THE STRUCTURALIST METHOD IN THE TEACHING OF LITERATURE

Abstract

The structuralist method in literary theory was affirmed in the sixties of the 19th century. Its appearance is the result of several literary and linguistic researches that began with the publication of the famous book of the father of modern linguistics Ferdinand de Saussure "Course in General Linguistics". It emphasizes the symbolic nature of language, where each sign has its own signifier (the sound side) and signified (the concept or meaning), emphasizing that the relationship between them is arbitrary and is based on historical and cultural conventions. The researches of the Russian formalists are also important for the emergence of structuralism. According to them, the basic task of literary-theoretical studies should be the form of works of art and the question of their creation. That is why the object of their interest is the "literary procedure" ie. the way the author shapes the work of art with the help of language. That language, according to the formalists, refers not only to what is said with it, but also to its own structure. From here, Jakobson introduces the notion of literariness, as a set of procedures that separate literature from the rest of literature. Particularly important for the establishment of the formalist method in literature is Vladimir Propp, who with his "Morphology of Fairy Tales" offered a structural model that can be used to describe all fairy tales. Structuralism basically represents an attempt to apply the linguistic theory of Saussure and the researches of the formalists in several scientific disciplines: anthropology, psychology, sociology and in the science of literature, i.e. the theory of literature. Modern teaching requires modern and different approaches to the artistic text. It should unreservedly follow all developments within the framework of literary theory that relate to the interpretation of works of art. That is why the methodology of literature teaching has an important task. As a synthetic science that unites research from several scientific disciplines, it should find the most appropriate ways and methods to bring literature closer to students. Of great importance is the teaching methodology, which should determine which scientific methods are most appropriate in the teaching of literature and transform them into teaching methods. In other words, the scientific methodology should be replaced by a teaching one. The subject of interest of this paper is to show how the structuralist scientific method can become teaching ie. operational and how it can help students in the analysis of an artistic text. As application material is the novel "Piraeus" by Petre M. Andreevski elaborated according to the model offered by Roland Barthes.