Semiotic

6 Pages 1531 Words

Notions of the Semiotic
In this paper I will use Kristeva’s notion of the semiotic to evaluate marriage and the everyday life acts that are encompassed by it. Kristeva’s notion of the semiotic and the symbolic provide the magnifying glass, which is needed to see into and beyond the obvious reasons of love, lust, and companionship. Through this analysis the brief emergences of the semiotic will be made apparent in several aspects of married life. I will also attempt to critique her theory by showing its biasness.
Marriage is one of the most beautiful phenomenon that any two beings can participate in. It is through this union of two that the semiotic takes form and unveils itself to be noticed. The union of marriage is similar to the usage of religion in today’s symbolic world. In fact, the two go hand in hand and adhere to the different semiotic needs of the individual. Religion attends to the semiotic needs of the self-consciousness. Having a God that will love, understand, and forgive you for each and every mistake or wrong that you commit is a protection that only religion can provide, a consistency that will never fail. Religion also provides a unity with a greater, more divine being, that union is created to replace the bond created between a mother and an infant still in the womb. The infant knowing no language communicates solely through desires and needs, to which the mother responds. The infant at this stage cannot discern itself from the mother and thinks of the two a!
s one or whole. Thus the concept of wholeness is now imprinted in the infant’s mind. This wholeness or unity is severed when the mother can no longer provide the child’s every need and desire. Religion and the union with God are an attempt to replace that severed bond.
Marriage is also a response to the loss of wholeness that is suffered in the oedipal stages of a child’s life. Marriage is an action taken to fulfill the so-called...