Semiotics Unbounded: Interpretive Routes through the Open Network of Signs (Toronto Studies in Semiotics and Communication)

The more human knowledge increases, the more signs grow and, with this expansion, the more the boundaries of the science that studies signs also grows. In__Semiotics Unbounded__, Susan Petrilli and Augusto Ponzio explain the explosion of the sign network in the era of global communication and discuss the important theoretical responses offered by semiotics. Providing a much-needed introductory guide to the subject, Petrilli and Ponzio explore the ever-growing frontiers of semiotics through the thought of prominent sign scholars such as Charles Peirce, Victoria Welby, Mikhail Bakhtin, Charles Morris, and Thomas Sebeok.In an era of global communication, a global approach is necessary, and what may seem to be the whole, is only a part - a view being at once globalizing and open. Each and every sign is never self-sufficient and closed but exists always in a relation of otherness. This is true of the signs forming animals and human beings, individuals and communities, and involves the implication of all living beings in the life of all others.__Semiotics Unbounded__offers a new and original survey of the science of signs, evaluating it in relation to the problems of our time, not only of a scientific order, but also the problems concerning everyday social life. Cover 2 Contents 6 Preface 37 Introduction: An Excursion into Semiotics 50 I.1. Two Meanings of Semiotics 50 I.2. Protagonist: The Sign 55 I.3. Stooge: The Interpretant 58 I.4. Pragmatism as Pragmaticism 61 I.5. The Verbal Sign’s Influence on Semiotics 64 I.6. Signification and Significance 67 I.7. Signification and Denotatum 70 I.8. Beyond the Verbal Sign Paradigm 73 I.9. Subject and Alterity 75 I.10. Word and Dialogue 80 I.11. Dialogue and Inference 84 I.12. Inferences and Categories: Semiotics, Logic, Ontology 89 PART ONE: SEMIOTICS AND SEMIOTICIANS 94 1 An Itinerary: From Peirce to Others 94 1.1. Problems on Peirce’s Desk 94 1.2. More Problems in Focus: Subjects, Bodies, and Signs 112 1.3. Neglected but Foundational Aspects of Peirce’s Semiotics 130 2 About Welby 162 2.1. Why ‘Significs’? A Contribution to Theory of Meaning, and More 162 2.2. Departure: Exegesis and Holy Scripture 177 2.3. Reading Significs as ‘Biosensifics’ 195 3 About Bakhtin 249 3.1. Philosophy of Language as Critique of Dialogic Reason 249 3.2. An Interdisciplinary Perspective and Detotalizing Method 271 4 About Morris 292 4.1. Behaviouristic Semiotics and Pragmaticist Semiotics 292 4.2. Semiotics and Biology 306 4.3. Sign, Dimensions of Semiosis, Denotatum, and Language 321 5 About Sebeok 346 5.1. Modelling Systems Theory and Global Semiotics 346 5.2. Semiotics and Semiosis 358 5.3. Sebeok’s Works and the Destiny of Semiosis 368 5.4. Sebeok’s Semiotics and Education 376 6 About Rossi-Landi 390 6.1. Rossi-Landi’s Philosophy of Language 391 6.2. On the Tracks of a Multiform Research Itinerary 427 6.3. Communication, Mass Media, and Critique of Ideology 447 6.4. Rossi-Landi between ‘Ideologie’ and ‘Scienze Umane’ 469 7 About Eco 490 7.1. From Decodification to Interpretation 492 7.2. Interpretation and Responsive Understanding 532 PART TWO: MODELLING, WRITING, AND OTHERNESS 556 8 Modelling and Otherness 556 8.1. Modelling, Communication, and Dialogism 556 8.2. Identity, Otherness, and Primal Sense as a Modelling Device 577 8.3. Writing as a Modelling Device 600 9 Writing and Dialogue 607 9.1. Dialogue, Otherness, and Writing 607 9.2. Dialogue and Carnivalized Writing 635 9.3. Dialogue and Polyphony in the Writing of Novels and Drama 641 9.4. Storytelling in the Era of Global Communication: Black Writing – Oraliture 664 PART THREE: PREDICATIVE JUDGMENT, ARGUMENTATION, AND COMMUNICATION 685 10 Understanding and Misunderstanding 685 10.1. Semiogenealogy of Predicative Judgment 685 10.2. Objective Misunderstanding and Mystifications of Language 724 11 Closed Community and Open Community in Global Communication 755 11.1. Logic, Argumentation and Dialogue in Global Communication 755 11.2. Argumentative Logic at the Helsinki Conference 774 11.3. The Sign Machine: Linguistic Work and Global Communication 791 11.4. Otherness and Communication: From the Closed Community to the Open Community 815 12 Global Communication, Biosemiotics, and Semioethics 843 12.1. Semioethics, Community, and Otherness 843 12.2. Bioethics, Semiotics of Life, and Global Communication 865 Glossary 879 A 879 B 879 C 879 D 880 F 880 G 880 I 882 M 882 O 882 P 884 R 884 S 884 T 887 Bibliography 888 Index 984 A 984 B 986 C 990 D 994 E 998 F 1002 G 1002 H 1002 I 1006 J 1010 K 1010 L 1014 M 1018 N 1021 O 1021 P 1025 Q 1029 R 1029 S 1033 T 1041 U 1045 V 1045 W 1045 Y 1049 Z 1049 The More Human Knowledge Increases, The More Signs Grow And, With This Expansion, The More The Boundaries Of The Science That Studies Signs Expand. In Semiotics Unbounded, Susan Petrilli And Augusto Ponzio Explain The Explosion Of The Sign Network In The Era Of Global Communication And Discuss The Important Theoretical Responses Offered By Semiotics. Providing A Much-needed Introductory Guide To The Subject, Petrilli And Ponzio Explore The Ever-growing Frontiers Of Semiotics Through The Thought Of Prominent Sign Scholars Such As Charles Peirce, Victoria Welby, Mikhail Bakhtin, Charles Morris, And Thomas Sebeok.--jacket. Introduction : An Excursion Into Semiotics -- Pt. 1. Semiotics And Semioticians -- 1. An Itinerary : From Peirce To Others -- 2. About Welby -- 3. About Bakhtin -- 4. About Morris -- 5. About Sebeok -- 6. About Rossi-landi -- 7. About Eco -- Pt. 2. Modelling, Writing, And Otherness -- 8. Modelling And Otherness -- 9. Writing And Dialogue -- Pt. 3. Predicative Judgment, Argumentation, And Communication -- 10. Understanding And Misunderstanding -- 11. Closed Community And Open Community In Global Communication -- 12. Global Communication, Biosemiotics, And Semioethics. Susan Petrilli And Augusto Ponzio. Series Title From Jacket. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [565]-612) And Index.

