Semiotics of Poetry: Applying Michael Riffaterre's Theory to a Poem by Forough Farrokhzad

Among the modern literary theories, “semiotics” has been very influential in determining the nature and function of texts. In his book “Semiotics of Poetry” (1978), Michael Riffaterre introduced a semiotic theory for reading poetry which was widely used by contemporary critics.The present article, after introducing Riffaterre’s approach, makes use of it for reading a poem by Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad. The final goal, presupposing the theoretical and practical merits of this approach, is an attempt for a deeper reading of the above-mentioned poem. We hope that the findings of the research will encourage the reading of Modern Persian Poetry by using Riffaterre’s approach and the approaches alike, and in this way, will create the occasion of a creative readings of these poems.