Le geste réalisé par l’élévation d’un bras, en supination, et la descente simultanée de l’autre bras en pronation, représente, dans des anciens codes de la danse rituelle, une bénédiction. Résémantisé, il est réalisé, par exemple, dans le deuxième acte de la Bayadère, par la danseuse sacrée appelée à faire des rites précédant les fiançailles (Fig. 8-9). Le même processus de résémantisation est illustré par l’opposition symétrique des membres (Fig.10). Sa signification rituelle est de signe « adressé aux dieux pour capter leur attention» (Bourcier, op. cit., pp. 12-13). La plus ancienne attestation de cette posture chorégraphique est sa représentation dans une peinture murale qui date de la moitié du cinquième millénaire avant notre ère, découverte par l’archéologue J. Mellaart en Anatolie, à Çatal Höyük, au sud-est de la Konya (Turquie). Deux mille ans plus tard, cette posture rituelle est adoptée par les populations indo-européennes, qui adoraient un dieu solaire (Ibidem). La danse des bayadères au temple, autour du feu sacré et du Grand Brahman (Fig.10), récupère ainsi, dans un contexte esthétique, l’ancienne signification rituelle. La posture chorégraphique est dans ce cas aussi résémantisée.La pertinence du concept de la désémantisation peut être aussi illustrée dans le domaine du non verbal; par exemple, à l’aide d’une séquence du spectacle Ballet for life, chorégraphié en 1997 par Maurice Béjart. Il est question d’une posture (Fig. 11) qui ressemble beaucoup à celle des danseuses nigériennes. Sauf que, dans ce cas, on ne récupère plus les anciennes significations, comme dans la Bayadère; on peut dire que cette posture est, le plus probablement, désémantisée sans en devenir, pour autant, asémantique.ConclusionsDans la forme classique du Cours de linguistique générale, les éditeurs ont retenu quelques observations essentielles formulées par Saussure concernant le caractère instable du rapport entre «l’arbitraire» et «le motivé», dans le langage naturel. Saussure observe, d’abord, qu’il «n’existe dans la langue rien qui ne soit motivé», de même qu’il est «impossible par définition» de concevoir une langue dans laquelle tout est motivé. Entre les deux extrêmes, «le minimum d’organisation et le minimum d’arbitraire», se déroule la réalité psycho-sociale de la langue (Saussure, 2011). Mais les deux extrêmes délimitent aussi bien la variété des formes verbales que le domaine du non-verbal. Un rapport similaire existe entre le vocabulaire des chorégraphies de culte (ludus sacer) et le vocabulaire de la danse esthétique (ludus aestheticus). (En ce qui concerne la relation entre le système verbal et le «langage» de la danse, voir aussi Hanna, 2001.) Certains signes sont «motivés» dans la chorégraphie sacrée, grâce à des représentations symboliques familières à leur culture d’origine: la danse circulaire, «la danse boîteuse» (oklasma, chez les Grecs anciens), la danse chinoise sur une jambe, les sauts, la disposition des danseurs chinois ou grecs en deux groupes tels des combattants dans une confrontation armée et tant d’autres. Une fois la fonction initiale estompée (magique, de culte, ou purement cérémoniale), et une fois acquise, progressivement, la fonction esthétique, ces signes chorégraphiques perdent leur rapport premier de motivation entre le signifié et le signifiant.L’histoire des arts du spectacle est, dans une large mesure, une histoire des codes de représentation, c’est-à-dire de certaines conventions esthétiques et référentielles, qui permettent la compréhension de l’événement chorégraphique ou théâtral par son public. Par exemple, dans la danse indienne, hastas-mudras (les gestes à une ou à deux mains) ont une fonction narrative. Dans le drame satyrique grec, des marques gestuelles servent à identifier les personnages. Dans le drame sacré indien, qui présente l’histoire des divinités, un code gestuel permet la transposition chorégraphique du mythe. Les commentateurs grecs n’ont pas laissé un «inventaire» (Bourcier, op. cit., p. 42.) des pas canoniques de danse; c’est la raison pour laquelle, P. Bourcier croit que «la danse était libre chez les Grecs, dans le cadre de la mimique et des genres imposés» (Ibidem). Toutefois, ils nous ont laissé un code mimique (schemata) et un autre de mouvements conventionnels, «symboliques»: les mains tendues vers le ciel représentent un geste de prière; les mains tendues vers les spectateurs constituent une adresse directe; les mains au sol, c’est une expression de tristesse. Le grec schemata est un mode d’«abstraction» du potentiel moteur du corps de certains éléments investis sémantiquement. Par exemple, skopos est le geste de l’observateur, de celui qui guette, tandis que xiphismos évoque l’arme pointée vers la cible (Ibidem). Les fonctions et les significations de la danse sont diverses, selon les circonstances. Avec le passage de la manifestation rituelle à l’expression purement esthétique, on assiste généralement à une désémantisation, voire «théâtralisation» des figures chorégraphiques, qui en perdent la signification d’origine. Un saut, une pirouette, la danse sur les pointes ou en demi-pointes, une position de la tête et du cou, la disposition des bras ont une certaine signification dans un code magico-religieux : invoquer la divinité et en acquérir la bienveillance, adorer les dieux, extase dionysiaque ou protection magique, etc. En revanche, la même expression kinésique attire un autre contenu sémantique, si la sémiose s’établit en fonction d’un code essentiellement esthétique. Cette fois-ci, la signification chorégraphique dominante sera «grâce», «élégance», «virtuosité technique», «force dramatique», etc. Cependant, il arrive aussi un processus de résémantisation, lorsque des scénarios esthétiques modernes rejoignent l’ancien sémantisme des figures kinésiques. Encore une fois, la relation sémiotique s’avère conditionnée par un contexte culturellement déterminé (Greimas, 1970).
