A “Semiotic Table” analysis of narrative “Legend of Purple Hairpin”

Abstract

This paper aims at (1) rewriting the Fredric Jameson’s interpretation of Algirdas Greimas' semiotic square; (2) analyzing “Legend of Purple Hairpin”, one of the most famous Cantonese Opera in Hong Kong, by using the new interpretation of semiotic square, or Semiotic Table. It is through narrative that the dissemination of value, among human groups and across generations, forms culture. Analyzing narrative is thus an important tool in culture studies. Folklorist Vladimir Propp invented method of narrative analysis which was theorized as “semiotic square”, an underlying structure of signification, by linguist Algirdas Greimas. Applying Greimas' semiotic square, Fredric Jameson is able to analyze ideological practice of text. However, even Fredric Jameson admitted that Greimas' semiotic square is too abstract. The fundamental methodological problem when applying Greimas' semiotic square is that it is intuitional rather than operational. This paper rewrites Greimas' semiotic square as “semiotic table”. Turning to Semiotic table, semiotic square is developed as an operational methodology in cultural studies.