DOCSLIB.ORG

Modelling the Text: Iurii Lotman's Information-Theoretic Approach Revisited

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Modelling the Text: Iurii Lotman's Information-Theoretic Approach Revisited MODELLING THE TEXT: IURII LOTMAN'S INFORMATION-THEORETIC APPROACH REVISITED . DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University by Andrei I. Cretu, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2008 Dissertation Committee Approved by: Professor Irene Masing-Delic, Adviser Professor Charles Gribble ______________________________ Professor Daniel Collins Adviser Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures Graduate Program ABSTRACT The interdisciplinary effervescence of the 1960's-1970's resulted in the adoption of terms like "information," "entropy" and "code" into linguistic and literary analysis; one of the schools that contributed to this tendency was the Soviet semiotics school, represented by scholars like Iurii Lotman, Boris Uspenskii, Viacheslav Ivanov & al. This dissertation offers a critical examination of the controversial and problematic aspects of the interdisciplinary connection between information theory and semiotics, concentrating on Iurii Lotman's works on the theory of the text. In order to address the question of the applicability and relevance of information-theoretic principles to text analysis, this dissertation proposes (a) to offer a concise statement of the basic terms and concepts of information theory; (b) to offer an understanding of how "structure" in the linguistic sense can be related to the concepts of information theory; (c) to evaluate Lotman's use of information-theoretic terminology against the scientific "standard"; (d) to develop an understanding of what, in information theory, could be relevant to the analysis of texts and in what way it is possible to approach texts as informational objects; (e) to offer a few practical examples of how certain features of the text viewed as an informational object can be used, within the limits of their definition, to support and to complement traditional methodologies of text analysis. ii The central claims that emerge from my theoretical investigation are (a) that the formalism of information theory is not compatible with Iurii Lotman's theory of the text (partly due to terminological ambiguities already present in the field) and that the attached terminology has been used in ways unrelated to the assumptions and results of information theory; (b) that the formalism of information theory does provide the basic elements for an approach to structure in the most general sense and that these elements can be made relevant to both linguistic description and text analysis; (c) that it is possible to formulate a coherent approach to the text as an informational object by taking into account the statistical, distributional properties of the discrete variables that can be defined on the text at its various structural levels; (d) that it is possible to use these properties to characterize the specifics of the language of a text and its relationships to other texts, and therefore to guide, and add coherence to, the application of traditional approaches to the text. The second part of my dissertation is dedicated to applying the theoretical considerations of the first part to the analysis of texts chosen from 20-th century Russian literature. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my adviser, Prof. Irene Masing-Delic, whose advice, direction and expertise were essential in the process of writing this dissertation. In particular, I am thankful for her help in addressing what was the most challenging part of my research - that of making the results of the theoretical investigation relevant to issues of current interest in the study of literature. She made considerable efforts in ensuring that my dissertation maintained its coherence and accuracy and along with scientific guidance provided much needed moral support. I am indebted to Prof. Charles Gribble, in whose Russian and Slavic linguistics classes I became acquainted with Structuralism; these classes influenced the choice of my topic and provided me with the basic scientific vocabulary needed to formulate the ideas developed in this dissertation (as did many of the books that Prof. Gribble generously offered me). I am grateful to Prof. Anelya Rugaleva for directing my attention to the subtle connections between linguistics and the theory of literature, and also for encouraging me to follow a research lead that started in a course paper written for one of her classes, and later materialized, under Prof. Delic's supervision, in Chapter 4 of this dissertation. I also wish to thank the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures at the Ohio State University, for the intellectual and material support without which this project would not have been possible, and to all my professors and colleagues, iv from whom I had a lot to learn. Especially, I would like to thank the Department Chairman, Prof. Daniel Collins, who took time from his demanding schedule to become involved in this project. v VITA January 7, 1975……………………………. Born - Campina, Romania 1997………………………………………... B. A., Russian and French, Bucharest University, Romania 2001………………………………………... M.A., Russian, The Ohio State University 2001-present……………………………… Graduate Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract................................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgments.....................................................................................................................................iv Vita......................................................................................................................................vi List of Tables.....................................................................................................................ix List of Figures......................................................................................................................x Chapters: 1. Introduction..............................................................................................................1 1.1. The Object of Research................................................................................1 1.2. Outline of the Chapters................................................................................9 1.3. Context and Sources..................................................................................12 1.4. Limitations and delimitations....................................................................17 1.5. Intended audience and prerequisites..........................................................19 2. Information Theory in Semiotics, Its Limitations and Relevance.........................20 2.1. Preliminaries: Information-theoretic definitions.............................................20 2.1.1. Absolute entropy..............................................................................20 2.1.2. Conditional entropy and mutual information...................................23 2.1.3. The relationship between entropy and information.........................28 2.1.4. Summary..........................................................................................33 2.2. Entropy, predictability, and structure in language..........................................34 2.3. A critique of Lotman's interpretation of entropy and information..................38 2.4. The text as an