A term used by Charles S. Peirce to denote the nature or status of an assertion. According to Peirce, "ordinary words from a set of languages are assertive. They begin to say something as soon as they are attached to an object. If you write "glass" on a chest, one...
Semiology Glossary
Associative
Synonymous with what is now commonly called paradigmatic. Associative and paradigmatic are terms used to denote the way in which words or concepts relate to each other in discourse; Syntagmatic, on the other hand, is used to identify differences between such concepts....
Aufhebung
A German word meaning reconciliation of extremes; moment or phase of mediation; a culmination of the dialectical process. Related: Dialectic
Aufklärung
German word for Enlightenment.
Aural
Applying to the ear or hearing. Spoken words are aural signifiers. They function as signifiers, thanks to the fact that they could be heard. Compared to them, the words on this page are visual signifiers - they function as signifiers, thanks to the fact that they are...
Death of the Author
A phrase showing the deep reorientation of some literary critics and theorists to the text. It shows the authors' turn in critical and theoretical attention to the texts and the mechanisms by which they are created. In many contemporary literary theories and...
Method of Authority
Method of Authority is a term used by Charles S. Peirce to identify one of four possible ways to establish the strengthening of beliefs, namely the method of co-referring to some publicly recognized authority. According to Peirce, beliefs are habits of action. When...
Author’s Intention
It is usually used to show that the meaning of the text is limited to what the author intends. William Wimsat Jr. and Munrow Birdzley in The Conscious Mistake, a manifesto of so-called new criticism, reduce the researcher's criticique to this view. Later, E.D. Hirsch...
Auto-
A common prefix in English (coming from Greek), meaning self- (for example, autodidact are those who teach themselves, self-taught). Opposite heter- or hetero- (different) is also a common English prefix (a heterosexual is a person who is attracted to representatives...
Autocriticism, Autocritique
It means self-criticism. Related: Heterocriticism Self-criticism, according to Julia Kristeva and other contemporary semiotics, is a hallmark of semiotic research. At every stage of its production, such research is not encouraged (according to Kristeva) to think...
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Alienation Effect or A-effect
The common translation of the German expression Verfremdungseffekt or V-Effekt (alienation effect) is a term used by Bertolt Brecht (1898 - 1956) to denote the intentional effect of dispelling the realistic illusion of the dramatic illusion of a dramatic work. The...
Aliquid Stat Pro Aliquo
A Latin expression meaning "something that stands in place of something else". From ancient times to the present day, the function of one thing standing in place of something else has been accepted as an essential characteristic of the sign. A respectful formulation...
Alterity
From Latin 'alter' - another. Alterity, difference, difference; having the status or ability to be different and unassimilable by any representation system. Usually the alterity means what is different from a dominant point of view and has thus been (and probably...
Ambiguity
Openness to many interpretations, some of which might even contradict each other; whenever a word or phrase has multiple meanings and they can be confused.
Ampliative/Explicative
Ampliative is a definition used by Charles S. Peirce to identify those forms of thinking that aim to increase our knowledge (adding something really new to the accumulations of what is already known). Explicative is such reasoning that includes explanation -...
Free Course in Semiology
A completely and truly free course on Semiology (Semiotics). Learn about the meaning of signs, how and why did the field emerged. What is the relationship between the street signs and the signs that we use every day - words.
