iReview: Three Functions of a Text

I would like to discuss first chapter entitled "Three Functions of a Text" from the book Universe of the Mind: A Semiotic Theory of Culture. The book is originally written in Russian by Yuri Lotman.

1. About the Author

Yuri Lotman (also Spelled as Juri Lotman, 28 February 1922 – 28 October 1993) was a prominent Russian-Estonian literary scholar, semiotician, and historian of Russian culture, who worked at the University of Tartu. He was a founder of the Tartu–Moscow Semiotic School. The present book from which the chapter is being discussed is one of the key works on his ideas of signs, semiotics, and culture.

2. What is this Chapter about?

The central argument of the chapter is that semiotic systems, particularly language and the texts they produce, have functions that extend far beyond the adequate transmission of a pre-existing message. The text identifies and elaborates on two additional, crucial functions: the generation of new meanings, identified as the creative function and the condensation of cultural memory.

2.1 Saussurean Model and its Limitations

The analysis begins by critiquing the traditional Saussurean linguistic model, which prioritizes the study of language defined as the abstract system, or code over speech its concrete manifestation, the text. Saussure identifies them as Langue and Parole respectively.

2.1.1 The "Packaging" Metaphor

Here, a text is treated as a disposable "packaging" for a message or content. The primary goal of communication is for the receiver to de-code the text and receive a message identical to the one sent. The text itself holds no intrinsic value beyond being a vehicle for this content.

2.1.2 The Ideal of Adequacy

The system is considered to work "well" if the received message is wholly identical to the despatched one. Any differences are classified as "errors" to be prevented by mechanisms like redundancy.

2.1.3 The Paradox of Natural Language

If perfect, adequate transmission is the primary criterion for success, then natural languages must be considered inefficient. Achieving absolute identity between transmitted and received messages requires the addresser and addressee to have wholly identical codes—a condition that is practically unobtainable. Differences in linguistic experience, memory, cultural tradition, and individual perspective ensure that the identity of transmitted and received texts is always relative.

2.1.4 Artificial Languages as the Model

To guarantee perfect adequacy, one would need an artificial, simplified language used by artificially simplified communicators with limited memory and no cultural background. While such systems perfectly model the function of adequate transmission, they lose the other essential functions inherent to natural language, most notably its universalism.

2.2 Generating New Meanings or The Creative Function

In direct contrast to the transmission model, the creative function posits that semiotic systems are also generators of new messages.

2.2.1 Defining a "New Message"

A "new message" is not one produced by a simple, symmetrical transformation where the original input can be perfectly recovered (e.g., solving a math problem). A new message arises from an asymmetrical transformation, where a reverse operation would not produce the original text but a third, different text.

2.2.2 Translation as a Creative Act

The translation of artistic texts is the primary example. The translation of a poem from one language to another is not a one-to-one transfer.

Example: Translating a Japanese Haiku into Gujarati may sometimes require a completely different poetic form, not a direct symmetrical transfer. The fact that multiple translations of the same poem can exist demonstrates that there is a "space" of possible interpretations rather than a single correct correspondence.

2.2.3 Accretion of Meaning

In creative transformations, meaning is not just an invariant element that is preserved; it is also what is altered. This process results in an accretion of meaning.

2.2.4 The Inseparability of Language and Content

In complex meaning-generation, language is inseparable from the content it expresses. The message becomes not just a message in a language, but also a message about the language. Roman Jakobson termed this phenomenon the "set to the code," a fundamental feature of literary texts.

2.3. Condensing Cultural Memory or the Memory Function

The text's third identified function is its capacity to act as a condenser of cultural memory.

2.3.1 The Text's Intrinsic Memory

A text is not a static object; it has the capacity to preserve the memory of its previous contexts. The sum of the contexts in which a text acquires interpretation can be termed the text's memory.

2.3.2 Accumulation of Information

Instead of fading over time, texts that remain culturally active demonstrate a capacity to accumulate information. They gain new meanings through their interactions with new contexts and new audiences.

Example: The novella Devdas today is not just Saratbabu's original Bengali work. It is also the memory of all its subsequent interpretations on stage and screen and in criticism. A modern audience cannot forget what has been learned since Saratbabu's time, and this knowledge gives the text new layers of meaning.

2.4. The Spectrum of Language: From Artificial to Artistic

The text proposes that all languages and texts can be situated along an axis defined by two abstract poles: The Artificial Pole, i.e. the pole characterized by the primary function of transmitting invariant messages. And the Artistic or Poetic Pole, the pole characterized by the dominance of the creative function.

2.4.1 A Moveable Position 

These poles are theoretical abstractions. No actual language is purely one or the other. Natural languages contain "poetic" elements like synonymity, and even the most individualistic artistic languages must contain metalingual elements, such as self-reflection on the code. Furthermore, a text's position on this axis is not fixed; it can be shifted by the perspective of the reader.

3. Key Terms

Accretion of Meaning:

The process by which a text gains new meaning through creative transformations, rather than simply preserving an invariant message.

Artificial Languages:

Simplified semiotic systems designed to fulfill one function to perfection: the adequate transmission of a message. They lack the universalism of natural language.

Artistic (Poetic) Languages:

Semiotic systems in which the creative function is strongest. They are characterized by asymmetrical transformations and the inseparability of language and content. For examples, the language of poetry, where a reverse translation would not produce the original text.

Asymmetrical Transformation:

A transformation of a text where a reverse operation does not lead back to the original input text, but rather to a new, third text. This is characteristic of creative acts. For example, the adaptation of a novel into a film.

Code:

The abstract system of rules for encoding and decoding a message. In Saussurean thought, this is analogous to language as opposed to speech or text. For example, the code for English includes its grammar and vocabulary, but also linguistic experience, memory, norms, and cultural traditions.

Creative Function:

The capacity of a semiotic system not only to transmit ready-made messages but also to serve as a generator of new ones through asymmetrical transformations. For examples, translating a poem, where the act creates a new text that is an interpretation of the original rather than an identical copy.

Iconism:

The presence of a non-arbitrary, motivated connection between the signifier (the sign's form) and the signified (the sign's concept). Jakobson identified this as a key feature of language, particularly its artistic aspect.

Memory Function:

The capacity of a text to act as a condenser of cultural memory, preserving the memory of its previous contexts and accumulating new information and meanings over time.

Set to the Code:

A term from Roman Jakobson describing a message in which the interest is shifted onto its own language, making the message not just in a language but also about that language. This is a fundamental feature of literary texts.

Symmetrical Transformation:

A transformation of a text that is fully reversible, where an inverse operation can perfectly restore the original input. This does not create a "new message."

Text:

The concrete, articulated manifestation of language (or a code), as opposed to the abstract system itself. The material object of semiotic analysis. Examples include poems, novels, advertisements, films, etc.

Text's Memory:

The sum of the contexts in which a given text acquires interpretation. These contexts are, in a way, incorporated into the text, giving it a "semiotic life." For example, Hamlet today is not just the play but also "the memory of all its interpretations" and the cultural associations it has accrued.

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