On the semiotics of culture (triple space): The novel (The White Shadow - An Experience in Enlightenment( By Adel Khuzam

Abstract

This research aims to shed light on the semiotics of culture, taking Adel Khuzam's novel "White Shadow - An Experiment in Enlightenment" as a sample. It's a journey that blends the physical and meta-physical worlds, attempting to uncover cultural influences in the work by answering questions distributed throughout the research paragraphs. These questions include: What is the semiotics of culture, and what are its origins? What are the stages of the semiotics' journey to reach culture and depart from structuralism? What's the relationship between cultural criticism and cultural semiotics? What are the foundations of cultural semiotics according to Yuri Lotman, and what is the triadic space? How did the triadic space contribute to the development of the main character? Utilizing the corners of this space to answer the aforementioned questions through drawing a triangular figure with its sides being the inside, the outside, and the boundaries.

The research concludes several points: Firstly, cultural semiotics has undergone structural transformations parallel to the development of critical research methods. Secondly, the research delineates the philosophical, linguistic, and anthropological stages of this evolution. Thirdly, it points out the results of this development, illustrating the cultural impacts on literary work. Fourthly, the research conducts a comprehensive survey of the topic of cultural semiotics and its procedural tools, focusing on the triadic space (inside/outside/boundaries). Fifthly, it demonstrates the contribution of this technique to the main character, showcasing the cultural influences on them through the study of binary self/other positions and the characteristics of the inside and outside environment and the boundaries through which the character transitions.