THE LITERARY METADISCOURSE IN “UM CONTO OBSCURO”, BY SÉRGIO SANT’ANNA: A SEMIOTIC APPROACH

Abstract

Based on the presuppositions of French semiotics, this work analyzes the text “Um conto obscuro”, by Sérgio Sant’Anna. The short story presents a metadiscursive character due to the fact that the enunciator describes, simultaneously to the plot construction, some considerations concerning the narrative composition. Through the prism of Denis Bertrand’s work known as Caminhos da semiótica literária (2003), our objective is to investigate the contractual manner of the figurative signification manifested in the text, demonstrating how the enunciatee’s adhesion to the text is processed. For this purpose, the dimensions of text analysis developed by the semiotic theory have previously been established; and reference to the four contractual manners of figurative signification for reading the literary text, proposed by the French semioticist, has been made.