Semiotic literary criticism
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Semiotic literary criticism, also called literary semiotics, is the approach to literary criticism informed by the theory of signs or semiotics. Semiotics, tied closely to the structuralism pioneered by Ferdinand de Saussure, was extremely influential in the development of literary theory out of the formalist approaches of the early twentieth century.[1]
History
The early forms of literary semiotics grew out of formalist approaches to literature, especially
Propp's Morphology of the Folktale (orig. Russian pub. 1928; English trans. 1958) provides an example of the formal and systematic approach. In successive chapters, Propp analyzes the characters, plot events, and other elements of traditional folktales (primarily from Russia and Eastern Europe). For each of these key components he provides a letter designation (with superscripts to designate specific subtypes). He proceeds to analyze individual tales by transposing them into this notation and then to generalize about their structure. For example:
- Analysis of a simple, single-move tale of class H-I, of the type: kidnapping of a person.
- 131. A tsar, three daughters (α). The daughters go walking (β³), overstay in the garden (δ¹). A dragon kidnaps them (A¹). A call for aid (B¹). Quest of three heroes (C↑). Three battles with the dragon (H¹–I¹), rescue of the maidens (K4). Return (↓), reward (w°). (Propp 128)
He then gives the complete structure of this story in one line of notation, the analysis complete and ready to be compared systematically with other tales:
- αβ³δ¹A¹B¹C↑H¹–I¹K4↓w°
Later semiotic approaches to literature have often been less systematic (or, in some special cases such as
See also
- Structuralist literary criticism
Notes
- ^ "Semiotics for Beginners: Criticisms". visual-memory.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
- ^ Kiryushchenko, Vitaly (2012). "Peirce's Semiotics and the Russian Formalism: Points of Convergence" (PDF).
References
- ISBN 0-8014-9224-6.
- Structuralist Poetics. ISBN 0-8014-9155-X.
- Structuralist Poetics.
- Terrence Hawkes. Structuralism and Semiotics. ISBN 0-520-03422-8.
- Vladimir Propp. Morphology of the Folktale. ISBN 0-292-78376-0.
External links
- Semiotics from the Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism