زبان کاوی کاربردی (Aug 2024)
A Semiotic Exploration of Poetic Discourse: An Analysis of “Madinat al-Sandbad” [In Arabic]
Abstract
The semiotic approach to literature entails deciphering a literary work through its embedded signs, wherein the language of poetry constructs a sign system, with each sign comprising an indivisible duality: the signifier and the signified. This analytical framework originates from the intellectual contributions of figures such as Charles Sanders Peirce, an American philosopher, and Ferdinand de Saussure, a Swiss linguist. Semiotic linguistic studies endeavor to dissect and fathom the multifaceted layers of language, unearthing the latent content within. These studies delve into the dynamics between signifiers and signifieds as they manifest across diverse sign systems. The current analysis scrutinizes Badr Shakir al-Sayyab's poem “Madinat al-Sandbad” through a semiotic lens, concentrating on its title, musicality, language, and structure. The objective is to elucidate the signifiers and signifieds within the poem, thereby exposing the underlying social and political nuances concealed within its innovative poetic framework. The poet employs a repertoire of signs to communicate with the reader, signs that transcend their literal interpretations and imbue the text with novel significance. Interpretive analysis allows for the identification of signs at various levels, including the title, sound, word choice, and structure. The semiotic examination of the title suggests that the poem metaphorically references Baghdad, employing ambiguous language to evade the scrutiny of authorities. Through an exploratory reading, the reader can glean insights into the societal milieu of al-Sayyab's era from the poem's overt discourse, replete with themes of sorrow, despair, and hopelessness, despite occasional semantic dissonance within certain phrases. The linguistic elements of the poem serve as a unique set of signs that subtly convey meaning. On a grammatical level, the signs within sentences and phrases diverge from their conventional meanings, a phenomenon facilitated by the axes of substitution and addition, which collectively articulate the text's intrinsic meaning. Through interpretive reading, which relies on signs and scrutinizes syntactic and rhetorical constructs, the myths and symbols encountered in exploratory reading contribute to the generation of semantic associations and intricacies within the text, ultimately captivating the reader's attention with profound meanings and signs.
