Structuralism is a theotercal paradigm in sociology, anthropology,semiotics

positing that human culture must be understood in terms of their relation to a

overaching,larger system or structure.As a whole, structuralism is a type of
literary criticism which views literature as a second order signyfying system that
uses firat order system of language as its medium and is itself analyzed on the
model of linguistic theory.

Structuralism originated in the early 1900s in the structural linguistics of

ferdinand de sassure and the subsequent Prague,Moscow,and copenhagen schools of
linguistics.Derived from the likes of Noam Chomosky when it fading it's
importance ,the scholars ofhumanities borrowed sassure's theory to apply in their
respective fields.claude levi Strauss is unarguably first scholar sparking a
widespread interest in structuralism.

In literary theory structural criticism relates literary text to larger structure

which may be a particular genre,a model of universal narrative or a system of
recurrent paterns or motifs.structuralism argues that there must be a pattern that
analyse why it is easier for non experienced reader than non experienced reader to
interpret a text.

According to sassure ,language is a "system of signs that express ideas".A sign is

double entity which made up of "signifier"and "signified"."Signified" is a concept
i.e what is thought when the mark is meant.signifier is a mark whether written or
spoken.But different language has different signifier to express some
objects.Because there is no intrinsic reason why a specific sign is used to express
a given signifier.It is thus arbitary.

In sassure's concept the idea of 'langue' and 'parole' can be found .language is
the narative speaker's abstract knowledge of his language.'parole' is the concrete
manifestation of langue .In other word utterance in a language constitute the
parole of language.we cannot capture parole.
The study of language in a particular point of time and the study of the devolpment
of language through time are known respectively by the name of "synchronic"and
"diachronic" in structuralism.Structuralism has shown the relations between the
words or other components of sentence whether linear(syntadigmatic)or vertical
(paradigmatic).

Roman jacobson and others introduced sound based of certain features that later
included by claude levi strauss in his conceptualisation of the universal
structures of mind which he held up to operate based on pairs of binary oppositions
such as male-female,hot-cold.