Structuralism and Since: From Lévi-Strauss to Derrida (review)

146 THE MINNESOTA REVIEW John Sturrock (ed.), Structuralism and Since: From Lévi-Strauss to Derrida. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980. $15.95. Structuralism and Since, which consists of essays on Lévi-Strauss, Barthes, Foucault, Lacan, and Derrida, is useful but finally disappointing. As John Sturrock remarks in his Introduction, "structuralism" has, of course, to be used "within quotation marks." To some critics, the word signifies a general method of inquiry, the models for which can be located in Saussure, Jakobson, Lévi-Strauss, and others. To other, more discriminating critics, "structuralism" stands for a movement made up of writers who share certain principles — the systematic study of language, for example— but differ widely on the question of methods and goals. And to still others, "structuralism" connotes a dubious intellectual fashion, or, more ominously, it represents an attack on cherished beliefs about authors, readers, determinate meanings, objectivity, humanism, and the discipline of the liberal arts. With some justification, a number of critics see "structuralism" as no more than a deceptive code-word that masks the incoherence of literary criticism today; many would agree with George Steiner that criticism exists in a state of"dishevelment," with "the current scene," overpopulated by structuralist and other methodologies, seeming "little short of ludicrous" (New LiteraryHistory, Spring, 1979, pp. 451,437). "Structuralism" is, then, a notably contested term, and the debates concerning its meanings reveal much about the institution in which we teach and write about literature. The various forms of acceptance and rejection with which "structuralism" has been greeted; the arguments about its legitimacy and effect on the academy; the combative relations that have arisen among even its advocates and supporters—all of this is crucial for an understanding of what it means to speak of "structuralism and since." But these issues are conspicuously absent from the collection of essays that Sturrock has put together, and this omission turns his potentially important book into an unsatisfying one. In its own right, each of the essays is good, and a couple are excellent. Dan Sperber writes well about Lévi-Strauss, and is particularly cogent on the great anthropologist's "artistry" and "figures of speech." Sturrock himself provides a clear summary of Barthes's career, so interesting in its range and shifting preoccupations. Perhaps Sturrock devotes too much space to rehearsing well-known distinctions—"lisible" and "scriptible," "plaisir" and "jouissance." But his exposition is reliable, and beginners can be sent to his essay for an overview of Barthes's terms and methods. Malcolm Bowie does a fine job in his essay on Lacan, treating, for example, the nature and impact of Lacan's "reading" of Freud, his "marriage" of linguistics and psychoanalysis, and his borrowings from Saussure and LéviStrauss . The best work in the volume, however, is done by Hayden White on Foucault and Jonathan Culler on Derrida. White begins by exploring the "style" of Foucault's discourse and his ways of establishing "authority" in his texts. He notes the curious omission in Foucault's work, which is itself so responsive to "orders of discourse," of any real "theory of language." White also deals interestingly with Foucault's fascination with "power," which more and more seems to be his major concern. "Power," Foucault states, is "everywhere," and his two recent books, Discipline andPunish (1975; trans. 1977) and The History of Sexuality (1976; trans. 1978), are richly developed accounts of the forms in which power is exercised. White examines these books briefly but perceptively, and describes the "apocalyptic" strain that has come to characterize Foucault's thought. This essay, along with an earlier one in History and Theory (1973; reprinted in Tropics of Discourse: Essays in Cultural Criticism, 1978), situates White as one of Foucault's best interpreters. In his essay on Derrida, Culler gives us a solid review of Derrida's "central concepts" (such as "difference," "structure," and "event"), his originality and influence, and forceful 147 REVIEWS critique of the "metaphysics of presence." Culler also touches on Derrida's analyses of, and relations to, Barthes, Lévi-Strauss, Foucault, and Lacan, showing that in each case these writers fail, in Derrida's judgment, to "scrutinize with sufficient rigour the status of their...