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- The gesture performed by raising one arm, with the palm of the hand facing upwards and the simultaneous lowering of the other arm, with the palm of the hand facing downwards carries – in ancient codes of ritualistic dance – the signification of blessing. Resemantized, it is performed, for example, in the second act from La Bayadère, by the sacred woman dancer, called to perform rites preceding the engagement (Fig. 8-9). The same process of resemantization is illustrated by the symmetrical opposition of the members (Fig.10). Its ritualistic signification is that of sign “addressed to the gods to catch their attention” (Bourcier, op. cit., pp. 12-13). The oldest documentation of this choreographic posture is constituted by its representation in a mural painting, dated approximately at the half of the fifth century BC and discovered by archaeologist J. Mellaart in Anatolia, at Çatal Höyük, in south-eastern Konya (Turkey). Two millennia later, this ritualistic posture will be adopted by Indo-European populations who worshipped a solar god (Ibidem). So, the dance of the bayadères at the temple, around the sacred fire and the High Brahmin (Fig.10), retrieves, in an aesthetic context, this old ritualistic signification. The choreographic posture is, in this case as well, resemantized.We may also illustrate the relevance of the concept of desemantization in the field of the non-verbal; for instance, by resorting to a sequence from the show Ballet for life, choreographed by Maurice Béjart, in 1997. It is about a posture (Fig. 11) very similar to the one of the Nigerian dancers we have mentioned above. But the ancient significations are no longer retrieved here, like in the sequences from La Bayadère; we can say this posture is, most probably, desemantized, without becoming meaningless.ConclusionsEven in the cannon form of Cours de linguistique générale, the editors retained some key observations formulated by Saussure concerning the unstable nature of the relation between “arbitrary” and “motivated”, in natural language. First of all, as Saussure notes, “there is no language where everything is accounted for”, just like conceiving a language in which everything can be explained is “impossible by definition”. Between the two extremes, “a minimum of organization and a minimum or arbitrariness”, there unfolds the psycho-social reality of language (Saussure, 2011). But the two extremes delimitate not only the variety of verbal phenomena, but also the area of the non-verbal. A similar relation exists between the vocabulary of cult choreographies (ludus sacer) and the vocabulary of aesthetic dance (ludus aestheticus). (About relations between linguistic system and choreographic “language”, see Hanna, 2001). Certain signs are “motivated” in sacred choreography as a result of some symbolic representations familiar to their native culture: the circular dance, the “limping dance” (oklasma, at the ancient Greeks), the Chinese one-foot dance, leaps, the arrangements of Chinese or Greek dancers into two groups, similar to enemies in armed confrontations and many others. With the blurring of the initial function (magic, cult or simply ceremonial) and the gradual acquiring of the aesthetic function, these have lost the first relation of motivation between signified and signifier.In a large measure, the history of performance is a history of representation codes, namely of certain aesthetic and referential conventions which make possible that the choreographic or theatrical event on stage be understood by its audience. For instance, in Indian dance, hastas-mudras (gestures with one or both hands) have a narrative function. In Greek satirical drama, certain gestual marks serve to identify characters. In Indian sacred drama, which represents the story of the divinities, a gestual code enables the choreographic transposition of the myth. The Greek commentators left no “inventory” (Bourcier, op. cit., p. 42.) of the canonical dance steps; that is why, P. Bourcier believes that “dancing movements were quite free for the Greeks, within the limits of the imposed mimics and genres (Ibidem). Nevertheless, they left a mimic code (schemata) and a code of conventional, “symbolical” movements: the hands stretching towards the sky are a sign of prayer; the hands stretching towards the audience, a direct way of addressing; the hands on the ground are an expression of sadness. The Greek schemata is a way of “abstracting”, from the body’s movement potential, certain elements invested semantically. For example, the Greek skopos is the gesture of the observer, of the one who lies at the lurch, while xiphismos evokes aiming the target with a weapon (Ibidem). Depending on the circumstances, dance has different functions and significations. A leap, a pirouette, dancing on toes, a certain position of the head and neck, the arrangement of the arms and such other things carry a certain signification in a magic-religious code: to invoke divinity and obtain its kindness, to worship it, Dionysiac ecstasy, magic protection etc. But the same kinesic expression attracts another semantic content if the semiosis is established in (according to) the aesthetic code. This time, the choreographic signification will be “grace”, “elegance”, “technical virtuosity”, “dramatic force” etc. Certainly, we should not ignore the phenomenon of resemantization, namely, the possible retrieving of the initial kinesic signification in some modern choreographies. Once more, the semiotic relation proves to be restrictive within a given cultural context (Greimas, 1970).
