  tokarev-gv-vestnik-2025-4.pdf |
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- Semiotic approach to the interpretation of literary text (based on Leo Tolstoy’s short story «Polikushka»)
- Tokarev G.V. Semiotic approach to the interpretation of literary text (based on Leo Tolstoy’s short story “Polikushka”). Vestnik of Kostroma State University, 2025, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 93–98. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.34216/1998-0817-2025-31-4-93-98
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.34216/1998-0817-2025-31-4-93-98
- УДК: 821.161.1.09”19ˮ
- EDN: FBKUZT
- Publish date: 2025-09-05
- Annotation: This article demonstrates a principle for interpreting literary texts based on Charles Peirce’s typology of signs, extrapolated to artistic details. The hypothesis that analysing these details through this semiotic lens facilitates a systematic understanding of the text’s content and a more accurate perception of the author’s intent is verified. The study uses Leo Tolstoy’s short story “Polikushkaˮ as its case study. The research demonstrates that iconic signs recreate the realities of the life of landowners and peasants in mid-19th century Russia. Certain iconic signs may also function predictively, shaping reader expectations and influencing the interpretive tone of events. Iconic signs, as a rule, are interpreted unequivocally and represent explicit means of information objectification. Conversely, indexical and symbolic signs largely belong to implicit means. The interpretability of indexical signs depends on the reader’s established competence. Indexical signs possess a hidden signified which a reader should explicate. The study establishes that, in some instances, the author explicitly explains indexical signs. Furthermore, it is shown that symbols are not always objectively defined by the text or the author; rather, they constitute a part of the work, reflecting a subjective interpretation of the text. The research concludes that, in the reader’s consciousness, an artistic detail can transform into a symbol.
- Keywords: text, sign, artistic detail, icon, index, symbol, author, reader, interpretation.
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