Exploring Major Themes in Zulfikar Ghose's “The Master”: Using the Lens of Structural Semantics by Ferdinand de Saussure

Abstract

This research paper explains how Zulfikar Ghose’s poem The Master is analyzed using de Saussure structural semantics. The research question for this study is based on the knowledge that ‘the text is the discursive practice; it engineers the territory of consciousness within which we constantly navigate; and it endeavors to investigate the linguistic and symbolic dynamics of power; identity and colonial discourse in this text. The article applies the principles of structural semantics and analytical reading to define what constitutes structures in the text of the story called ‘The Master’ and to explain how the structural principles relate to thematic understanding. This work thereby provides insights on the approaches to postcolonial literature using narrative styles and elements of language and contributes to the study of literary theory. In the end, it shows how knowledge of structural semantics is helpful in understanding and interpreting more sophisticated literary texts and points to further avenues of structural semantics in literary interpretations. In general, this research has the potential to contribute substantially in accomplishing a new interpretation of Zulfikar Ghose’s work in general and “The Master” in particular in terms of improving the knowledge of the readers about how language, structure, and meaning are interconnected to achieve an intended effect.