by Catherine Belsey
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Product Description
Poststructuralism changes the way we understand the relations between human beings, their culture, and the world. Following a brief account of the historical relationship between structuralism and poststructuralism, this Very Short Introduction traces the key arguments that have led poststructuralists to challenge traditional theories of language and culture. While the author discusses such well-known figures as Barthes, Foucault, Derrida, and Lacan, she also draws pertinent examples from literature, art, film, and popular culture, unfolding the poststructuralist account of what it means to be a human being.
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Average Customer Review:
9 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
 Good Intro to a Poverty Stricken way of Thinking, 2007-06-20
I have been involved in the patient personal scholarship of post structuralism for about 6 months in an attempt to see if contemporary social sciences which base many of their arguments on power relationships can add anything useful to the debate other than airy ideas which seem to be little linked in fact. If one is used to considering the world through a scientific method the post-structuralism is profoundly weak in terms of both explanation and predictability.
The ground in the Humanities is still split between hard core empirical studies, mostly in economics and history describing conditions and general trends verifiable but weak, or purposefully weak on theory, but high on practically and pointing people in productive areas of research. On the other I have found some social sciences, post-structuralism in particular is erected on theory (some almost wholly erected)with little, or no empirical research. This book describes a large chunk of the latter way of thinking in preconcieved notions or power that are neither empirical nor subject to disproof.
Post-structuralism offers unbridgeable propositions between the world of measurement and inquiry and that of pure theory. Post-structuralism moves so far away from any idea of a rational predictable and probability-base world that it completely erodes almost all of the substrates of traditional knowledge (classical rational inquiry and the scientific method) Post-structuralism is an attempt to cut loose from any intellectual tradition beyond very abstruse and subjective inquiries. It risks rendering traditional disciplines within the social sciences and newer "studies" of irrelevant disciplines. Post-structuralism can also make anyone feel intelligent because it function as an independent centre of knowledge generation - but not knowledge as traditionally understood (a point to be considered elsewhere).
Witness the fact of post-structuralism and it ability to erect an edifice completely outside any intellectual tradition that existed before WWII (except Marx and Freud). Moreover if you focus upon a certain point of theoretical knowledge and pursue it rigorously one finds that it either degenerates into a meaningless tautology - eg. such as the Foucault notion of power, or it trails off and merges in other ethereal theories that really have neither utility, nor, most importantly, meaning.
In addition, this strain of strained "intellectualism" stands, in many respects, outside the tradition of western thought. As such it remains aloof and immune to any ballast or stabilization afforded by empirical and scientific thought.
All of this seems to bode well for such post-structuralism as a literary theory, which is a wonderful and intoxicating endevour full of invention and wonderful manufactured meaning - it has little to do with reality and therefore should not, and in fact is not, a social science. In this sense Belsey does a wonderful job of describing the intellectual sham that is Post-structuralism.
The really pitiful state some of the social sciences have become is manifested in the deplorable thinkers and academics who are so enamoured with their theories and purported truth statements that describe unknown worlds -- worlds that bear no relationship to reality, worlds that are pure think products -- that they actually think that some higher or useful purpose of social understanding or worthy endevours (such as the striving for social justice) can be furthered with their line of explanation.
People are not theory and the worst experiences of mankind have been based upon people trying to pound facts, and often people, into theory. So far these bumpy thoughts have been relegated to the nether reaches of self-referential departments outside classical academia. And there they should stay.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
 Postunderstanding, 2006-07-04
Poststructuralism is accepted as a fairly challenging set of concepts. I had hoped and expected that this intro would surmount the subject difficulties and offer an admittedly brief yet understandable and foundational presentation of the subject. While the book was at least adequate in satisfying my wishes, the subject presentation seemed a bit scattered and broken (is that poststructuralism?) with rather abrupt changes in direction that left me feeling that the previous train of thought had not yet been completed. I would recommend the book but with some reservations.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Quite good, considering its length, 2006-06-21
French linguist Ferdinand de Saussure's assertion that the relationship between a signifier (i.e., a word, symbol) and the signified (the phenomenon it describes) is arbitrary is the starting point for all forms of Poststructuralism. It reveals that language (and all signifying systems) actually create, rather describe, the world we live in. Consequently, all our understandings of the world, be they through culture, knowledge, or ideology, are artificial constructs. While Poststructuralists do not necessarily deny the existence of reality, they argue that ALL understandings of reality are shaped by the signifying systems through which we must experience and understand it. Their objective, therefore, is not to dissect language/symbols in order to discover an ultimate Truth, but rather to reveal how language and symbols create meaning/reality. Here, Catherine Belsey shows how these ideas inform the work of diverse thinkers such as Roland Barthes, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Jacques Lacan, Jacques Derrida, Julia Kristeva, Slavoj Zizek, and Jean-François Lyotard.
Although Poststructuralism is not necessarily political, it can been seen as "subversive" since by revealing how signifying systems create our understandings of the world, the individual learns to recognize and deconstruct the "realities" that control us. While Poststructuralism is empowering in this sense, it also has obvious shortcomings: we can no longer assert any absolutes. This leads the author to conclude that "Poststructuralism is more useful in prompting the uncertainty of questions than in delivering the finality of answers" (107).
I think this work is a very good "general" introduction to the topic. For only 107 pages, I don't think anyone could expect anything more. But, for anyone already familiar with Poststructuralism, it may seem a bit superficial.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Useful, but not as cohesive as it could be, 2006-01-25
Poststructuralism is a difficult area of study, as there are many different (sometimes conflicting) points of view and thinkers which are labelled 'poststructuralist'.
Poststructuralist thought deals with (among other things) 'signifiers' (words, symbols, actions, etc. which signify meaning), and the way in which people are controlled and defined by the kinds of signifiers their particular culture is made of. But that's just one consideration of a much more vast and varied area of study.
Catherine Belsey's introduction is useful as a departure point for further study into this intriguing discipline, although at times certain important points aren't made clearly enough, and certain poststructuralist vocabulary is not rendered as clear as it could be. Also, she gives only passing attention to arguments against poststructuralism.
However, I'd recommend this to anyone interested in the subject, with the caveat that, despite this being part of the normally lucid Very Short Introduction series, it would probably pay to read it more than once.
7 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
 Unfortunately, this is not balanced, 2006-01-16
If you are hoping for an even-handed assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of poststructuralism you will not find it here. Belsley's introduction is mainly a work of advocacy and, as such, undesirable for those looking for a reasonably non-partisan overview. Disappointing.
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