Authority between unity of motivation and diversity of actionA semiotic reading of the play (The Wonderful Creature) by Mahmoud Jandari

Abstract

This study seeks to examine the theme of authority in Mahmoud Jundari’s play The Strange Creature through a semiotic approach that reveals the unity of motive and the diversity of action, as a central semantic category that has dominated the entire course of the text. The research also aims to uncover the author’s vision and conceptualization of authority through the unfolding events and the interactions of the characters, which ultimately led to the adoption of this perspective.

Methodologically, the study employed a procedural semiotic framework based on three analytical paths. The first path deconstructs the components and elements of the plot to clarify the theatrical form adopted in this sample. The second path applies the actantial model to the characters, considering them as agents who carry and activate the theme of authority, in accordance with Greimas’s theory of the six actants. The third path examines the discursive patterns of the actants, as a means of uncovering the mechanisms of authority manifested through verbal structures associated with it.

The study further relied on a range of relevant sources and studies, and concluded with several findings.

 Mahmoud Jandari resorted to using a dramatic style that combined seriousness and humor. He dealt with a serious and sensitive subject like (authority) in an entertaining way, using methods of sarcasm, irony, and paradox, which gave the text a deeper semantic dimension and a stronger impact on the recipient.