Analysis of George Orwell's nineteen eighty-four narrative within the framework of literary semiotics theory

Semiotics is a critical approach to analyze and interpret the facts and incidents related to societies and their cultures. Therefore, it is possible to define it as an art of signification of signs produced by people. Semiotic theory enables to analyze both linguistic and non-linguistic signs including implicit and abstract concepts within a system. The system represents a specific semantic universe which is created thanks to the articulation of those concepts and signs with each other. In a semiotic sense, semiotics is the system which has the characteristics of being an umbrella term divided into many sub-divisions. Whether scientific or non-scientific, each of these divisions stands for different branches. One of those branches is the literature of which semantic universe is created by the intimate interaction of signs with each other. It is the literary language, far from conventional language, that makes the texts precious and complicated. The value and complexity of the work of art stem from the linguistic revolution of its author who generates the text mysteriously. As a result of the usage of implicit signs and symbols, the text turns into a enigmatical meaningful whole which needs to be discovered. It is the work of semioticians to unfold that arcane semantic universe, which is full of complex and implicit signs, systematically. Semioticians are the experts who can always ascribe a meaning to the goings-on around them with their metalinguistic ability. They are the sign hunters who can investigate the meaning formation process of all kinds of texts to reveal all the implicit and invisible facts to make the work of art understandable. The research object of this study is George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four narrative which is presented with a sophisticated structural organization from the deep to the surface meaning layers. What makes the text worthwhile is, in fact, the world of imagination of Orwell and the mastery of him in selection and combination of signs. Literary semiotics criticism and its analysis procedure are mainly considered through the analysis as the focal point of this study is related to language and literature. Thus, the study has been conducted with an interdisciplinary perspective based on language, literature and semiotic fields. In this respect, the structural organization of the semantic universe of Orwell's narrative has been analyzed within the scope of Greimas's semiotic analysis trajectory. Through the analysis, a systematic procedure from the surface to the deep structures has been strictly followed. Accordingly, this study consists of five main parts: In the first part, a general discussion related to the semiotic criticism theory that established the base of the study was initiated. Through the discussion, the significant elements that contributed to the formation of sings as a meaningful whole were addressed within the scope of the terms sign, signifier, signified, and signification. Then the background and purpose of the study with the main and sub-research questions were explained. In the second part, the premises of general semiotics with leading figures and the contributions of their studies to the contemporary semiotics were discussed. Later, the relationship of the studies of these figures with the literary semiotics was handled. In the third part, the historical development of the literary semiotics theory as a transdisciplinary approach, and critical semioticians and their studies were considered. Especially, Greimas's semiotic approach and his analysis instruments were dwelled on. In the fourth part, different meaning layers of the text, the levels of a systematic semiotic analysis, basic concepts, instruments, and techniques were presented in detail. The theoretical frame of the study and the procedure were elaborated regarding the literary semiotics theory. Throughout the analysis, each of the semantic structure of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four narrative with the formative elements of these structures was tried to unfold to be able to reach the semantic organization of the text in both surface and deep structures. In the fifth part, obtained findings during the analysis process in the previous part were interpreted within the framework of the stated research questions earlier. Finally, the study was completed with important suggestions for the subsequent researchers.