Göstergebilimsel öykü çözümlemesi- kuram ve uygulama

Semiotic Analysis of a Story- Theory and ApplicationIn our research project titled as « Semiotic Analysis of a Story », we tried to present today?s one of the most valid methods of analysis. After giving theoretical explanations, we analysed a story based on the method.If we need to define semiotics in the first place, it is generally, defined as the study of signs. Its aim is to observe the significances of signes.Before passing on to semiotic analysis, it is a must to mention the names of the linguists Ferdinand de Saussure and Louis Hjemslev.F. de Saussure, the founder of modern semiotics, has given semiotics its autonomy by making it independent from the other sciences. L. Hjemlev has developed the semiotics by evaluating the work of F. de Saussure.It is possible to analyze each field of life that has a sign within itself. Among all the theoriticians of semiotics, Algirdas Julien Greimas is one of the most important one. With this characteristic, his theory makes the basis of this thesis.His theory can be applied in all fields of painting, music, cinema, law, literature and so on. Thus, a kind of music, a film, a poem, a religious expression can all be analyzed by semiotics.The method of our study is based on the principle founded by F. de Saussure and L. Hjelmslev, which claims that meaning is only possible by difference. According to this principle, we perceive a meaning by the relation between two objects. Semiotic analysis makes transactions in a text by the elements that form the set of relations.The main principle that we followed during our analysis was to enlighten the text « within » itself. In other words, our aim was the internal parts; we were not interested in the external elements. The principle that separates semiotic analysis from all other methods and makes it scientific is this characteristic which aims to explain the text « within » itself.The semiotic analysis of a text is realized in two levels :- Superficial level- Major level.The major level is divided within itself into two parts :xii- The narrative component- The discursive component.In short, when we study the superficial level, we analyze the discursive and narrative components of the text. For the narrative componant, first we note the narrative statements. There are two types of statements :- Statement of state- Statement of performance. The narrativity is the succession of all states and transformations.The narrative program has four phases :- The performance- The competence- The sanction- The manipulation.The first phase of conjunction or disjunction, is the stage of performance. The performance is any operation which carries out a transformation of the states.The competence is generally defined with the performance. The modification of the relation that belongs to the subject operator is called modalisation of « doing ». There are four elements of the competence :- The must-do- The want-to-do- The can-do- The know-how.In the sanction phase, the subject is assigned to modify the relationship between the subject and the object. The sanction evaluates the states transformed in the principal performance.The manipulation is an operation of persuasion, characterized by the relationship between the sender and the subject operator.« The model actantiel » is a diagram of semiotic analysis. A subject is not a character and the object is not a thing; they are the roles, named actants. An actant can be either a person or an object, can be singular or plural. We can show an action by six actants which are grouped into three parts.xiiiThe first relationship is between the object and the subject, where the subject is oriented towards the object. The second relationship is between the sender and the recipient, where the sender requests that the junction between the subject and the object is established. The last relationhip is between the additive and the opponent, where the additive helps the subject to obtain its object, while the opponent causes the obstacles.We have already defined the narrative component as the one that directs the contents of the language, by the succession of states and transformations. The discursive component is the one that gives the form of these contents.After making all the definitions of the superficial level, we pass on to the major level. The major level consists of two plans :- The relations- The operations.The relations are the successions of the semantic values. The operations mean the passages of one value to another.For the major level, we study the « semiotic square ». The square enables us to show the oppositions and the relations that take place in the text, which is based on the theory of opposition. For example, if we speak of « hot » and « cold », we get« not hot » and « not cold » to represent the semiotic square.In the semiotic square, each symbol X1, X2, X is a semantic axis. There is a relation of hierarchy between its symbols. Starting with X1, we obtain by negation its contradictory not X. We do the same thing for X2. Thus :- The relation of contradiction exists between X1 and not X1; X2 and not X2- The relation of contrariety exists between X1 and X2- The relation of subcontrarity exists between not X1 and not X2- The relation of presupposition exists between not X1 and X2 and not X2 and X1.If we want to present the semiotic square by an example, we can take the two axes as semantic axes of male X1 and female X2 :- X1 : male- X2 : femaleWe obtain by the negation of X1, ~X1; and in the same way by the negation of X2, ~X2 :- ~X1: not malexiv- ~X2 : not female.Therefore X1 and X2 : male and female at the same timenot X1 and not X2 : not male and not female at the same time.As we can see, based on the two axes, we obtain four semantic axes.In the theoretical chapters of our study, we tried to explain the two fundamental levels of semiotic analysis, by giving quite simple definitions. After having finished the theoretical part, we passed on to the practical part. In the practical part, we analyzed a French story we have chosen. Using the simple definitions that we have made, we applied the definitions to our story. The aim was to show the definitions better by practice.Consequently, we saw that there are always important elements of signification, which we might avoid during reading the texts. All these elements can be identified by the semiotic analysis.The story that we have chosen for the practical application, is the famous « Le Passe-Muraille » (The Walker-Through-Walls), written by one of the XX. century?s writers? Marcel Aymé (1902-1967).« Le Passe-Muraille », published in 1943 is one of the most known stories of the writer. The reason why we chose this story does not depend on its fame, but its richness of elements that best fit the application of semiotic analysis.« Le Passe-Muraille » tells a story of a man named Monsieur Dutilleul who, at the age of 42, discoveres that he has the singular gift of being able to pass through the walls with perfect ease.In our study for the analysis, we first segmented the story of Marcel Aymé in sequences. We made fifteen sequences for this story. After segmentation, we analyzed the narrative and the discursive composants of the text. We made the model actantials of the sequences. As for the narrative analysis, we identified two narrative programs :- PN 1 (program of serenity)- PN 2 (program of adventure).These two programs are set up several times in the succession of the text.Finally, we passed to the major level and studied the semiotic square. For the history of Monsieur Dutilleul, we used the figures of « calm », « adventurous »,« peaceful », « disturbed », « mobile », « static », « life », « death » to represent the semiotic square.The story ends in a disjunctive state of the actor as he is disjoint with his singular gift and also with his life. This is what makes us describe our character as a« dysphoric figure ».xvAs we are completing our study in semiotic analysis, we must emphasize that this is not a complete presentation of all semiotic analysis or an assessment of all semiotic elements. But we believe to have proved the effectiveness of this semiotic method in the field of textual analysis.