Assignment 1 - stepbystep

(1)In the Realm of Uncertainty: the Global Village and Capitalist Postmodernity.

The title, if effective, is the most plural line within a text. It is the essay and within it contains the scope of connotation—a connotative primer to orient the universe of the text and the universe of the reader; that which, filters, by drawing together, the semiologically proximal from the peripheral. It is a communication of its perspective, an advertisement, a multi-dimesnional grappling hook searching for its catching point in another universe.

**In the Realm of Uncertainty: In a literal sense, is defined as the dominion of a monarch or sovereign ruler; however, in contemporary vernacular this signifier is often denoted by the word kingdom. The realm, in a connotative sense, is medieval—shrouded in mysticism, filled with frightening uncertainties, expansive because it cannot be fathomed. It suggests that the subject of uncertainty carries with it all these attributes; and, it also warns readers that the argument is less similar to travel in a kingdom—on roads, through towns, to cities. Instead, the topic of uncertainty is itself filled with uncertainty—a journey through a realm on paths, through forests, to castles. This is what Bathes describes as a Seme, “the signifier par excellence because of its connotation, in the usual meaning of the term,” (Barthes 17); thus, as we encounter particularly words conveying powerful connotations we will label them as follows: (Sem: Realm > Medieval).

***The notion of In implies the existence of out; thus, this represents an antithesis—a structural opposition in semiological meaning that orients the universe of an understanding by setting its spatial limitations; it establishes the distance between two relationships. Here, there is one end; there, there is the other end; all else that does exist, that can exist, that lies somewhere between the two. This is especially relevant to the text as the reader discovers that some theorists like Curran “expel any sense of or for uncertainty, with no place for unresolved ambiguity or contradiction,” (Ien 168); thus, this simultaneously uncovers the enigma: Is there an outside of uncertainty or are we in a realm of uncertainty where uncertainty itself exists as our sovereign monarch, untouchable and all-powerful. The antithetical supposition of in to out will be labeled as (Sym: in-out); additionally, the corresponding enigma falls under the hermeneutic code (Her: Enigma 1—Question: is there an in-out?).

The Global Village and Capitalist Postmodernity: *The phrase Global Village is again referenced within an antithesis: big, small. It seems as though there exists a close relationship between the hermeneutic code and the symbolic code because the nature of antithesis implies the questions how and what? How can one be in or out? What lies between? What is the Global Village? How can a village be global? What happens when people from all over the world are members of the same village? Thus, Ien establishes contradiction in the phrase Global Village to cause inquiry; and, in turn, it suggests resolution because that is the antithetical relationship between conflict and resolution that is inherent in writing (Sym: big-small), (Sym: conflict-resolution), (Her: Enigma 2—resolution of conflict?). Additionally, the word Village again carries Medieval connotations like the Realm (Sem: Medieval > Village). However, the village, although within the realm, represents what the realm does not. It stands opposed to mysticism and grounded in labor and religion; it is centered around the family, highly interconnected, defined by mutual reciprocation; and through these it provides a sense of security from uncertainty—the dark, the forest, and the winter (Jux: Realm, Village).

**and Capitalist Postmodernity: Capitalist and Postmodernity refer to bodies of knowledge: the capitalist notions of production, consumption, and free market transactions; and the Postmodern viewpoint that is often associated with difference, separation, textuality, and skepticism in response to modernism which is often associated with identity, unity, authority, and certainty (Ref: Capitalism) (Ref: Postmodernality). The juxtaposition of these two terms primes the reader to find the overlap between the two: skepticism of the free market, differences in consumption, separation in production. Furthermore, the use of and juxtaposes the Global Village and Capitalist Postmodernity to bring these already primed associations into the light of the Global Village (Jux: Capitalism, Postmodernity).