A Semiotic Reading of Internal Textual Thresholds of Ghassan Kanafani's "Anemone Coronaria of April"

Abstract

This study aims to examine the internal textual thresholds in “Barqouq Nisan” by Ghassan Kanafani and analyze them semiotically as meaningful sign systems, focusing on the title, the opening, and the footnotes. It adopts a descriptive-analytical approach within a semiotic framework to explore the relationships between these thresholds and the structure of the narrative text. The findings reveal that the title functions as a condensed sign linking events and main characters while opening interpretive horizons related to the text’s themes. The opening serves as a central focal point to which the narrative repeatedly returns, reinforcing its role in connecting the title with the characters and guiding the reader toward identifying the true protagonist. The footnotes emerge as a modern and essential narrative technique, forming a parallel layer of narration, associated with the past in contrast to the present-focused main text, and partially grounded in historical references alongside the fictional dimension. The originality of the study lies in highlighting internal thresholds as active structural components rather than marginal elements, and in offering an integrative reading that demonstrates the dynamic interaction between thresholds and the narrative body. This contributes to enriching applied semiotic studies in Arabic fiction and opens new avenues for further research on internal thresholds in narrative texts.