Semiotics of the contemporary antihero

actantial models and axiologies underlying the paradigmatic shift of the heroic

Abstract

This article approaches the figure of the antihero from a sociocultural semiotic perspective of a discursive and narrative matrix. Specifically, we draw on the actantial model developed by Algirdas J. Greimas, which is a reworking of Vladimir Propp's spheres of action. We argue that, in our day and age, the figure of the antihero not only gives sense to characters in fictional texts but also functions as a sociocultural construct that serves to give sense to events of social life. We argue that, in recent decades, there has been a shift from the «classical-modern» heroic model, linked to virtuous ethical values considered an expression of the Good, towards more ambiguous, contradictory and ethically problematic figures. We show how the figure of the anti-hero, far from modifying the classical narrative structure (the canonical Greimasian scheme), reformulates it. We conclude that the figure of the antihero allows us to reread the contemporary social narrative as a space of dispute for sense, morality and identity, and hence functions as a paradigmatic shift with regards to the classic-modern model.