A. J. Greimas: a Professor at the Turkish University

Abstract

A. J. Greimas taught in Istanbul and Ankara Universities between 1958 and 1962. His presence allowed young researchers such as Tahsin Yucel and Berke Vardar to become pioneers of semiotics in Turkey. This article aims to indicate how greimassian theory was received and how it leads to the development of semiotics in Turkish universities. In Dilbilim (Linguistique) Review of Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters three interviews were published. The first interview appeared in the very first issue in 1976; the second in the sixth issue in 1980 and the last one in 1987 in the seventh issue of the said Review. Here we analyze the headlines of these three interviews which were considered in Turkey as the main texts of semiotics, thus show the itinerary of Greimas theory. Through the topics handled by Greimas and Berke Vardar in these interviews, we may observe how the theory is conceived in France as well as how greimassian semiotics was developed and found favorable grounds in Turkish academic circles.