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Tenets of Structuralism: a Structuralist Analysis of Marlowe's Doctor Faustus

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Tenets of Structuralism: a Structuralist Analysis of Marlowe's Doctor Faustus - 75 - Bi-Annual Research Journal “BALOCHISTAN REVIEW” ISSN 1810-2174 Balochistan Study Centre, University of Balochistan, Quetta (Pakistan) VOL. XXXVIII NO. 1, 2018 Tenets of Structuralism: A Structuralist Analysis of Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus Shahbaz Afzal Bezar,1 Dr. Mahmood Ahmad Azhar2 & Dr. Sajid Ali3 Abstract Structuralism was a reactionary approach that questioned the independent subject, focused on the signs, structure, langue, synchrony, and distinctive method in linguistics and social sciences. Tenets of structuralism were reflected in the oeuvre of Gestalt, Saussure, Strauss, Barthes, Marx, and Freud but these tenets have not yet been explored from Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus. In order to analyze this masterpiece of Marlowe in the frame of reference to structuralism, the researchers borrowed the structuralist notions propounded by Dosse, Sanders, Sturrock, Blackburn, Barry, etc. The present research evaluated the previously neglected area of presence of the tenets of structuralism in Doctor Faustus. Findings of this study were to investigate the tenets of structuralism i.e. binary oppositions, narrative structure, synchronic system, theory of id, ego, superego, cultural determinism, the codes of narrative, structural components of the narrative, and collocation structure of the vocabulary from this play. Findings of this qualitative study were explored through textual analysis because ‘words and phrases’ of Marlowe’s this play were analyzed in the light of structuralism. In this perspective, without ‘middle’ structure of the play, binary oppositions of good and evil, intellect and ambition, Id (Evil Angels), Ego and Superego (Good Angels), synchronic system in showing only Faustus’ life of a sound magician, structural components of narrative i.e. parallels, repetitions, contrast, and balance, the Base-Superstructure element, cultural determinism, etc. were explored from Doctor Faustus. Keywords: Binary oppositions; Cultural determinism; Freud; Structure; Synchrony 1 PhD English Scholar (ICBS, Lahore), Lecturer in English, Govt. College Satiana Road, Faisalabad, Email: [email protected], Cell no. 92 300-6664766 2 Rector, AIMS, American Institute of Management Sciences, Lahore, Email: [email protected] 3 Assistant Professor of English, Govt. Municipal Degree College, Abdullah Pur, Faisalabad. - 76 - Introduction In the 1950s and 1960s with the emergence of structuralist criticism, our ways of studying a piece of literature had drastically changed. In that period, focus was shifted from the author to the structure. Saussure’s concepts were started to use in literary criticism and other fields of social sciences. His notions i.e. sign as joining of signifier and signified, langue and parole, synchrony and diachrony, and binary oppositions opened new horizons in different fields i.e. sociology, anthropology, linguistics, literature, etc. In structuralism, phenomena of human life are intelligible through their interrelations and these relations constitute a structure (Blackburn, 2008). There is a dialectical relationship between structuralism and social sciences. The French anthropologist Levi-Strauss (1966) borrows binary oppositions of high/ low, red/ black, raw/ cooked, etc. from structuralist linguist Saussure in order to express differences between social groups, the roles of men and women, the concepts of nature and culture. In the present study, the researchers will attempt to explore the tenets of structuralism from Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, a classical master-piece of literature. The present study evaluates the previously unaccomplished research realm of presence of the tenets of structuralism in Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus in order to bring it under the umbrella of structuralist analysis of classical oeuvre. There are two purposes of the present study: i. to explore the relationship between structuralism and classical drama through investigating the tenets of structuralism from Doctor Faustus ii. to discern the tents of structuralism from a piece of literature other than the fields of social sciences. The present research deals with the following research questions: 1. What is the relationship between structuralism and literature? 