The Semiotic Analysis of Binary Oppositions in the Mewar Ramayana Manuscript

This article tries to analysis the semiotic context of the illustrated Mewar Ramayana manuscript by emphasizing on the structuralist semioticians underscore of reciprocal determination of polar signs, the definition of binary oppositions in world mythologies by Lévi-Strauss, and the deep second binary oppositions, mentioned by Fourie. The painters of Mewar court used many examples of deep second binary oppositions to characterize protagonists and antagonists in this manuscript. The most pivotal of them are: modesty ≠arrogance, benevolence ≠ rapacity, chastity ≠lechery, relativeness ≠otherness, penance ≠gluttony, courage ≠ cowardice, unison ≠ discord, etc. Painters have wisely utilized these semiotic differences to draw a distinct boundary between the good and the evil in their paintings.