Narrative Semiotics Research Articles

Formalism in Narrative Semiotics

Structuralist poetics has often been criticized for its claim that literature, like any other domain of external reality, can be approached with objective methods. Extreme positions have denied poetics-structuralist or otherwise-any relevance in the understanding of literature, dismissing it as yet another variety of logocentric and paternalistic discourse. In a more moderate vein, some critics, notably Paul de Man, have argued against the over-confidence of formalist poetics to handle all areas of literature with equal effectiveness; they have insisted that the distinction should be maintained between poetics and hermeneutics, each with their own areas of application. Since division of labor requires cooperation, de Man was prepared to allow, perhaps even to recommend, the cross-fertilization of the two fields. But division of labor also implies that each domain's tasks be undertaken with the best available techniques. And while the more radical stands against rational poetics cannot, by virtue of their very extremism, be properly answered, some of the doubts expressed regarding the exaggerated scientism of earlier structuralist poetics are worth consideration. If a lasting cooperation should indeed be established between the study of structure and that of meaning, poetics would have to clean up its own house by carefully scrutinizing the principles and methods it has used. Among the more pressing problems poetics should tackle, I would include the formalisms it employs and what expectations may be reasonably entertained as to their relevance. Focusing on the symptomatic case of Greimasian narrative semiotics -a school of thought that, in spite of its remarkable conceptual con-

From text to narrative: Spanning the gap

With modern linguistics making frequent incursions into the domain of literary and narrative studies, there has been an increasingly healthy interaction between linguistic analysis and more traditional methods of literary investigation. Among the offshoots of this incipient cooperation between what were traditionally felt to be mutually antagonistic disciplines are the fields of narrative semiotics and textual linguistics, taking as their domain of definition linguistic texts, discourse, or narrative. The investigator working in these areas cannot help but be pleased, if not at the explicit cooperation between members of the various disciplines, at least at the variety of approaches which are currently being employed in the study of narrative structures. The number of studies relating linguistic and semiotic theory to the study of narrative is increasing with amazing rapidity, and reviews can hardly maintain the pace of digesting such quantities of material as fast as it is produced. Among the numerous works involving the intersection of textual linguistics and narrative semiotics which have recently appeared, the present review will concentrate on several which, by nature of their content, offer a number of convergent points of interest. All but one of the essays of Hendricks (1973) have appeared elsewhere in published form, but are united for the first time under a common rubric; similarly, the individual studies comprising the volume edited by Chabrol (1973) are offered by investigators who have widely published elsewhere. On the contrary, Prince’s study (1973) represents a monographic contribution to the study of narratology. In view of the fact that several general reviews of narrative semiotics have already appeared, the most recent being those of Wing (1974) and Prince (1974), this review will deal with a few specific issues which, while not confined to the volumes under discussion, are readily exemplified there. Most reviewers of the current state of narrative semiotics, including many of the central participants themselves, have stressed the fundamental lack of a unified theory, or even set of directions, which would provide a universally acceptable metalanguage in which to evaluate results from a wide array of disciplines. One of the consequences of the convergence of investigations from anthropology and folk-

Improving reality. An analysis of Spanish makeover reality television

The main aim of this paper is to identify the values conveyed by Spanish makeover reality television. There are two aspects that make these programmes relevant study objects: first, their widespread presence in Spanish television schedules, and second, the role they play in constructing the social imaginary due to their didactic and prescriptive nature. We analysed six Spanish makeover reality shows, Cambio Radical, Desnudas, Esta casa era una ruina, Supernanny, Hermano Mayor and Ajuste de Cuentas, using a methodology that combines narrative semiotics and the analysis of narrative form (plot/syhuzet) and audiovisual style. This paper summarises the main research results and conclusions of a doctoral thesis presented in September 2010.