What is "allotopy"

n. A contradiction between two basic meaning traits (semes) within a story.

In a story, we detect an allotopy when two basic meaning traits ( semes) contradict each other, that is when they trace two incompatible interpretations. It was conceived as being the opposite of an isotopy, which is the homogeneity resulting from repetition of the same seme. This concept has been coined in the 1970s by the Belgian semioticians known as Groupe µ.