A semiotic analysis of Moses and Pharaoh narrative in the Qur'an

This paper conducts a semiotic analysis of the Moses and Pharaoh narrative in the Qur'an by examining descriptive, narrative and argumentative propositions, enunciation, and discourse.¹ The methodology tests the narrative against an analytical model based on theories of structural and cognitive semiotics and developed by Grambye and Sonne (2003a). A bit-by-bit application of the model to the narrative yields crucial results in the propositional analysis in which descriptive, narrative, and argumentative propositions are tested against the 3-D, transport, and thematic models; the enunciational analysis in which point of view and style are examined with specific focus on frequency; and the discursive analysis in which intertextual and ethical implementations underlie the core values borne by the narrative. The merit of this methodological approach is not limited to the analysis of these two narrative texts, but can reverberate to other Qur'anic narrative texts.