ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Post-structuralist subject

Okay, so let's talk about what it means when someone is called a "post-structuralist subject".

When we say "post-structuralist", we're talking about a way of thinking that became popular after something called "structuralism". Structuralism is a way of looking at things that tries to find the basic underlying structures or patterns that make up everything.

But some people thought that structuralism didn't go far enough in understanding things like language, society, and culture. They thought that there were too many things that it couldn't explain. So they came up with this idea called "post-structuralism".

Post-structuralism is like taking what we already had with structuralism, but then adding a really important question: "what happens when all of those structures and patterns break down or don't work the way we expect them to?"

So when someone is called a "post-structuralist subject", it means that they're thinking about themselves and their identity in a way that takes into account the fact that things aren't always going to work out the way they're supposed to. They might think about how language and culture shape the way they understand themselves, but also how those forces might limit them in some ways.

It's like if you were building a Lego castle, and you followed all the instructions to build it the right way. But then you realized that some of the pieces were missing or didn't fit together the way they were supposed to. A post-structuralist subject would say "okay, let's think about how we can still make something cool out of these Legos, even if we don't have all the pieces we need."

Does that make sense, kiddo?