ABSTRACT
Structuralist linguistics argued language is a sign system in which the identity of each part depends on its relation to all other parts of the system. This idea had two ramifications for literary study. One was to promote the study of the systematic or structural components of literature—such as the functions of narrative. Another was to draw attention to how difference constitutes identity. This insight, when applied to philosophy, led to deconstruction and poststructuralism. I study "Masque of Anarchy" as a sign system. I then turn to how codes operate in literature. I explain the code of "positivism" in Dickens' Hard Times. I examine the clash of traditional and modern cultural codes in Mungoshi's Waiting for the Rain. Dominant cultural codes can be challenged through recoding, something I examine in relation to Mack Sennett's film "One Night Stand." Finally, I explain deconstruction by comparing Wordsworth's Prelude and Bishop's "At the Fishhouses."
