Editing Structuralist film theory

{{Short description|Branch of film theory rooted in structuralism}}
{{Dicdef|date=February 2025}}
'''Structuralist film theory''' is a branch of [[film theory]] that is rooted in [[structuralism]], itself based on [[structural linguistics]].

==Overview==
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Structuralist film theory emphasizes how [[film]]s convey [[Meaning (semiotics)|meaning]] through the use of [[code (semiotics)|code]]s and conventions not dissimilar to the way languages are used to construct meaning in communication. However, structuralist film theory differs from linguistic theory in that its codifications include a more apparent temporal aspect. In other words, the site of the study (the film) is moving in time and must be analyzed in a framework which can consider its temporality. To that end, structuralist film theory is dependent on a new kind of [[Sign (semiotics)|sign]], first proposed by the [[Prague school|Prague linguistic circle]], dubbed the [[Ostensive definition|ostensive]] sign.<ref>Sternagel, Jörg, Deborah Levitt, Dieter Mersch, and Lesley Stern. ''Acting and Performance in Moving Image Culture: Bodies, Screens, Renderings'', 2012. p. 307.</ref>

== Theoreticians ==
Film theorists associated with structuralism include [[Peter Wollen]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-12-20 |title=Peter Wollen obituary: the maven of British film theory {{!}} Sight & Sound |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/comment/obituaries/peter-wollen-film-theory-modernism-signs-meaning-riddles-sphinx-passenger |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=British Film Institute |language=en}}</ref> [[Sol Worth]], Calvin Pryluck,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cook |first=David A. |date=1975 |title=Some Structural Approaches to Cinema: A Survey of Models |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1225133 |journal=Cinema Journal |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=41–54 |doi=10.2307/1225133 |jstor=1225133 |issn=0009-7101}}</ref> [[Christian Metz (theorist)|Christian Metz]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Henderson |first=Brian |date=1975 |title=Metz: Essais I and Film Theory |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1211695 |journal=Film Quarterly |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=18–33 |doi=10.2307/1211695 |jstor=1211695 |issn=0015-1386}}</ref> and Will Wright.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wright |first=Will |url=https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520034914/sixguns-and-society |title=Sixguns and Society: A Structural Study of the Western |date=September 1977 |isbn=978-0-520-03491-4 |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Semiotic literary criticism]]
* [[Structural film]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Film studies}}

[[Category:Film theory]]


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