We live in a world of signs, and signs about signs. A growing awareness of this situation has involved modern man in a momentous change of perspective which has gradually forced him to accept that in such a world 'reality' inheres not in things themselves, but in the relationships we discern between things; not in items, but in structures. As a result, the ways of thinking and methods of analysis involved in the disciplines loosely termed 'structuralism' and 'semiotics' have become central to an understanding of that reality. This book discusses the nature and development of structuralism and semiotics, and the principles and issues at stake, and is intended for those with no prior knowledge of the field.