The more human knowledge increases, the more signs grow and, with this expansion, the more the boundaries of the science that studies signs also grows. In Semiotics Unbounded, Susan Petrilli and Augusto Ponzio explain the explosion of the sign network in the era of global communication and discuss the important theoretical responses offered by semiotics. Providing a much-needed introductory guide to the subject, Petrilli and Ponzio explore the ever-growing frontiers of semiotics through the thought of prominent sign scholars such as Charles Peirce, Victoria Welby, Mikhail Bakhtin, Charles Morris, and Thomas Sebeok.

In an era of global communication, a global approach is necessary, and what may seem to be the whole, is only a part – a view being at once globalizing and open. Each and every sign is never self-sufficient and closed but exists always in a relation of otherness. This is true of the signs forming animals and human beings, individuals and communities, and involves the implication of all living beings in the life of all others. Semiotics Unbounded offers a new and original survey of the science of signs, evaluating it in relation to the problems of our time, not only of a scientific order, but also the problems concerning everyday social life.

As theorized and practised by Charles Sanders Peirce (see biographical note, p. 79), the science of signs or semiotics ('semeiotic' is the term he preferred; cf. Fisch 1986) offers a unified perspective on a potentially infinite series of sign manifestations or semioses, traditionally covered by a vast range of studies and areas of research.