Thinking Activity on Structuralism

Gerard Genette (born 1930) is a French literary theorist, associated in a particular with the structuralists movement and such figure as Roland Barthes and Claude Levi-strauss, from whom he adapted the concept of bricolage. His best known work in English through the section , “Narrative Discourse: An Essay on method.” Gerard Genette defines structuralism as a method is based on the study of structure.

With the view point of a structuralist I would like to analyse a Bollywood movie “Drishyam” with the gener of mystery and thriller, written by Jeetu Joseph and directed by Nishikant kamat. The general narratology has an order  an order of A1(a murder occurs) B2 (the circumstances of murder revealed) C3 (At the end murderer is caught) but the movie has a 'novelty value' with quite different and interesting narratology as it starts with the ending part of story but the beginning scene of the movie and the protagonist flows in flashback sitting in a police station and a murder occurs and in B2 part where the circumstances are revealed to the audience properly but not to the detectives, they know the mystery of murder but there is lack of evidence. In the C2 part the murderer should be caught but in the movie murderer has successfully escaped and living happily.

 

Here is the concept of sign signifier and significant we could take struggle between truth and visual memories "Drishyam" as a sing, the signifier is the efforts has been done by the protagonist to save his family and it signified that you always remember what you have seen and narrated repeatedly. The referent could be given by a critic that a very little educated person with a very powerful general knowledge can gain victory over the well educated police officers is quite a new structure and concept but could be more unrealistic.

The movie has 'rules and convention of different signifying system', the process which should be used in solving the case or should be used for caught the murderer has used for hide the crime and criminal. As a structuralist, it can be said that the movie is very Logically structured the situation is very perfectly handled by the protagonist and his family but as far as realistic point of view is concerned the circumstances like that is rarely happens.