ENGL 2350 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Jacques Lacan, Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism, Russian Formalism
Document Summary
Synchronic: method that focuses on any language at one particular time. It emphasizes the whole state of a particular language at a time. The attention is only on the language and it"s parts functions, not on the historical development of the language or outside features. Langue: linguistic term used to refer to the rules that compromise a language or structure of language that is shared by all speakers. (understanding of the language"s system) For saussure, a word represents an abstract concept, not a referent in the objective world or a symbol. Signs are made up of two parts: the signifier and the signified. The signifier is a written or spoken mark, while the signified is our concept of the sign. Mythemes: recurrent themes running through humankind"s countless myths. These basic structures are similar to the individual sounds of language. Mythemes find meaning in and through their relationships with the mythic structure, not in their own individuality.
