A Study about the Symbol Based on Peirce’s Semiotics

Abstract

We live surrounded by symbols, from the waving hands in a farewell to the alphabet we use to speak and write. Although literature about the symbolic brings diverse reductionist definitions for the word “symbol”, it is true that, while explaining the symbolic, there will always be something untranslatable, because the symbol points to something that is absent, representing it, but without apprehending all its possibilities. The reduction or extreme specialization of a symbol’s meaning usually leads to its degradation, making it an allegorical or attributive insignificance (Cirlot, 1984, p. 5). Besides that, the perception of the symbol is also personal, since, in its formation process, human beings add to their personal experience cultural and social values, which are inherited from previous generations. In this sense, the current article aims at discussing the symbolic based on Charles Sanders Peirce, in order to show how such a sign is constituted and understood in the semiotics founded by the referred American author. Before that, however, in the first part of this paper, it is necessary to make some general remarks about the term “symbol”, its origins and the various concepts it receives. Then, in the second part, we focus on the comprehension and interpretation of symbols in general. We expect the current reflection to make clear the role of the symbol in semiotic studies, and to justify interpretations and analysis of the symbol in literature, cinema and culture.