaning and instability of concepts that structuralism uses to define society, language, etc.

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poststructuralism British  

/ pəʊstˈstrʌktʃərəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. an approach to literature that, proceeding from the tenets of structuralism, maintains that, as words have no absolute meaning, any text is open to an unlimited range of interpretations

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Other Word Forms

• poststructural adjective
• poststructuralist adjective

Example Sentences

The book is set in the 1980s; poststructuralism is all the rage.

From New York Times

Kit: I remember one fight when we were walking back from a pub somewhere and we were talking about poststructuralism.

From Slate

In the case of Corderoy, the pretentious realm of academia, where a professor warns him that he is not in grad school “purely for the pursuit of knowledge,” but must become “intimately familiar with poststructuralism, new historicism, phenomenology, and hermeneutics” if he wants to succeed.

From New York Times

The champions of poststructuralism, which was gaining ground rapidly in the academy, regarded Professor Abrams as almost painfully old-fashioned, and he found himself squaring off against critics, notably J. Hillis Miller, who disputed the very premises upon which he approached the history of ideas.

From New York Times

In 2001, as Jones, he published "Commerce 3: Poststructuralism in Country and Western Music," a CD-ROM that examined the "intellectual tendencies" of country music.

From Los Angeles Times