1. a method of analyzing language, literature, and culture that focuses on the underlying structures and relationships between elements rather than their individual meanings
Usage: academic; linguistics; literary theory
2. an approach in psychology that seeks to understand the mind by breaking down mental processes into their basic structural components
Usage: psychology; historical

Examples

• Structuralism revolutionized the study of linguistics in the 20th century.
• The professor explained how structuralism analyzes myths by examining their underlying patterns.
• Literary critics used structuralism to decode the hidden meanings in the novel.
• Structuralism in psychology was largely replaced by other approaches.
• The anthropologist applied structuralism to understand kinship systems.
• Structuralism emphasizes the relationships between elements rather than the elements themselves.