Prose Signatures : An Examination Through the Lens of Speech Act Theory

The theory of speech acts emerged in the 1960s and gained widespread prominence, dominating all other theories and securing a leading position. This theory originated with Austin, who initially differentiated between informative and performative acts. His student Searle subsequently expanded upon this by shifting the focus from the speaker's intention, emphasized by Austin, to the understanding or interpretation of the addressee. Searle categorized speech acts based on three primary criteria: performative intent, direction of conformance, and condition of sincerity. We attempted to apply it to Arabic literary texts (signatures) and we discovered that these signatures significantly influence society due to their crucial role in decision-making, as a signature constitutes a speaking act.