Semiosphere

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

"Psytizens": the co-construction of the professional identity of psychology students in the postmodern world.

Abstract: This work aims to analyze the relations between psychology as social engineering and self-reflective citizenship from a historiogenetic point of view. Such a connection was founded during modernity; hence our proposal is to study its operative continuity in the postmodern world, taking into account the mismatches due to the new global, multicultural, and technological conditions. Based both on the theory of activity and the concept of semiosphere, the interaction and discussions of a group of Spanish students of psychology in a virtual forum were analyzed. They were asked to negotiate and co-construct their double condition of citizens and future psychologists in connection with the controversial exhibition of religious symbols in Spanish schools. Results show that students segregate both conditions. On one hand, they agree and consolidate the neutral image of a professional psychologist being respectful with the multicultural world. On the other hand, they argue about the citizen and religious topics from a personal or ideological point of view, establishing limits to multiculturalism. Neither the interchange of ideas nor the writing-reading features of the virtual artefacts improved the reflexivity on the close dependencies and contradictions of the two identity domains. This great resilience is due to a sociocultural context –the Western World- where psychology has been constituted as a neutral, objective Science World, one of whose socio-historical products - reflective citizenship- has evolved until proclaiming his/her autonomous agency, forgetting any root in the social engineering.

Multimodal Digital Humanities

Abstract: Interactive digital technologies with facilities for developing conceptual frameworks and storing multidimensional data at different levels of description have the potential to advance research in semiotics (i.e., the study of sign systems and processes). Such an approach, called multimodal digital semiotics (O’Halloran et al., Text and Talk: Special Edition for Michael Halliday 33(4–5):665–690, 2013), involves a “digital semiosphere” (http://semioticon.com/semiotix/2011/02/multimodal-digital-semiotics/, http://semioticon.com/semiotix/2010/03/multimodal-semiosis-multimodal-semiotics-digital-technologies-and-techniques-for-studying-multimodal-communication/) for building theory and analytical approaches for semiotics research, borrowing from Lotman’s (Sign System Studies 33(1):208, 2005) notion of the semiosphere as “the semiotic space, outside of which semiosis cannot exist.” A digital semiosphere permits the interaction of sign systems in sociocultural processes to be theorized, analyzed, visualized, interpreted and compared, as demonstrated in this chapter. In this case, the underlying basis of the semiotics research is multimodal analytics, “the study of semantic patterns arising from the integration of language, images, and audio resources in multimodal texts” (O’Halloran et al., The Routledge handbook of multimodal analysis, Routledge, London, p. 386, 2014). Multimodal digital semiotics, the digital semiosphere and multimodal analytics move digital humanities (e.g., Berry, Understanding digital humanities, Palgrave, Hampshire, 2012) into the realm of multimodal digital humanities; in this case. “leveraging the potential of the visual and aural media that are part of contemporary life” (Svensson, Digital Humanities Quarterly, 4(1), 2010; see also McPherson, Cinema Journal 48(2):119–123, 2009) for the development of theory, tools and techniques for semiotics research (O’Halloran et al., Visual communication, Gruyter, Berlin, pp. 565–588, 2014; Podlasov and O’Halloran, Critical multimodal studies of popular culture, Routledge, New York, pp. 71–90, 2014).

The formation of learners' semiosphere by authentic inquiry with an integrated learning object Young Scientist

Abstract: An integrated learning object, a web-based inquiry environment "Young Scientist" for basic school level is introduced by applying the semiosphere conception for explaining learning processes. The study focused on the development of students' (n=30) awareness of the affordances of learning objects (LO) during the 3 inquiry tasks, and their ability of dynamically reconstructing meanings in the inquiry subtasks through exploiting these LO affordances in "Young Scientist". The problem-solving data recorded by the inquiry system and the awareness questionnaire served as the data-collection methods. It was demonstrated that learners obtain complete awareness of the LO affordances in an integrated learning environment only after several problem-solving tasks. It was assumed that the perceived task-related properties and functions of LOs depend on students' interrelations with LOs in specific learning contexts. Learners' overall awareness of certain LO affordances, available in the inquiry system "Young Scientist", developed with three kinds of patterns, describing the hierarchical development of the semiosphere model for learners. The better understanding of the LO affordances, characteristic to the formation of the functioning semiosphere, was significantly related to the advanced knowledge construction during these inquiry subtasks that presumed translation of information from one semiotic system to another. The implications of the research are discussed in the frames of the development of new contextual gateways for learning with virtual objects. It is assumed that effective LO-based learning has to be organized through pedagogically constrained gateways by manifesting certain LO affordances in the context in order to build up the dynamic semiosphere model for learners.

Lotman and play: For a theory of playfulness based on semiotics of culture

Abstract: The aim of the article is to introduce an approach to play based on semiotics of culture and, in particular, grounded in the works and ideas of Juri Lotman. On the one hand, it provides an overview of Lotman’s works dedicated to play and games, starting from his article on art among other modelling systems, in which the phenomenon of play is treated deeply, and mentioning Lotman’s articles dedicated to various forms of play forms, such as involving dolls and playing cards. On the other hand, it applies a few Lotmanian theories and ideas to playfulness in order to shed some light on this highly debated, as well as intriguing, anthropic activity. Thus, the paper approaches some of the core questions for a play theory, such as the definition of play, the cultural role of toys and playthings, the importance of unpredictability, the position held by playfulness in the semiosphere and, finally, the differences and commonalities between play and art. Lotman’s theories and works, often integrated by other existing semiotic or ludologic perspectives offer an extremely insightful and fresh take on play and illustrate the great heuristic potential of semiotics of culture.