The world in alphabetical order: Czeslaw Milosz's «ABC»

«ABC» by Cz.Miłosza is the text written in a form of the encyclopedic dictionary. The article presents the semiotic analysis of the dictionary as a literary form. The author considers the symbolic meanings of the Alphabet, referential aspect of the dictionary, structure and semiotic potential of the form: theme paradigms, text as a model of semiosis, indexical-iconic and symbolic modes of representation of the world. The semiotics of representation determines the stylistic characteristics of the text, i.e. the dictionary as "a collection of knowledge," a high degree of distancing from the subject of speech, etc. The solution of these problems lies in the interdisciplinary area where the methodology of semiotics and the history of Polish literature are integrated.