Semiosphere

About: Semiosphere is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 219 publications have been published within this topic receiving 2698 citations.

An examination of the value of the concept of the Semiosphere in the study of mass communication: Testing the value and feasibility of a proposed research project

Abstract: The article is based on a paper presented at the 10th World Congress of the International Association for Semiotic Studies in collaboration with the International Communicology Institute, La Coruna, Spain, 22-26 September 2009. The article is a preliminary treatment of an investigation of Yuri Lotman.s concept of the i°semiospherei± as a meta-theory for future semiotic media analysis. In consecutive parts the author deals with research questions, provides a brief introduction to media semiotics and gives a brief summary of some of the characteristics of the new (postmodern) society and the new media landscape brought about by the development of information and communication technology - all of which necessitates a reinterpretation of theory and semiotic analysis. The article briefly introduces the so-called postmodern paradigm in media research with reference to chaos and practice theory. The author outlines what, according to him, are some of the shortcomings of media semiotics. Finally he explores some of the characteristics of Lotman.s semiosphere and suggests ways of how it could be applied to media analysis.

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.

Memória do futuro, explosão, pancronia: a semiótica de Lotman e os estudos da memória e do tempo nas teatralidades juvenis

Abstract: This paper problematizes certain concepts and propositions of Iuri Lotman that portrayed his conceptions of memory and time, such as semiosphere, text, panchronism and explosion. In the context of juvenile theatricalities, mapping such a theoretical scope aims to understand the production of memories and the temporal codifications as communicative instances. Steampunk theatricalities experienced in face-to-face meetings are considered empirical objects. This analysis is conducted in urban areas of the Southeast of Brazil, counting on a bibliographic research focused on theories of memory, a field work following the flânerie methodology in events attended by these youth groups. It aims to demonstrate the dialogue between the semiotics developed by Lotman and the mnemonic and temporal representations present in these theatricalities.

The Ecosemiosphere is a Grounded Semiosphere. A Lotmanian Conceptualization of Cultural-Ecological Systems

Abstract: Growing ecological problems have raised the need for conceptual tools dedicated to studying semiotic processes in cultural-ecological systems. Departing from both ecosemiotics and cultural semiotics, the concept of an ecosemiosphere is proposed to denote the entire complex of semiosis in an ecosystem, including the involvement of human cultural semiosis. More specifically, the ecosemiosphere is a semiotic system comprising all species and their umwelts, alongside the diverse semiotic relations (including humans with their culture) that they have in the given ecosystem, and also the material supporting structures that enable the ecosemiosphere to thrive. Drawing parallels with Juri Lotman’s semiosphere concept, the ecosemiosphere is characterized by its heterogeneity, asymmetry, and boundedness. But unlike Lotman’s concept, the ecosemiosphere is not characterized by an overall boundedness, that is, by the presence of external binary boundaries and the shared identity arising from this unity. The involvement of human culture in the ecosemiosphere manifests in interspecies dialogues and semiotic engagements. We need to scrutinize what affordances and semiotic resources culture could offer to nonhuman species and how culture could, by semiotic means, raise the integrity, stability, and resiliency of the ecosystem. The ecosemiosphere is a grounded semiosphere.