Semiotica (3):239-262. 1973Pierre and Elli Maranda’s Structural Analysis of Oral Tradition, containing elicited papers from a distinguished group of scholars, offers an overview of the uses of the structural method in folkloristic anthropology. These papers provide the basis for a more general discussion of two major issues. One is the divergent approaches of two key figures, Levi-Strauss and Propp. One way of characterizing their difference is by contrasting how Levi-Strauss and Greimas, building upon Propp, use the term armature, and the closely related terms code and message. The other major issue deals with Hymes’ observation that these approaches can be seen as falling within the domain of semiotics, the study of systems of signs as codes alone. What is lacking is an alternative approach, one that considers the communicative context in which texts occur. However, no contribution, not even Hymes’, fully exemplifies this. This essay concludes by offering a defense of the immanent approach to text analysis and arguing that the structural approach to verbal art is relevant far beyond the confines of 'anthropological folkloristics.'
