The Semiotics of Metaphor and Metonymy
The Semiotics of Metaphor and Metonymy
Umberto Eco
This chapter focuses on Umberto Eco's semiotic approach to the distinction between linguistic activity and extralinguistic reality. Semiotics is divided into two parts: the theory of codes and the theory of sign production. The first part of the discussion analyzes the relationship between signifier and signified, while the latter part deals with the sign-referent relations. Eco's vocabulary is cautiously chosen to integrate a disciplined reduction of the world of referents to a continuously changing “semantic global universe.” His goal is to shift the examination of the pragmatics of reference from the analysis of the theory of codes to that of the theory of sign production. Eco discusses sign production in terms of the types of labor required to interpret signs or texts, stating that metaphor and metonymy falls under the category of rhetorical labor.
Keywords: Umberto Eco, semiotics, referents, theory of codes, theory of sign production, metaphor, metonymy, rhetorical labor
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