Structuralism

Structuralists believe that things cannot be understood in isolation - they have to be seen in the context of the larger structures they are part of. Thus to understand a work of literature you have to situate it in the larger context of its genre, its theme, etc.
These structures are imposed by our way of perceiving the world rather than objective entities already existing in the external world.
Structuralism is not a set of beliefs, but two complementary practices: analysis and synthesis. …