Subject collection: Semiotics (98 titles, 1967–2015)

The title of this volume strives to capture the dynamic scope and range of the essays it contains, applying insights into the workings of iconicity to texts as far removed from each other in time as the Medieval tale of a bishop-fish and the war-poems of 20^th century Italian Futurist F.T. Marinetti, and as thematically diverse as the Pilgrim’s Progress and the poetry of e.e. cummings. Applications reference both language and linguistics as well as literature and literary theory – and related fields such as sign language and translation; the former approached from the point of view of Japan Sign Language, the latter with reference to translations of the Koran and the Sesotho Bible, as well as modern German and English Bible translations. On the language side, the intricate relationships between sound symbolism and etymology, and between analogy and grammaticalization are examined in depth. On the literary side, the iconic effects of techniques such as enjambment and metrical inversion are considered, but also the ways in which an understanding of iconicity can open up meanings in complex poetry, like that of the Afrikaans poet T.T. Cloete – in this particular instance three poems inspired by figures as diverse as Dante, Paul Klee and the pop icon Marilyn Monroe. In view of the fact that form is able to mime meaning and meaning itself can be mimed by meaning, the theoretical question is asked – on the basis of a wide range of examples from literature, language, music and other sign-systems – whether meaning can also mime form. An introduction to the work of H.C.T. Müller, an early scholar in the field of iconicity, highlights a regrettably little known South African contribution to the development of iconicity theory.

The book presents a new science of semiotic linguistics. The goal of semiotic linguistics is to discover what characterizes language as an intermediary between the mind and reality so that language creates the picture of reality we perceive. The cornerstone of semiotic linguistics is the discovery and resolution of language antinomies ­-contradictions between two apparently reasonable principles or laws. Language antinomies constitute the essence of language, and hence must be studied from both linguistic and philosophical points of view. The basic language antinomy which underlies all other antinomies is the antinomy between meaning and information. Both generative and classical linguistic theories are unaware of the need to distinguish between meaning and information. By confounding these notions they are unable to discover language antinomies and confine their research to naturalistic description of superficial language phenomena rather than the quest for the essence of language.(Series A)

The 15 contributions in the present collection can be divided roughly into three groups: (1) Papers directly following up functional stylistics and the theory of language culture, elaborated in the classical period of the Prague Linguistic School. (2) Papers concerning the problems of style in a wider communicative arena. These contributions are closely related to contemporary text linguistics and also deal with problems involving psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and semiotics. (3) Papers having, at least in some part, a pronounced historiographic character. These contributions reflect the fact that contemporary Czech linguistic research is firmly anchored in the Prague linguistic tradition. Although the authors' frame of reference is mainly Czech and the current language situation in the Czech Republic, the majority of contributions were intended to have a more general linguistic character and general linguistic validity.

Signs, Dialogue and Ideology illustrates and critically examines — both historically and theoretically — the current state of semiotic discourse from Peirce to Bakhtin, through Saussure, Levinas, Schaff and Rossi-Landi to modern semioticians such as Umberto Eco. Ponzio is in search of a method to construct an appropriate language to talk about signs and ideology in this “end of ideology” era. Ponzio aims at an orientation in semiotics based on dialogism and interpretation by calling attention to the widespread transition from the semiotics of decodification to the semiotics of interpretations of signs which are not constrained by the dominant process of social reproduction. To this end the author draws on the literature on 'dialogue', 'otherness', 'linguistic work', 'critique of sign fetishism', and 'interpretative dynamics'. Critique of identity and critique of the subject reaffirm the 'objective', the material, the signifiant, the interpreted sign, the opus; i.e. the 'Otherness' as opposed to the expectation of exhaustiveness in the creation and interpretation of sign products.

Reprint of the original Latin text Tentamina semiologica, sive quaedam generalem theoriam signorum spectantia (1789), edited, translated and with an Introduction by Robert E. Innis The 33 sections of this classic text by Hoffbauer have a twofold focus: a descriptive inventory of signs, and a comparison of the expressive and cognitive powers of different sign systems. Using his sign typology as a point of departure, Hoffbauer inquires into the elements of matter and form both necessary and adequate to arrive at a definition of the sign. His purpose in doing so is to present his own version of a general sign theory after pointing out significant errors and weaknesses in the characteristicae universalis of Leibniz, Becher, Toennis, Kalmar, etc. Against the background of criticism of the contemporary deductive sign theories of Lambert, Baumgarten, Mendelssohn, Daries, Wilkins, Kircher and others, Hoffbauer's general semiology gives shape to an outline of a deductive-hypothetical theory of signs. In this historical perspective, Hoffbauer's semiology is of outstanding importance and provides the opportunity to think through once again central and permanent problems of the general science of signs.

This book presents a semiotic analysis of the linguistic and extralinguistic elements of fortune-telling as part of a larger pragmatic-oriented theory of human communication. The material was collected in Israel, in Hebrew, and parallels are made with other languages and cultures. The analysis is based on dynamic relativism of the multidimensional, transcendental, holistic process of human communication.

A semiotic analysis is made of the six major plays by Eugene O'Neill and an attempt is made to yield a systematic analysis towards humanistic interpretations of texts. Theoretical interpretations are enriched with discussions of the plays. Technical matters such as the segmentation of the text are specified in appendices. Six semiotic dimensions have been studied: motifs, theatrical semiotic systems, their use in communicational functions, role function of the dramatis personae, their levels of awareness, and aristotelian divisions.

Une analyse systématique et détaillée des fines stratégies du secret et du désir de savoir à l’œvre entre les protagonistes de A la recherche du temps perdu, conduite à la lumière de la théorie sémiotique, et qui dévoile, à travers le texte de Proust, la présence implicite d’une théorie et d’une esthétique de la connaissance. La perspective adoptée, qui conduit à récuser toute coupure radicale entre discours littéraire et discours scientifique, apporte une contribution originale à la réflexion sure les problèmes généraux de l’épistémologie des discours.

The volume presents perspectives in the theory of drama and theatre that are new for the following reasons: 1) the contributions reflect the international cooperation in developing drama and theatre as well as its theories; 2) this collection is the first attempt of presenting papers within the context of (Analytical) Theory of Science; 3) it is the first consistent set of papers starting from semiotics a s a meta-theory. The volume is divided into four sections: I Fundamental of Theatre Research, II Theory of Drama and Theatre, III Descriptive Theatre Research, IV Applied Theatre Research. The fifth and final section offers a selective bibliography of analytical approaches to drama and theatre.