Strukturalista

Strukturalista is a term used to describe a scholar or approach aligned with structuralism, a theoretical tradition that seeks to understand phenomena by identifying the underlying structures that generate them, rather than focusing on their surface features or historical contingency.

In linguistics, structuralism emerged with Ferdinand de Saussure, who distinguished langue, the abstract system of a language, from parole, its actual use, and analyzed the linguistic sign as a relationship between signifier and signified within a network of differences. Structuralists emphasize how elements derive meaning from their position within a system of relations.

Beyond language, structuralism was applied to culture and society by Claude Lévi-Strauss, who argued that human thought follows universal cognitive structures revealed in myths, kinship, and classification schemes, often interpreted through binary oppositions. In literary studies, Roland Barthes and Algirdas Greimas developed structural analyses of narratives, signs, and codes that aim to reveal the deep grammar of texts. In semiotics, the structuralist program treats signs and sign systems as interconnected networks of relations.

Structuralism faced critiques for neglecting historical change, power, and individual agency, giving rise to post-structuralism and other approaches that emphasize the instability of meaning. Nevertheless, structuralist methods have influenced many disciplines by providing tools for the systematic analysis of language, culture, and society. Today, the label strukturalista may refer to proponents of structuralism or to scholars who apply its methods within broader critical frameworks.