Structural Reading as Methodology: A Semantic Cluster Approach to Closed Theoretical Texts

This paper does not propose a new theory. Instead, it formalizes a methodology for how theoretical texts should be read and written. The focus is on classical or difficult theoretical texts in which citation practices are underdeveloped and key terms are internally redefined. Rather than treating technical terms as carriers of broad or conventional meanings, this paper proposes reading them as functional variables defined within the text itself. Drawing on Semantic Cluster Theory, the paper argues that many texts considered difficult are not unreadable due to conceptual depth, but because inappropriate reading operations introduce external definitions that break internal structure. To address this, the paper introduces the notion of a “closed theoretical system,” defined as a system in which claims and conclusions are derivable solely from functional dependencies among internally defined terms. The proposed methodology is not intended to interpret specific authors or schools, but to provide a general operational rule for structurally reading closed theoretical texts while keeping them closed.