Structuralism & Semiotics

Fülszöveg

NEW ACCENTS General Editor Terence Hawkes
We live in a world of signs» and of 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.
It begins with a historically-based description of the growth
of structuralist thinking out of the related disciplines of
linguistics and anthropology, making special reference to the
work of Saussure, Lévi-Strauss,... Tovább

Fülszöveg

NEW ACCENTS General Editor Terence Hawkes
We live in a world of signs» and of 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.
It begins with a historically-based description of the growth
of structuralist thinking out of the related disciplines of
linguistics and anthropology, making special reference to the
work of Saussure, Lévi-Strauss, and the American structural
linguists. It moves on, through a discussion of Russian
Formalism, to an exposition of the chief 'structuralist' ideas
current in the study of literature. The work of Roman Jakobson,
Roland Barthes and others is closely looked at. It then takes up
the'questions raised by the whole 'science of signs', considering
such matters as the nature and status of 'literariness', what
'reading' really involves, and the ultimate function of'writing'
in its various modes.
Dr Hawkes concludes by calling for a new kind of critical
awareness : the prerequisite for a new level of general,
awareness of the ways in which we communicate with each
other, and of the implications these contain for a society
swiftly moving beyond its commitment to the printed page.
Terence Hawkes is Senior Lecturer in English, University College,
Cardiff. Vissza