▁lingu istics ▁of ▁Ferdinand ▁de ▁S auss ure ▁and ▁the ▁subsequent ▁Prag ue , ▁Moscow ▁and ▁C open hagen ▁schools ▁of ▁lingu istics . ▁In ▁the ▁late ▁ 1 9 5 0 s ▁and ▁early ▁ 1 9 6 0 s , ▁when ▁struct ural ▁lingu istics ▁were ▁facing ▁serious ▁challeng es ▁from ▁the ▁lik es ▁of ▁No am ▁Ch om sky ▁and ▁thus ▁f ading ▁in ▁importance , ▁an ▁array ▁of ▁sch ol ars ▁in ▁the ▁human ities ▁borrow ed ▁S auss ure ' s ▁concepts ▁for ▁use ▁in ▁their ▁respective ▁fields ▁of ▁study . ▁French ▁anth rop ologist ▁Claude ▁Lé vi - St ra uss ▁was ▁arg u ably ▁the ▁first ▁such ▁scholar , ▁spark ing ▁a ▁w ides p read ▁interest ▁in ▁struct ural ism . ▁ ▁The ▁struct ural ist ▁mode ▁of ▁reasoning ▁has ▁been ▁applied ▁in ▁a ▁diverse ▁range ▁of ▁fields , ▁including ▁anth rop ology , ▁soci ology , ▁psych ology , ▁literary ▁criticism , ▁econom ics ▁and ▁architecture . ▁The ▁most ▁prominent ▁think ers ▁associated ▁with ▁struct ural ism ▁include ▁Claude ▁Lé vi - St ra uss , ▁lingu ist ▁Roman ▁Jakob son , ▁and ▁ps y cho anal yst ▁Jacques ▁Lac an . ▁As ▁an ▁intellectual ▁movement , ▁struct ural ism ▁was ▁initially ▁pres umed ▁to ▁be ▁the ▁he ir ▁apparent ▁to ▁exist ential ism . ▁However , ▁by ▁the ▁late ▁ 1 9 6 0 s , ▁many ▁of ▁struct ural ism ' s ▁basic ▁ten ets ▁came ▁under ▁attack ▁from ▁a ▁new ▁wave