John J. White

White, John J. 2013 The iconized letter: Russian Cubo-Futurist and French Lettriste experiments Iconic Investigations, Elleström, Lars, Olga Fischer and Christina Ljungberg (eds.), pp. 141–158 | Article

This paper examines forms of iconization in the case of individual letters of the alphabet that use innovative techniques which depart from earlier methods of generating shaped poetry. The iconized letter is shown to function as a sui generis device deployed in individual poems and as the signature… read more

White, John J. 2011 Thematized iconicity and iconic devices in the modern novel: Some modes of interaction Semblance and Signification, Michelucci, Pascal, Olga Fischer and Christina Ljungberg (eds.), pp. 289–312 | Article

The following paper offers case studies of forms of thematized iconicity in the modern realist novel. Taking its cue from Eco and Sebeok’s The Sign of Three (1983), it explores some of the ingenious, yet plausible, ways in which acoustic and visual iconicity have played a substantial role in modern… read more

White, John J. 2010 Iconic and indexical elements in Italian Futurist poetry: F. T. Marinetti’s “words-in-freedom” Signergy, Conradie, C. Jac, Ronél Johl, Marthinus Beukes, Olga Fischer and Christina Ljungberg (eds.), pp. 129–156 | Article

This paper offers close readings of canonical works of Italian Futurist visual poetry, focussing on the fusion, for propaganda purposes, of radical forms of visual and acoustic iconicity with politicized modes of indexicality. A detailed contextual interpretation of a milestone iconic-cum-indexical… read more

White, John J. 2007 Forms of restricted iconicity in modern avant-garde poetry Insistent Images, Tabakowska, Elżbieta, Christina Ljungberg and Olga Fischer (eds.), pp. 129–154 | Article

This paper explores some of the forms minimal iconicity has taken in European poetry. Covering the period from early modernism to the experiments of the Paris Oulipo group and recent concrete poets, it offers close readings of work by Man Ray, Christian Morgenstern, Ernst Jandl, Jirí Kolár, Harry… read more

White, John J. 2005 Coconut shells and creaking doors: A semiotic approach to the avant-garde radio play’s sound-effects Outside-In — Inside-Out, Maeder, Costantino, Olga Fischer and William J. Herlofsky (eds.), pp. 151–169 | Article

White, John J. 2003 Perspective in experimental shaped poetry: A semiotic approach From Sign to Signing, Müller, Wolfgang G. and Olga Fischer, pp. 105–127 | Article

White, John J. 2001 The semiotics of the Mise-en-Abyme The Motivated Sign, Fischer, Olga and Max Nänny (eds.), pp. 29–53 | Article

White, John J. 1999 On Semiotic Interplay: Forms of Creative Interaction Between Iconicity and Indexicality in Twentieth-Century Literature Form Miming Meaning, Nänny, Max and Olga Fischer (eds.), pp. 83 ff. | Article

Articles