DOI: https://doi.org/10.14710/ca.v10i2.33668

A Semiotic Analysis of The Shadow (1909) by Edmund Blair Leighton: Ferdinand de Saussure and Roland Barthes’ Theories

Lilis Fadilah  -  English Literature Major, Faculty of Language and Art, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Jl. R.Mangun Muka Raya, Rawamangun, Jakarta Timur, Indonesia 13220, Indonesia
Hasna Aliifa Aulia  -  English Literature Major, Faculty of Language and Art, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Jl. R.Mangun Muka Raya, Rawamangun, Jakarta Timur, Indonesia 13220, Indonesia
Angelina Tri Ayuni Sinaga  -  English Literature Major, Faculty of Language and Art, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Jl. R.Mangun Muka Raya, Rawamangun, Jakarta Timur, Indonesia 13220, Indonesia
*Radya Alunna Pratama  -  English Literature Major, Faculty of Language and Art, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Jl. R.Mangun Muka Raya, Rawamangun, Jakarta Timur, Indonesia 13220, Indonesia

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Abstract

This article examines the construction of meaning in Edmund Blair Leighton’s painting, The Shadow (1909) through the application of Saussure and Roland Barthes’ theories of semiotics. The research uses a qualitative descriptive method to describe and analyze visual elements of the painting with respect to Saussure’s signifier and signified concepts, followed by the level of denotation, connotation, and myth introduced by Barthes. Results indicate that the visual elements like the woman, the knight, the shadow, the ship, and the Medieval location act as connected signs which depict concepts of love, dedication, memory, responsibility and disconnection. While at the denotative level the painting describes the painting portraying a woman touching a knight's shadow before he leaves, on connotative and mythological levels it portrays love and also emphasizes the myth of art as storage for memory and perpetual human relations. In addition, by re-using medieval images, a sense of knightly duty and love's faithful adherence. In conclusion, semiotic analysis assists to provide a full comprehension of the symbolic and ideological aspects embedded within visual artistic creation.

Keywords: Semiotics; Symbolism; The Shadow (1909); Ferdinand de Saussure; R. Barthes. 


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Keywords: Semiotics; Symbolism; The Shadow (1909); Ferdinand de Saussure; R. Barthes.

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Section: Linguistic Studies
Language : EN
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