Images of 'loneliness in edgar allan poe's poems : a semiotic study

Abstract EN

We endeavor through our researh paper to expose the importance of the semiotic theory in the analysis of poetry in particular.

The idiosyncrasy of poetry makes it the most challenging genre to be analysed in order to get the right and intended meaning of the poet.

For this reason, we suggest that we have to invest in the semiotic field for the interpretation of poetry because we see that it provides the interpreter with a variety of tools and concepts that help in going deeper in the analysis of poetry.

However, we have noticed that poetry is the least genre which benefitted from semiotics inspite of the seminal works of Michael Riffaterre in this field.

Therefore, we would like to elaborate in this field and demonstrate the rewarding outcomes of the semiotic analysis of poetry.

In order to achieve our objectif, we depicted a collection of poems that were written by the American poet Edgar Allan Poe and analysed the different images and functions of the concept of 'loneliness' on the light of the concepts of the semiotician Umberto Eco.

In the end, we found out how the results are satisfactory in revealing the artistic strategies of Poe in employing the theme of loneliness in many of his poems for a variety of functions.

Key words: semiotics, poetry, Edgar Allan Poe, umberto Eco.