Search results
Signifyin'. Signifyin' (sometimes written " signifyin (g) ") is a practice in African-American culture involving a verbal strategy of indirection that exploits the gap between the denotative and figurative meanings of words. A simple example would be insulting someone to show them affection. [1] Other names for signifyin' include: "Dropping ...
Mar 17, 2024 · signify (third-person singular simple present signifies, present participle signifying, simple past and past participle signified) To create a sign out of something. To give (something) a meaning or an importance. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:) To show one’s intentions with a sign etc.; to indicate ...
The meaning of SIGNIFYING is an African American linguistic practice involving the indirect expression of ideas especially through playful gibes and clever often preposterous put-downs; also : dozens.
Signifying is a combination of rhetorical strategies employed in African American speech communities--in particular, the use of irony and indirection to express ideas and opinions. In The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary Criticism (Oxford University Press, 1988), Henry Louis Gates describes signifyin (g) as "a trope in ...
The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of Afro-American Literary Criticism is a work of literary criticism and theory by the American scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. first published in 1988. The book traces the folkloric origins of the African-American cultural practice of "signifying" and uses the concept of signifyin (g) to analyze the interplay ...
- Henry Louis Gates
- 320
- 1988
- 1988
signifying present participle and gerund of signify c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare , “ The Tragedie of Macbeth ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [ …
The signifying monkey is a character of African-American folklore that derives from the trickster figure of Yoruba mythology, Esu Elegbara. This character was transported with Africans to the Americas under the names of Exu, Echu-Elegua, Papa Legba, and Papa Le Bas. Esu and his variants all serve as messengers who mediated between the gods and ...
