Negativity and Signification

Abstract

Mallarmé’s “Sonnet,” Góngora’s “Soneto” and the “Prólogo a la
eternidad” by Macedonio Fernández, articulate themselves in the
word “nothing,” yet its semantic value differs because the
philosophies in which its use is set differs: Neo-Hegelianism,
Senequism, and subjective idealism. Considered semiotically,
“nothing” is related to “negation,” and immediately with
“negativity.” But in the enunciation these terms strengthen
themselves in such a way that they include themselves in the
utterance. It is concluded then, that “nothing” is “something”
since negation and later negativity come from it. It thus
constitutes a system of successive begettings that are signifiers:
absence as a productive presence.