2. How are the tenets of structuralism reflected in Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus? The findings of the present study will contribute to benefit the students and research scholars to understand structuralism and application of its tenets on classical works of literature other than social sciences. This study will help the researchers to uncover the critical areas in the realms of structuralism, literary theory, and literature that many researchers were not able to investigate. Literature Review Structuralist analyses of classical works especially Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus are often neglected and may be considered insignificant because only few researchers accomplished their researches in this area. Structuralism developed in Europe in early 1900s with the structural linguistics of Saussure, Prague Linguistic Circle, and Moscow Linguistic Circle. Although several - 77 - researches have been accomplished on Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus but structuralist analysis of this play has not yet been conducted. Several researches have been accomplished on structuralism in the frame of reference to social sciences i.e. sociology, psychology, anthropology, education, etc. Goddard (1976) has analyzed sociology in the perspective of structuralism. Frere (2004) has investigated the seeds of genetic structuralism, psychological sociology, and Pragmatic Social Actor Theory from the works of Pierre Bourdieu. El-Tawil and Aguirre (2010) have explored the search and rescue of the people in collapsed structures in the perspective of engineering and social sciences. Matusov and Soslau (2010) have critically evaluated the structuralist approach to argumentation in education. Veraksa et al. (2013) employing the method of structural dialectical approach accomplished their experimental research in psychology. Few researches have been accomplished on literature in the perspective of structure and structuralism but a lot is still required in order to study structuralism in the perspective of classical dramas of Marlowe. Rothwell (1963) has explored the presence of structure in literature through recurring forms, structure in narrative, verbal symbols, and literary structures. Smithson (1975) has identified structuralism as a method of literary criticism. Zhang (2003) has offered a re-reading of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby from a structuralist perspective. Omer (2014) did a structuralist analysis of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness through exploring the binary oppositions of civilization and savagery. But Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus has not yet been studied in the perspective of structuralism. Different research scholars conducted their scholarly works on Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus. Green (1946) explored this play as a tragedy of individualism. Sachs (1964) investigated Faustus’ religious despair or his loss of trust in personal salvation. McAlindon (1981) investigated the ironic vision from theme and diction of this play. DelVecchio (1982) explored Biblical resources from this play. Puhvel (1990) scrutinized manipulation and temptation of Faustus on the part of Mephistophilis. Banerjee (1993) explored Faustus’ achieving his identity by embracing his antithesis- the Other i.e. Mephistophilis and Satan or heretic, savage, witch, adulteress, traitor and Antichrist. Li (2012) investigated the inevitable fall of Faustus in the perspective of the Icarus myth and Frye’s Archetype but the tenets of structuralism have not yet been explored from Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus which the present study will attempt to investigate. Therefore, this study was justifiably conducted for fulfilling this research gap. Theoretical Framework In structuralism, focus was shifted from liberation of the self to the fixity of the structures in which elemental components are combined to make - 78 - larger whole. Structuralism is "the belief that phenomena of human life are not intelligible except through their interrelations. These relations constitute a structure, and behind local variations in the surface phenomena there are constant laws of abstract culture" (Blackburn, 2008). The present study will conduct in the paradigm of structuralism which will help to explain the presence of the tenets of structuralism in Marlowe’s play, Doctor Faustus. What is Structuralism? In the 1950s, the emergence of structuralism questioned the privileged notions of capricious freedom of the individual self and promoted the importance of the sign and structure. Structuralism rejected the existentialist concept of human freedom propounded Sartre. Dumezil and Strauss had reactionary approach to Sartrean engagement. A sole philosopher’s questioning the subject and problematizing the world was faded away. A monarchic principle was replaced with a dynastic principle (Dosse, 1997). Structuralism is a method of analyzing phenomena, as in anthropology, psychology, or literature, chiefly characterized by contrasting the elemental components of the phenomena in system of binary opposition and examining how the elemental components are combined to make elemental components to make larger units. Structuralism was a school of thought (to some) and a method (to others) which dominated some disciplines i.e. linguistics, literary criticism, anthropology, film and media criticism during last five decades of the twentieth century (Sanders, 2004). There was an influence of the schools of phenomenology
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