information-theoretic object...................................................49 3. "Flying objects" in Georgii Ivanov's Распад атома and in the works of his contemporaries.......................................................................................................57 3.1 The verb "to fly" in the Russian linguistic background...................................57 3.2. The verb "to fly" and its context in Ivanov's Распад атома...........................60 3.3. The verb "to fly" and its contexts in Ivanov's poetry......................................63 3.4. The verb "to fly" in the poetry of Ivanov's contemporaries............................71 vii 3.5. Ivanov and Blok: Dialogue in "flight"............................................................77 4. Inter-textual communication: from a sonnet by Briusov to a novel by Bulgakov............................................................................83 4.1. Theoretical remarks........................................................................................83 4.2. Background: Mikhail Bulgakov's Master i Margarita....................................88 4.3. A sonnet and a novel......................................................................................89 4.4. Contemporary influences on Master i Margarita............................................99 4.5. Valerii Briusov's symbolist novel Ognennyi angel.......................................102 4.6. Why Briusov?...............................................................................................104 4.7. The figure of Briusov in Master i Margarita................................................108 4.8. A complex relationship.................................................................................114 4.9. Conclusions..................................................................................................118 5. Code and interpretation: Bunin's short stories and the language of myth...........121 5.1. The relationship code-text............................................................................121
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Petersburg Text in Russian Literature of the 1990 S
    THE PETERSBURG TEXT IN RUSSIAN LITERATURE OF THE 1990 S by DARIA S. SMIRNOVA A THESIS Presented to the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Program and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts September 2012 THESIS APPROVAL PAGE Student: Daria S. Smirnova Title: The Petersburg Text in Russian Literature of the 1990s This thesis has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Program by: Dr. Katya Hokanson Chairperson Dr. Jenifer Presto Member and Kimberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research & Innovation/Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded September 2012 ii © 2012 Daria S. Smirnova iii THESIS ABSTRACT Daria S. Smirnova Master of Arts Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Program September 2012 Title: The Petersburg Text in Russian Literature of the 1990s The image of Saint Petersburg has influenced the imagination of Russian writers since the establishment of this city in 1703. Today, it is common to speak about the Petersburg Text in Russian literature that has its own mythology, imagery, and stylistics. However, the research in this sphere is predominately concentrated on works written before the second half of the 20th century. This thesis addresses the revival of the Petersburg mythology in the 1990s in works by such authors as Mikhail Veller, Andrei Konstantinov, and Marusia Klimova. It illustrates how the reinvention of traditional Petersburg themes contributed to the representation of the “wild 1990s” reality.
    [Show full text]
  • Cariani – 1 Review Article Life's Journey Through the Semiosphere* Peter Cariani As Its Title Suggests, Signs of Meaning In
    Cariani – 1 Review article Life’s journey through the semiosphere* Peter Cariani As its title suggests, Signs of Meaning in the Universe by Jesper Hoffmeyer is a wide-ranging survey of the signs and meanings that are embedded in biological organisms. In its roughly 150 pages, Hoffmeyer covers most of the major aspects of the semiosphere that are given to us from biological evolution, proceeding from primitive sign-distinctions through biological codes, neural organizations, and umwelts to self-representation, language, and ethics. The scope of the book is cosmological, with the universal progression from simple to complex evoking echoes of Bergson’s Creative Evolution. In both works the major theme involves the formation of ever more autonomous material organizations that gradually lift matter from inert, time-bound reactivity to ever wider realms of spatio-temporal freedom and epistemic autonomy. Hoffmeyer’s presentation is necessarily dense in concepts, with a new concept making its appearance about every other page. The tone of the book is light-hearted, playful, witty, and disarming, and the illustrative examples that have been chosen are generally appropriate and insightful. While the fast pace and wide- ranging nature of the ideas is refreshing, as the reader is cheerfully shuttled from one semiotic arena to the next, it is difficult to stop to critically evaluate them. This review will attempt to critically reflect on the major ideas, and to consider some alternative formulations. Throughout the book, Hoffmeyer addresses two parallel sets of concerns that involve (in characteristically Danish fashion) questions of existence and questions of biosemiotics. The existential questions involve the meaning of life and the various problems we face in coming to terms with our place in the universe.
    [Show full text]
  • Cultural Heritage, Cinema, and Identity by Kiun H
    Title Page Framing, Walking, and Reimagining Landscapes in a Post-Soviet St. Petersburg: Cultural Heritage, Cinema, and Identity by Kiun Hwang Undergraduate degree, Yonsei University, 2005 Master degree, Yonsei University, 2008 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2019 Committee Page UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Kiun Hwang It was defended on November 8, 2019 and approved by David Birnbaum, Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures Mrinalini Rajagopalan, Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Department of History of Art & Architecture Vladimir Padunov, Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures Dissertation Advisor: Nancy Condee, Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures ii Copyright © by Kiun Hwang 2019 Abstract iii Framing, Walking, and Reimagining Landscapes in a Post-Soviet St. Petersburg: Cultural Heritage, Cinema, and Identity Kiun Hwang, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2019 St. Petersburg’s image and identity have long been determined by its geographical location and socio-cultural foreignness. But St. Petersburg’s three centuries have matured its material authenticity, recognizable tableaux and unique urban narratives, chiefly the Petersburg Text. The three of these, intertwined in their formation and development, created a distinctive place-identity. The aura arising from this distinctiveness functioned as a marketable code not only for St. Petersburg’s heritage industry, but also for a future-oriented engagement with post-Soviet hypercapitalism. Reflecting on both up-to-date scholarship and the actual cityscapes themselves, my dissertation will focus on the imaginative landscapes in the historic center of St.
