Semiotics of the bullfight Research Papers (original) (raw)

The questions of my paper revolve around the attractive nature of war. Ernest Hemingway' For Whom the Bell Tolls is an important novel from the perspective of my research, mostly because it presents a varied and self-critical attitude. At first it seems like a traditional, heroic war story with a self-sacrificing hero. However, a deep analysis can show that this novel represents war heroism in an ambivalent way: it emphasizes its brutality and senselessness together with its suggestive nature. One of the main themes of the novel is the tension inherent in the protagonist, manifested between the moral opposition and the desire to become a hero, a common trait of war narratives. But the work, besides representing mankind's attitude towards war, also lays emphasis on the attitude towards the narrative. Thus, my analysis focuses on investigating the narrative's approach to the aforementioned duality. Results: The novel operates with the personification of the different elements of heroic narrative tradition. However, it does this not in order to become a fable or a moral story, but in order to show the desire to vivify the abstract narratives, providing a strong, tactile, physically perceptible experience about heroism. And since narratives exert substantial influence on cultural thinking, analyzing its relationship with readers provides important results for other social sciences, too. One of the strengths of the novel is the use of different fighting methods, such as sport hunting and bullfight besides the soldiers' story. This helps me extend the investigation of war symbolization and to research it not just in the context of civilization but in the context of nature, as well. It is important to find the root of its attractive nature. All of the three fighting methods have a second, abstract meaning, not just practical reasons. They help the human be seemingly the winner over the other. This other represents not only itself (humans as political enemies, animals as meat), but also bears an ideological meaning (representation of maleficence, of instincts, of fears and natural forces). Conclusions: There are numerous ideological narratives in our culture, but these special occasions let the person experience them, to fight for or against them physically. They are not just thinking and talking about this forces, but have a chance to confront them in an intensive and tremendous way, and this reality seems may present a possibility to understand the attractive nature of wars and other violent, but legitimated acts.