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Digital Education and E-Learning Innovations

ISSN: 3067-3259

The journal has been developed, based on the editors’ vision, to become a forum for publishing sound research findings that investigate the potential of technology in enhancing education delivery systems. The journal is devoted to providing a forum for dissemination of knowledge, technological enhancement of education and teaching methodologies, the use of Information Communication Technology in learning processes, best corporate e learning platform and the e-learning technologies that are changing the face of learning systems and curriculum the world over.

Semiotics and Symbolism in Modern Poetry: A Critical Review of Language, Meaning, and Cultural Contexts

1Valerie Behiery

1BFA, University of Ottawa, 1PhD, McGill University, Montreal

Received: 2-Dec-2024 | Revised: 18-Feb-2025 | Accepted: 05-March-2025

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Abstract

This review article critically analyzes the function of semiotics and symbolism in modern poetry in terms of the way signs and symbols are deployed to build meaning, disrupt conventional language usage, and respond to cultural and historical contexts. In this context, the research work draws from such seminal theories in semiotics as Saussure's structuralism, Peirce's triadic model, and Barthes' myth analysis, as the study deconstructs how modern poetry grapples with disjointed identities and changing cultural milieus. Case studies involve poets like T.S. Eliot, Sylvia Plath, and Pablo Neruda illustrate here the varied usage of semiotic structures in poetic expression. The article also takes up critical debates regarding meaning-making, cultural specificity, and postmodern deconstruction, regarding their importance for the fluidity of symbols in modern discourse. Despite crucial trends highlighted, there is identification of gaps, from interdisciplinary approaches to cross-cultural analyses and digital explorations of semiotics. After all, the concern of modern poetry with semiotics and symbolism underscores its capability to reflect and reconstruct cultural consciousness within an ever-changing literary environment.

Keywords

Semiotics, Symbolism, Modern Poetry, Meaning-Making, Cultural Contexts, Linguistic Structures, Postmodernism, Reader-Response Theory, Intertextuality, Digital Poetry.