The Locus of Meaning : Six Hyperdimensional Fictions / Herbert F. Smith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smith, Herbert F., author.

Series:

Theory/culture series.

Heritage

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American fiction--19th century--History and criticism--Theory, etc.

American fiction.

American fiction--20th century--History and criticism--Theory, etc.

Semiotics and literature--United States.

Semiotics and literature.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (207 pages).

Place of Publication:

Toronto : University of Toronto Press, [2019]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

In this innovative examination of works by Poe, Melville, Twain, Nabokov, Barth, and Pynchon, Herbert F. Smith established an aesthetic theory that allows for fresh readings of six problematic texts. He explores how the texts came to be written and what semiotic processes are involved in their creation, and in so doing he opens the way for new theoretical speculation. Texts that do no more than produce data are essentially two-dimensional. Texts that interest as texts have a third dimension. Almost all literary criticism takes place within these three dimensions. For Smith, texts that compel the reader to go beyond of two- or three-dimensional analysis are the most interesting. The technique he develops for reading these works of literature is based on the idea of hyperdimensionality, a metaphor he borrows, along with catastrophe and chaos from science. The works he examines are seen as loci for meaning in which numerous directions and coordinates function simultaneously. Beginning with Roman Jakobson, Smith examines speculations about the metaphor/metonymy dichotomy, invoking along the way Umberto Eco and David Lodge. He quarrels with the notion that metaphor and metonymy are polar, and proposes that the dichotomy be visualized as multi-dimensional, to reflect their complex relationship. As he develops his technique for reading metafiction, he sheds light on the theories of critics as diverse as Derrida, Barthes, and Frye. The tone is exploratory, even playful, engaging the reader in a free play of ideas.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Axiomatic (to take the place of a foreword)

PART ONE: A Theory of Hyperdimensional Isomorphisms

PART TWO: Three Nineteenth-Century Texts

PART THREE: Three Postmodern Texts

Epilogue

Bibliographical Notes

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 28. Aug 2019)

ISBN:

1-4875-8464-4

OCLC:

1114775641