A Study of Epitaphs of the Martyrs of Shiraz: A Multimodal (Stratified) Semiotic Approach

Semiotics is the systematic study of signs which has worked as an effective tool for analyzing many texts, and stratified semiotics, as a theoretical approach, sets the ground for the analysis of multi-dimensional texts composed of linguistics and non-linguistics signs.
This study investigates the epitaphs of the Shirazi martyrs of the Iran-Iraq war from the stratified semiotics perspective. Martyrs’ epitaphs consist of two strata: the linguistic stratum and the non-linguistic stratum. There are substrata in each stratum as well. Linguistic stratum consists of the opening writings and poetry, as well as the identity of martyrs and their wills. Non-linguistic stratum deals with the functions of the colors and images which are displayed in these strata from a semiotic perspective. This study indicates that both images and colors (such as red, black, and green) of the epitaphs crystallize the concepts of martyr and martyrdom. Moreover, it is indicated how the linguistic signs formed as poetry and short proses are effective in transferring the intended meanings. This study also asserts that it is possible to investigate these epitaphs from the stratified semiotic perspective because, as a theoretical perspective, stratified semiotics has a variety of functions in multimodal texts.