Semiology Glossary

Reader-response Theory is a modern theory in literary criticism, illuminating the response of readers to texts and less dealing with the objective features of literary works. Reader-response theory is not so much a specific doctrine as it is a general reorientation to...

Reading is the process of decoding a message from a verbal text; Metaphorically - the process of interpreting the meaning of any text, verbal or otherwise. Although reading can mean the process of understanding a simple, clear message, in semiotic works this term...

The Real is a term used by Jacques Lacan to denote one of the three lines or registers within which human beings operate. Unlike both, the imaginary and the symbolic, the real is that which fully resists symbolization. In this sense, it is similar to what Immanuel...

In literary and art critique, realism is a mode of representation that conveys the impressions of a correctly described subject; In philosophy, on the other hand, the term realism is used to denote several positions. Unlike nominalism, realism means a doctrine...

Reality is a state of existence, usually defined as the opposite of illusion or functional. Charles S. Peirce defines reality in terms of inquiry: reality is what the scientific community would eventually discover if given unlimited time (CP 5.311).

Reason is the name for ability or network of abilities traditionally attributed to Homo sapiens to distinguish it from all other species of animals. Reason is defined in terms of multiple abilities, the most important of which is the ability to form universal or...

Reception Theory is a term used in a broad sense as a synonym for Reader-response Theory and in a narrower sense as a name for the approach described by literary historian Hans Robert Jauss. Jauss's approach differs from other theories of the reader's response in its...

Recit is a French term used in narratology to denote the narrative text itself, as opposed to plot and narration (the process of telling a story).

Reductionism is the tendency to explain complex phenomena as masked examples of simpler phenomena, as is the tendency to reduce something that is higher to something that is lower. The attempt to interpret the inquiry for truth not as something else but as a thirst...

The spectrum of objects to which the signs refer or point, as opposed to what the signs mean or indicate. The reference to the sign "semioticians" includes Charles Peirce, Ferdinand de Saussure, Charles Morris, Roland Barthes, and many others. These are some of the...