La semiosis del tiempo: el lenguaje como estructura ontológica en La llegada

Abstract

This paper analyzes the film Arrival (Denis Villeneuve, 2016) from a semiotic perspective based on the theoretical contributions of Charles Sanders Peirce and Christian Metz, in order to demonstrate that the film constructs a conception of language as an ontological structure that reorganizes the experience of time. Through a methodology that combines Metz’s narrative segmentation with Peircean semiotic analysis, the processes of meaning production that configure the relationship between language, memory, and consciousness in cinematic discourse are examined. The analysis shows that the circular writing system of the heptapods functions not only as a means of communication but as a symbolic device that transforms the subject’s temporal perception. The fragmented narrative, nonlinear editing, and constant re-signification of images exemplify the operation of unlimited semiosis, in which meaning remains perpetually open. It is concluded that Arrival proposes a conception of language that transcends its communicative function and becomes an organizing principle of reality, confirming cinema’s potential as a space for semiotic and philosophical reflection on the human condition.