- The gesture performed by raising one arm, with the palm of the hand facing upwards and the simultaneous lowering of the other arm, with the palm of the hand facing downwards carries – in ancient codes of ritualistic dance – the signification of blessing. Resemantized, it is performed, for example, in the second act from La Bayadère, by the sacred woman dancer, called to perform rites preceding the engagement (Fig. 8-9). The same process of resemantization is illustrated by the symmetrical opposition of the members (Fig.10). Its ritualistic signification is that of sign “addressed to the gods to catch their attention” (Bourcier, op. cit., pp. 12-13). The oldest documentation of this choreographic posture is constituted by its representation in a mural painting, dated approximately at the half of the fifth century BC and discovered by archaeologist J. Mellaart in Anatolia, at Çatal Höyük, in south-eastern Konya (Turkey). Two millennia later, this ritualistic posture will be adopted by Indo-European populations who worshipped a solar god (Ibidem). So, the dance of the bayadères at the temple, around the sacred fire and the High Brahmin (Fig.10), retrieves, in an aesthetic context, this old ritualistic signification. The choreographic posture is, in this case as well, resemantized.We may also illustrate the relevance of the concept of desemantization in the field of the non-verbal; for instance, by resorting to a sequence from the show Ballet for life, choreographed by Maurice Béjart, in 1997. It is about a posture (Fig. 11) very similar to the one of the Nigerian dancers we have mentioned above. But the ancient significations are no longer retrieved here, like in the sequences from La Bayadère; we can say this posture is, most probably, desemantized, without becoming meaningless.ConclusionsEven in the cannon form of Cours de linguistique générale, the editors retained some key observations formulated by Saussure concerning the unstable nature of the relation between “arbitrary” and “motivated”, in natural language. First of all, as Saussure notes, “there is no language where everything is accounted for”, just like conceiving a language in which everything can be explained is “impossible by definition”. Between the two extremes, “a minimum of organization and a minimum or arbitrariness”, there unfolds the psycho-social reality of language (Saussure, 2011). But the two extremes delimitate not only the variety of verbal phenomena, but also the area of the non-verbal. A similar relation exists between the vocabulary of cult choreographies (ludus sacer) and the vocabulary of aesthetic dance (ludus aestheticus). (About relations between linguistic system and choreographic “language”, see Hanna, 2001). Certain signs are “motivated” in sacred choreography as a result of some symbolic representations familiar to their native culture: the circular dance, the “limping dance” (oklasma, at the ancient Greeks), the Chinese one-foot dance, leaps, the arrangements of Chinese or Greek dancers into two groups, similar to enemies in armed confrontations and many others. With the blurring of the initial function (magic, cult or simply ceremonial) and the gradual acquiring of the aesthetic function, these have lost the first relation of motivation between signified and signifier.In a large measure, the history of performance is a history of representation codes, namely of certain aesthetic and referential conventions which make possible that the choreographic or theatrical event on stage be understood by its audience. For instance, in Indian dance, hastas-mudras (gestures with one or both hands) have a narrative function. In Greek satirical drama, certain gestual marks serve to identify characters. In Indian sacred drama, which represents the story of the divinities, a gestual code enables the choreographic transposition of the myth. The Greek commentators left no “inventory” (Bourcier, op. cit., p. 42.) of the canonical dance steps; that is why, P. Bourcier believes that “dancing movements were quite free for the Greeks, within the limits of the imposed mimics and genres (Ibidem). Nevertheless, they left a mimic code (schemata) and a code of conventional, “symbolical” movements: the hands stretching towards the sky are a sign of prayer; the hands stretching towards the audience, a direct way of addressing; the hands on the ground are an expression of sadness. The Greek schemata is a way of “abstracting”, from the body’s movement potential, certain elements invested semantically. For example, the Greek skopos is the gesture of the observer, of the one who lies at the lurch, while xiphismos evokes aiming the target with a weapon (Ibidem). Depending on the circumstances, dance has different functions and significations. A leap, a pirouette, dancing on toes, a certain position of the head and neck, the arrangement of the arms and such other things carry a certain signification in a magic-religious code: to invoke divinity and obtain its kindness, to worship it, Dionysiac ecstasy, magic protection etc. But the same kinesic expression attracts another semantic content if the semiosis is established in (according to) the aesthetic code. This time, the choreographic signification will be “grace”, “elegance”, “technical virtuosity”, “dramatic force” etc. Certainly, we should not ignore the phenomenon of resemantization, namely, the possible retrieving of the initial kinesic signification in some modern choreographies. Once more, the semiotic relation proves to be restrictive within a given cultural context (Greimas, 1970).