TEHRAN – “The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama” by Keir Elam has been published in Persian by the Qatreh publishing house in Tehran.

Farzan Sojudi is the translator of the book originally published in 2002 by Routledge.

The late twentieth century saw an explosion of interest in semiotics, the science of the signs and processes by which we communicate. 

In this study, the first of its kind in English, Keir Elam shows how this new “science” can provide a radical shift in our understanding of theatrical performance, one of our richest and most complex forms of communication.

Elam traces the history of semiotic approaches to performance from 1930s Prague onwards, and presents a model of theatrical communication. 

In the course of his study, he touches upon the “logic” of drama and the analysis of dramatic discourse. 

This edition also includes a new post-script by the author, looking at the fate of theater semiotics since the publication of this book, and a fully updated bibliography. 

Much praised for its accessibility, “The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama” remains a “must-read” text for all those interested in the analysis of theatrical performance.

Elam is a professor of English drama at the University of Florence and English literature at the University of Bologna, where he has served as the head of the Department of Modern Languages, Deputy Director of the Institute of Advanced Studies and chief referee for the evaluation of research in the humanities. 

He is also the author of “Shakespeare’s Universe of Discourse: Language-games in the Comedies”, “Twelfth Night” and “Shakespeare’s Pictures”. 

He has also published numerous articles on the theory of drama and performance, Shakespeare and early modern drama, Beckett and contemporary British and European theater. 

He is the general editor of the bilingual Shakespeare series for Rizzoli, co-editor of the Anglo-Italian Renaissance Studies series, and is on the editorial board of several journals, including Shakespeare Bulletin and Revue Beckettiana.

Photo: Front cover of the Persian edition of Keir Elam’s book “The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama”.

MMS/YAW