As mentioned above there are two ways of how to investigate linguistic signs when language is approached systematically. The concept of linguistic signs is in this respect applied to literary texts. Admittedly, these are a very special instance of signs, a kind of super-signs, if you like. Nevertheless, texts, and thus literature, share all characteristics of linguistic signs. That is to say, the meaning of a text constitutes itself in two ways.

First, the Saussurean concept of signifiant-signifié relationship is important. Interpreting a text from this point of view means that you look for the meaning by studying the organisation of the text, looking at characters, action, setting, etc. Second, it is necessary to understand the meaning of texts as influenced by syntactic relationships between several signs, that is to other texts. Approaches of this kind will understand the text in the context of literature in general.

Therefore, you either look at what was written in the same period, you study the literary sources of a text, or its influence on texts which were written later.

Home > Navigation > Literature > Language Approaches