Unravelling the Knots: Poststructuralism and Other “Post-isms

Beginning with the assumption that there is confusion over what is meant by post-structuralism, and that this confusion is fostered by critics and supporters alike, I argue for an exclusive but not deadening definition of this apparently nebulous term. Using as my benchmark the minimum definition that post-structuralism is an attempt to go beyond the limitations of structuralism without regress to humanism I aim to specify this further by investigating competing accounts of three terms key to the literature surrounding 'post-isms': structure, difference, and criticism. Three conceptions of structure (linguistic, discursive, virtual), four conceptions of difference (dialectical, anti-dialectical, aporetical and empiricist), and three approaches to criticism (normative reconstruction and deconstruction, and ontological construction) are delineated with a view to producing a grid of analysis that will generate the exclusive definition required. It is argued that if post-structuralism is to escape structuralism without regress to humanism then it must deploy a virtual conception of structure, an empirical conception of difference and a constructivist approach to criticism. It is not the purpose of this paper to define the other possible points on the grid.