Research On Ambiguity Theory In The West In The 20th Century

The research object in this thesis is the Ambiguity Theory in the West in the 20th century. Ambiguity was only a term in linguistics at first, which meant a linguistic sign had the same form with different meanings. It was William Empson first indicated that ambiguity was a characteristic of literary language. He pointed out that language always had ambiguous meanings, and it was the function of literature to utilize and convert them. After William Empson, Roman Jakobson, Roland Bathes, Yale School, and researchers in intertexuality developed this theory. Now, ambiguity is a comprehensive term which is composed by literal, contextual and hermeneutic meanings. The main context of this theory is that literature should make use of rich meanings in the polymeric axis of language, and convert them in the context, so that readers could comprehend literary text in multiple ways. There are two strategies to induce ambiguity. The first one is repetition in the context, and the second one is repetition out of the context. With these strategies, ambiguity could induce a special aesthetic style. It could stimulate memory, and active aesthetic feeling of pleasure and peace. In sum, the standpoint of Ambiguity Theory is temperate and conserved, though it is still a modernistic theory. It respects history, and has a value of balancing the pioneer theories.