A semiotic definition of literary discourse
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10740223 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jørgen Dines Johansen (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 2007 |
| Issue | 165 |
| Publication date | 2007-01-19 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Semiotica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0037-1998 • E-ISSN: 1613-3692 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/sem.2007.035 |
| OpenAlex | W2044585542 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 4 |
In this article, an anthropological definition of literature is attempted. Since all communities seem to have some kind of literature (including its simple forms: myth, folktale, fable, proverb, and song), literature is claimed to be a human universal. Hence, literary discourse should be added to the four basic discourses that Habermas has pointed out and discussed; namely, theoretical, practical, historical, and technical discourses. Five characteristics of literary discourse are pointed out here: fictionality, poeticity, inquisitoriality, poetic licence, and contemplation. It is not claimed that every text that is classified as literary necessarily contains all five features, but a vast majority of them do. Finally, it is argued that literary discourse is special because it redefines Habermas' four so-called ‘universal-pragmatic validity’ claims: understandability, truth, normative rightness, and sincerity. These claims are not altogether suspended, but they are given new meanings and attenuated in literary discourse
Art · Contemplation · Epistemology · Fable · Linguistics · Literary criticism · Literary science · Literature · Mythology · Normative · Poetry · Semiotics · Simple (philosophy) · Sincerity · Sociology · Theme (computing) · Computer Science · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Philosophy · Psychology · Rhetoric and Communication Studies
| Highly cited | No |
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