Meaning is a important issue in literary studies. Much of what we do is to find contents for forms. While some form-content relationships in language are coded, others are not. An example of a coded relationship would be the name "Dante" (=the form) to mean a particular person who wrote the "Divine Comedy" (=the content). The relationship between the name and the person is fixed and socially agreed upon. When we go to an encyclopedia and look up the name "Dante," we always get much the same information.
If, on the other hand, Dr. Beebee were to refer to a student by saying, "she's the Dante of State College," this would be a non-coded use of the same form. You can have only a vague idea of the content this time. Does Dr. Beebee mean that this student is a Dante freak, who has devoured every line of the great poet? Does he mean that she herself has talent as a poet? That she writes in terza rima format? That she's living in exile? You see that there are many possibilities, and you can't link a particular content to this non-coded form without further context. This kind of relationship between form and meaning is not conventinally fixed in advance. You must infer the proper meaning; it is not given to you by convention.
One of the most famous examples of non-coded meaning in literature is Dante's use of the three animals (leopard, lion, and she-wolf) in Canto I of the Inferno. Everyone is sure that they have a non-literal meaning, but no one agrees on what that meaning is. The two most prominent interpretations assign either one of the cardinal sins to each animal (pride, lust, and avarice); or, one of the main types of sin in hell (incontinence, violence, and treachery).
Everyday language contains countless examples of both coded and non-coded meanings. Without knowing it, you have been using both all your life. However, in literature, and particularly in poetry, non-coded meanings gain the upper hand; inference becomes crucial to understanding. The use of METAPHOR in poetry is only the most obvious example of non-coded forms. (By contrast, chemistry and mathematics textbooks contain an absolute minimum of non-coded meanings.) Thus, knowing how to read literature begins with knowing how to distinguish coded from non-coded meanings.
NOTE: you may find that the terms "coded" vs. "non-coded" express the opposite of what you think they should. "Coded" means not that the content is hidden, but rather that the meaning is open or public! Also, the terms have been explained as though a phrase must be either one or the other. However, language is more of a sliding scale between these two poles. Furthermore, the same phrase can be both coded and non-coded, in different registers. "My love is a rose" is non-coded in everyday discourse, but in poetic language is entirely coded.
The following worksheets will allow you to practice this skill on Dante's "Inferno." The first items have been (partially) done for you.
| Form | Content | Coded or Non-Coded? | Explanation for choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| a dark wood (line 3) | Non-coded | This can't be literal, since he gets lost there in his "life's journey." | |
| (line 77) | The Roman poet who wrote the Aeneid | Coded | I can look up this name and get information about his life and deeds. |
| the Greyhound (line 95) | |||
| Turnus (line 101) |
| Form | Content | Coded or Non-Coded? | Explanation for choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coded |
|
||
| Non-Coded |
|
||
|
|||
|
Number of Canto:
Your Name: