Showing papers on "Semiosphere published in 2011"

Semiosphere is the relational biosphere

Abstract: ion or the result of reduction or degeneration of complicated systems” (M. Lotman 2001: 98; see also M. Lotman 2002). The concept of semiosphere as put forward by J. Lotman forms the core of the holistic theory of culture that takes its departure from the assumption that “the unit of semiosis, the smallest functioning mechanism is not a separate language, but the whole semiotic space of culture in question” (Lotman 1990: 125). The elementary unit of semiosis is semiosphere.5 Functionally, semiosphere can be characterized as a “thinking” system that is able to: (1) transmit available information; (2) to create new information that is not simply deducible according to a set of algorithms from already existing information, but which is to some degree unpredictable; (3) to preserve and reproduce information, that is, any semiotic system has its own memory. Semiosis in this system can be understood mainly in terms of translation and dialogue. “Translation is a primary mechanism of consciousness. To express something in another language is a way of understanding it” (Lotman 1990: 127). The need for dialogue, the dialogic situation precedes both the real dialogue as well as the existence of a language in which to conduct it: dialogic situation creates the common language that underlies the translation of messages (Lotman 1990: 143). One of the most important categories in the semiosphere is that of boundary. The system is able to engage in dialogic processes only if its structural identity is established. The beginning point for semiotic individuation is the binary distinction of inside versus outside: the boundary of the semiosphere can be defined as the outer limit of a first person form. Therefore, semiosphere is a “bounded” system in a sense that it is distinguished from and cannot have (a nontranslational) contact with non-semiotic or alien semiotic systems. Semiosphere is closed as a system of (all types of) knowing. On the other hand, semiotic boundary is to be conceived as an abstraction, a series of bilingual filters or membranes that enable the translation 5This should also concern the elementary unit of life (see Kull 2002). May 3, 2011 16:58 9in x 6in Towards a Semiotic Biology b1086-ch10 Semiosphere Is the Relational Biosphere 183 of messages from one semiotic system into another. In this way, boundary that is defined as an at least double-coded system of translation filters both determines the identity of the system and allows the translation of messages between the different semiotic systems. The category of boundary leads to two further characteristics of semiosphere: binarism and asymmetry. The translation mechanism responsible for the generation of new meaning in semiosphere presupposes at least two semiotically different participants that are mutually untranslatable. The entire space of the semiosphere is transected by boundaries and “since in the majority of cases the different languages of the semiosphere are semiotically asymmetrical, i.e., they do not have mutual semantic correspondences, then the whole semiosphere can be regarded as a generator of information” (Lotman 1990: 127). Asymmetry is also manifest in the relationship between centre and periphery, between the defining core that tends toward the homogeneity in the semiosphere through the mechanisms of autocommunication, and the accelerated semiotic processes (fluctuations) that reveal the internal heterogeneity of the semiosphere. It follows from the above statements that, firstly, the unity of semiosphere is always a more-or-less phenomenon and can be conceived only insofar as we consider the self-description of the given system: the semiosphere is marked by heterogeneity. It is filled up with multiple semiotic systems “that relate to each other along the spectrum which runs from complete mutual translatability to just as complete mutual untranslatability” (Lotman 1990: 125). Secondly, semiosphere constantly comes into contact with other semiotic systems that formerly lay beyond its boundaries. Thirdly, the dynamics of the subsystems within the semiosphere is marked by heterogeneity as well.As a conclusion, semiosphere can be described as a “semiotic continuum”, a heterogeneous yet bounded space that is in constant interaction with other similar structures. The points of contact between different systems (which, in turn, are part of a heterogeneous space of a higher order) enable the emergence of new May 3, 2011 16:58 9in x 6in Towards a Semiotic Biology b1086-ch10 184 K. Kotov and K. Kull meaning, that is, the deviation from the already established codes, models, or habits of the given system. The concept of semiosphere also reflects the influence of the theory of self-organizing systems proposed by Ilya Prigogine and Isabelle Stengers (1984). For Lotman, Prigogine’s ideas have two important implications. First, the stochastic and lawful (chance and necessity) are revealed as the two sides of the same coin. Second, this leads to the separation in time and causality. This enabled Lotman to formulate a non-progressive view on dynamics of culture where the rapid (stochastic, explosive) processes in culture alternate with the periods of normal development. Semiosphere appears thus as a self-organizing system that undergoes constant renewal due to the emergence of new meanings created in the process of internal and external translation. Indeed, the basic mechanism for the creation of new meanings in culture appears to be the existence of a certain amount of mis-understanding or mis-communication that is built into the very structure of its semiotic space while the structural stability of any semiotic system is maintained by the selfdescriptions created by the system in the process of autocommunication. The communication between different semiotic systems tends towards the increase in heterogeneity while autocommunication tends towards the increase in homogeneity.6

Cognitive Sustainability in the Age of Digital Culture

Abstract: The aim of this article is to contextualize the implications of the expansion of digital culture in the on-going dis- cussions about the relations between sustainability and information and communication technologies. In order to relate the development of a global digital communication web, its effects on cultural processes and the issues of ecosystem and hu- man sustainability that humanity is facing, I will relate and elaborate on three aspects: 1) A Batesonean perspective on sustainability 2) The recent evolution of the technosphere, and 3) Yuri Lotman's notion of Semiosphere and his semiotic theory of culture. This path will lead me to delineate some of the eco-ethical dimensions implied in the development of pervasive digital-interactive-immersive-representational technologies.

Introducing Tartu Semiotics for Chinese Semiosphere

Abstract: Abstract With this issue, Chinese Semiotic Studies introduces a section on the Tartu Semiotics School. This regular feature, appearing potentially in every issue, is justified by several arguments: this school has been persisting on the semiotic scene already since the 1960s; this is the school that founded the semiotics of culture and actively studied it ever since; the Tartu school has the potential to bridge the different approaches of semiotics-structuralist and dynamic, Western and Eastern, cultural and biological; and, as it is situated on many boundaries, the Tartu Semiotics School may be used as a source for creative ideas or new approaches.

Lotman’s scientific investigatory boldness: The semiosphere as a critical theory of communication in culture

Abstract: The main focus of this article is the analysis of the concept of semiosphereas it has emerged from the conception of culture as information — instead of describing the transmission of messages from A to B, it is based on the general process of meaning generation. Following Lotman’s criticism on the paradoxes in communication and its theoretical domain, the article confronts the paradoxical concepts on: (1) the concept of message transmission from the addresser to addressee; (2) the notion of isolated processing systems; (3) the idea that culture speaks a unique language. From the standpoint of the semiosphere, the new object for studying such controversies could be found in the concept of text. When text is taken at the centre of the analysis of culture, nothing appears in an isolated fashion. Lotman’s thinking does not fear the new hypothesis in proposing the conceptual domain of semiosphere to the scientific study of culture.

On theatrical semiosphere of postdramatic theatrical event: Rethinking the semiotic epistemology in performance analysis today

Abstract: This article addresses concerns about the relationships between practice and theory in today's theatre and examines the discipline's analytical methodology. This contribution re-introduces Yuri Lotman's concept of semiosphere as an anthropological and social space of communication, in which every participant maintains their existence concurrently across temporal, linguistic, and cultural zones. Finally, by launching the notion of a theatrical semiosphere that embraces the dynamics of cognitive impulse in the tripartite proximity of the space of the stage, the space of the audience, and the space of the "in between, " this study seeks to demonstrate how the transitory nature of theatrical communication directed at the multiple audio-visual, cognitive, and cultural sensors of actors and spectators can still be considered and studied from the perspective of semiotic exchange as the primary device of human cognition.

Indo-Italian Screens and the Aesthetic of Emotions

Abstract: This thesis aims to shed light on the cultural and aesthetic implications of the relationship between Italy and India on and off the screens of Italy, following the expansion of Bollywood in Europe during the 90s. Bollywood?s propagation abroad affected the identity of the South Asian diaspora, urban spaces and aesthetics which generated what Le Guellec ? describing the arrival of Indians and Bollywood cinema to Paris ? named as Bollywood/India mania. The study began with the exploration of the historical meaning of the term aesthetic in order to offer a contextualization on the sense of the aesthetic as a philosophy of art; furthermore, it established a background for further theoretical debate on South Asian diasporic identity formations within the entertainment industry of Italy. The research methods that predominated throughout this work were those of textual argumentation, aesthetic analysis, quantitative and qualitative questionnaires and interview data. The reasons for using different and interdisciplinary methods and approaches to offer an account on diasporic cultures, resided in the attempt to reveal the multiplicities of the "cultural and social" visible. The theoretical frame that this research intends to follow is through two quite distinct disciplines: aesthetic and cultural studies. The aim is to capitalise on the productive intersection of these two disciplines to analyse parts of the South Asian cultural text on the screen and beyond it as producers of transnational images imbued with melancholic memories and melancholically conceived spaces. This work will attempt to individuate the existence of representational patterns based on the aesthetic of melancholy with its nuances and metamorphoses, which represents, narrates and constructs South Asian and/or fused identities socially and culturally on the screens of Italy. The notion of semiosphere as elaborated by Jury Lotman, was utilised to define the cultural and dialogic dynamics of mainstream products that move constantly closer to each other generating original "formats" characterised by novel transnational and multiple identities. Throughout this thesis, the emphasis was placed on the "encounters", the "journeys" and the "sharing" of cultures, hence highlighting the possible conditions of belonging contemporaneously through multiple modalities: mentally, psychologically and experientially to multiplicities of cultures. In addition, the notion of "world culture" was contemplated in an attempt to practically support what Gilroy, in Black Atlantic, shaped as "inter-cultural" and translational formations.

The New Structure of Feeling in Webtoon

Abstract: This article considers the cultural status of the “webtoon,” the internet-based comics as new-media contents in terms of its relation to the specific generation (youth in their twenties) mainly in charge of its production and consumption. For the younger generation of 21st century in Korea, the internet – or web-space – has tremendous meaning as an existential basis for molding a specific collective model of subjectivity. Briefly put, the internet as virtual space - a new semiosphere indispensible for the social existence of the new younger generation. The contemporary webtoon realm is one of the most densely populated places in this semiosphere, and its cultural significance appears to be increasing more and more. In the article, I will attempt an inquiry into one of the most interesting phenomena in the contemporary Korean webtoon realm, which is called “cripple taste [ byongmat ] comics.” Nowadays, byongmat comics are a distinctive new trend in the realm of Korean webtoons and are gaining tremendous popularity among the younger generations. What is the essence of byongmat comics, and what characterizes their linguistic particularity? To answer these questions, I will make a close inquiry into Lee Mal Neon’s webtoon as a representative case study in terms of the sense of parody and surplusage, which constitutes psychological and esthetic essence of byongmat comics.

La traduction comme trans-sémiosis : un essai de sémiotique pour une typologie de la traduction

Abstract: In this paper we defend the idea that translating is a trans-semiosis. Translation is not a simple passage from one language to another, from one system to another, but a passage from one semiosphere to another. This trans-semiosic passage results in transforming the semiosphere in a tensive space in which the following two forces are at work constantly: translability and transformability. Whereas the former are eager to conserve the semiosphere as it is, the latter attempts to reform it. In this paper, we propose first to define the translation by a perpetual conflict between these two conservative and reformative forces, and to refer to this tensive space where the conflict occurs as translative. Second, we claim that it is out of this translative space that different styles or strategies of translation take form and shape. In fact, inasmuch as the correlation between translability and transformability varies, the style of translation can be differentiated accordingly. We suggest such four categories as collateral, concentric, eccentric and transversal, in order to classify different styles of translation that appear in the translative space, and to set up a typology of translation based on this classification.

[Introduction] On the Corposphere : Towards a Cartography of the Body

Abstract: This paper focuses its attention on dealing with a cartography of the body as one of the most important areas in semiotic research. This limited and partial cartography is meant to propose what we call Corposphere as one of the frontiers within the Lotman’s Semiosphere. The article starts from previous research (Finol & Finol, 2008), where some approaches based on Morris’s three-dimensional semiotics are analyzed, and continue by proposing a list of sub areas where semiotics, anthropology, sociology and philosophy share a common heuristic interest.