Materiality and Meaning in Literary Studies

  • Recently, non- and paraverbal properties of literary texts at the level of documentary inscription (i.e. materiality), seen individually or as aspects of a so-called ‘material text’, that is, the union of materiality and verbal sign systems, received an increasing amount of attention in textual scholarship and literary studies. Here, ‘meaning’ or at least ‘semantic potentiality’ has been attributed to both or either and physical features of texts have been construed as hitherto neglected aspects of literary communication and literary aesthetics. In what follows, I will present a brief conspectus of the current debate and then try to provide a reconstruction of underlying ideas by answering the question ‘how does a material text mean?’. Taking a descriptive meta-perspective and focusing on conceptual and methodological clarification, I try to clarify the somewhat blurry expressions ‘meaning’, ‘to mean’ and the like by translating them into the distinct terminology of semiotics and transferring them into the theoretical framework ofRecently, non- and paraverbal properties of literary texts at the level of documentary inscription (i.e. materiality), seen individually or as aspects of a so-called ‘material text’, that is, the union of materiality and verbal sign systems, received an increasing amount of attention in textual scholarship and literary studies. Here, ‘meaning’ or at least ‘semantic potentiality’ has been attributed to both or either and physical features of texts have been construed as hitherto neglected aspects of literary communication and literary aesthetics. In what follows, I will present a brief conspectus of the current debate and then try to provide a reconstruction of underlying ideas by answering the question ‘how does a material text mean?’. Taking a descriptive meta-perspective and focusing on conceptual and methodological clarification, I try to clarify the somewhat blurry expressions ‘meaning’, ‘to mean’ and the like by translating them into the distinct terminology of semiotics and transferring them into the theoretical framework of an instrumentalist notion of signs.show moreshow less

Download full text files

Export metadata

Additional Services

Share in Twitter Search Google Scholar
Metadaten
Author:Annika Rockenberger
URN:urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-4085
DOI:https://doi.org/10.15475/skms.2016.1.2
Series (Serial Number):Schriften zur Kultur- und Mediensemiotik | Online (2016.2.2)
Document Type:Part of Periodical
Language:English
Year of Completion:2016
Date of Publication (online):2016/09/09
Year of first Publication:2016
Publishing Institution:Universität Passau
Release Date:2016/09/09
GND Keyword:Behinderter Mensch; Gesellschaft
Page Number:39-60
Source:Schriften zur Kultur- und Mediensemiotik | Online, 2016, 2, 39-60
Institutes:Philosophische Fakultät
Dewey Decimal Classification:7 Künste und Unterhaltung / 79 Sport, Spiele, Unterhaltung / 791 Öffentliche Darbietungen, Film, Rundfunk
open_access (DINI-Set):open_access
Licence (German):License LogoCC by: Creative Commons - Namensnennung