Reviewed by Richard W. Hallett, Northeastern Illinois University

Seeing the boundary between linguistics and semiotics as ‘extremely fluid’ (1), Bronwen Martin and Felizitas Ringham claim ‘the theory [of semiotics] purports to explore the generation of signification in all its forms’ and add ‘semiotics thus covers all disciplines and signifying systems as well as all social practices’ (2). The purpose of their book is, accordingly, to familiarize readers with the semiotic approach.

The introduction (1–16) presents some of the basics of semiotics. For example, the authors briefly discuss the differences and increasing convergences between the American and European branches of the discipline; mention the contributions of some scholars in the field such as Ferdinand de Saussure, Louis Hjelmslev, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and Algirdas Julien Greimas; and explain important concepts like canonical narrative schema and the semiotic square.

Section 2, ‘Key terms in semiotics’ (17–211), comprises the bulk of the text. Four hundred and eight entries for semiotic concepts are provided in alphabetical order, from absence (17) to zoosemiotics (211). All of the terms are defined and exemplified. Many of the examples in the entries make reference to a wide variety of literary works that range from current fiction to seemingly universal fairy tales.

Following the key terms is a section entitled ‘Key thinkers in semiotics’ (212–48). In this portion, short biographies are provided for Roland Barthes, Noam Chomsky, Umberto Eco, Algirdas Julien Greimas, Louis Hjelmslev, Roman Jakobson, Julia Kristeva, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Charles Sanders Peirce, Vladimir Propp, and Ferdinand de Saussure. The next section, ‘Key texts in semiotics’ (249–53), presents a bibliography containing 107 references. The appendix (254–75) contains two parts: the fairy tale of “Sleeping beauty” (254–56) and ‘A semiotic analysis of the fairy-tale Sleeping Beauty: An example of the Greimassian approach’ (257–75).

With its myriad examples and useful definitions, this volume will be a nice supplement not only for an introductory course in semiotics but also for courses on discourse studies. Linguists working on semiotic analyses will welcome this handy reference book.