Structural and ideological analysis of Sana Gül Bahçesi Vadetmedim through Greimas and Barthes approaches

Abstract

Semiotics is a scientific approach that aims to analyze the structural components of narrative texts and the relationships among these components. The Semiotic Square (Fr. carré sémiotique), developed by Algirdas Julien Greimas, serves as the logical and diagrammatic representation of signification semiotics, a method designed to identify and classify the abstract units that constitute the universe of meaning and the relationships among them. Greimas’s structuralist model enables the identification of relations among actants, oppositions, and abstract semantic units within narratives, thereby allowing analysis through narrative programs. In contrast, Roland Barthes’s myth theory reveals how meaning is constructed and reproduced within social and ideological frameworks. Joanne Greenberg’s Sana Gül Bahçesi Vadetmedim [I Never Promised You a Rose Garden] illustrates the interaction between individual quests for identity and societal norms. The fundamental motivation of this study is the assumption that the individual and social layers of meaning within the novel cannot be sufficiently explained through a single analytical method. Designed as a qualitative research, the study employs document analysis to conduct a semiotic examination of the novel. The analysis process was carried out in two stages. In the first stage, the narrative structure was analyzed using Greimas’s actantial model and the theory of semantic oppositions; the roles of subject, object, helper, and opponent were identified, and the conflict axes within the novel were revealed through the semiotic square of fundamental oppositions. In this context, it was determined that Deborah occupies the position of the subject, while the helper and opponent actants play decisive roles in her pursuit of the value object. In the second stage, using Barthes’s myth theory, the ideological functions of the themes of madness, hospital, and language were analyzed. Madness was interpreted not merely as an individual disorder but as a myth that defines and confines social order. The hospital was considered not only a site of treatment but also an ideological space where social norms are reproduced. Language, on the other hand, was examined as a means reflecting the tension between Deborah’s inner world and societal expectations. These analyses make visible the interaction between the search for individual identity and the constraints of social order. The findings indicate that the multilayered nature of literary texts cannot be fully comprehended through a single theoretical approach; rather, the combined use of structural (Greimassian) and ideological (Barthesian) analyses provides a more holistic understanding of meaning. In conclusion, this study emphasizes the significance of methodological diversity in literary analysis and demonstrates how multi-layered approaches contribute to a deeper understanding of the structural and ideological dimensions of literary texts.