Semiotic Reading of Mari Evans’ “I Am a Black Woman” through Thick Description

Document Type : Original Research

Authors
Shahrzad Mohammad Hosein 1
Hoda Shabrang 2
Razieh Eslamieh 3
1 PhD. Student of English Literature, Department of English Language and Literature, Islamic Azad University, North Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran
2 Assistant Professor of English Language and Literature , Department of English Language, Faculty of Humanities, Khatam University, Tehran, Iran.
3 Assistant Professor, Department of English Language and Literature, Parand Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
10.48311/eijh.31.4.17
Abstract
The precedence of poetry can be traced to ancient times when man first realized that he could combine speech with rhythmicity and musicality to convey and express his inner-most thoughts and passions. The strengths and advantages attributed to poetry are galore; however, few think of employing it as a source for retrieving cultural facts. In the current study, the endeavor of the researcher is to display how poetry can be utilized to extract cultural concepts which are embedded in the mass cultural consciousness of a people by scrutinizing their poetry. The complexity of notions, expressed through poetry, can be revealed one’s verses are deconstructed and the poem is perused scholarly to single out hypograms which are the units carrying the essence of meaning. The inevitable result would be the revelation of different layers of meaning which are convoluted into leitmotifs and only a thorough analysis and meticulous reading can exhibit the relationship between signs, signifier and the signified. As both poetry and cultural studies share the characteristic of being implicit, it is necessary to employ methods which aid clarity and lucidity. A sophisticated analysis requires the use of thick description, a method which cleaves the kernels of thought to display intended meaning and acts as a viable catalyst expediting the process of comprehension through interpretation.

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The International Journal of Humanities
Volume 31, Issue 4
Autumn 2024
Pages 17-32