    [Show full text]
  • Semiosphere As a Model of Human Cognition
    494 Aleksei Semenenko Sign Systems Studies 44(4), 2016, 494–510 Homo polyglottus: Semiosphere as a model of human cognition Aleksei Semenenko Department of Slavic and Baltic Languages Stockholm University 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden e-mail: [email protected] Abstract. Th e semiosphere is arguably the most infl uential concept developed by Juri Lotman, which has been reinterpreted in a variety of ways. Th is paper returns to Lotman’s original “anthropocentric” understanding of semiosphere as a collective intellect/consciousness and revisits the main arguments of Lotman’s discussion of human vs. nonhuman semiosis in order to position it in the modern context of cognitive semiotics and the question of human uniqueness in particular. In contrast to the majority of works that focus on symbolic consciousness and multimodal communication as specifi cally human traits, Lotman accentuates polyglottism and dialogicity as the unique features of human culture. Formulated in this manner, the concept of semiosphere is used as a conceptual framework for the study of human cognition as well as human cognitive evolution. Keywords: semiosphere; cognition; polyglottism; dialogue; multimodality; Juri Lotman Th e concept of semiosphere is arguably the most infl uential concept developed by the semiotician and literary scholar Juri Lotman (1922–1993), a leader of the Tartu- Moscow School of Semiotics and a founder of semiotics of culture. In a way, it was the pinnacle of Lotman’s lifelong study of culture as an intrinsic component of human individual
    [Show full text]
  • RUSSIAN JOURNAL of COMMUNICATION Official Journal of the Russian Communication Association
    RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION Official Journal of the Russian Communication Association Edited by IGOR E. KLYUKANOV Eastern Washington University ASSOCIATE EDITORS Donal A. Carbaugh, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, U.S.A. Irina N. Rozina, Institute of Management, Business and Law, Rostov-on-Don, Russia BOOK EDITORS William Graves III, Bryant University, U.S.A. Kseniya Shilikhina, Voronezh State University, Russia EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Ol’ga V. Aleksandrova, Moscow State University, Russia; Steven A. Beebe, Texas State University, San Marcos, U.S.A.; Mira B. Bergel’son, Moscow State University, Russia; Pedro J. Chamizo-Domínguez, University of Málaga, Spain; Michael Cole, University of California, San Diego, U.S.A.; John Corner, University of Liverpool, England; Robert T. Craig, University of Colorado at Boulder, U.S.A.; Marcel Danesi, University of Toronto, Canada; Mikhail N. Epstein, Emory University, U.S.A.; William Graves III, Bryant University, U.S.A.; Nadezhda L. Greidina, Pyatigorskii State Linguistic University, Russia; Boris L. Gubman, Tver State University, Russia; Michael Hazen, Wake Forest University, U.S.A.; Vyacheslav V. Ivanov, University of California, Los Angeles, U.S.A.; Moscow State University, Russia; Vladimir I. Karasik, Volgograd State Pedagogical University, Russia; Vadim B. Kasevich, St. Petersburg State University, Russia; Antonina A. Khar’kovskaya, Samara State University, Russia; Sergei V. Klyagin, Russian State University for the Humanities, Russia; Viktoriya V. Krasnykh, Moscow State University, Russia; Richard L. Lanigan, Southern Illinois University, U.S.A.; Olga A. Leontovich, Volgograd State Pedagogical University, Russia; Mikhail L. Makarov, Tver State University, Russia; Brigitte B. Nerlich, University of Nottingham, England; John Parish-Sprowl, Indiana University-Purdue University; Indianapolis, U.S.A., Aila Pesonen, University of Vaasa, Finland, Susan Petrilli, University of Bari, Italy; Vera A.
    [Show full text]
  • Can the Precariat Sing? Standing in Lotman's Light of Cultural Semiotics
    Postcolonial Interventions, Vol. V, Issue 2 Can the Precariat Sing? Standing in Lotman’s Light of Cultural Semiotics Ariktam Chatterjee & Arzoo Saha In the most Biblical sense, I am beyond repentance But in the cultural sense, I just speak in future tense (Gaga 2011, n.pg.) In his preface to the Bloomsbury Academic edition of The Rise of the Precariat published in 2016, Guy Standing observes: …more of those in the precariat have come to see themselves, not as failures or shirkers, but as sharing a common predicament with many others. This rec- ognition – a move from feelings of isolation, self-pity or self-loathing, to a sense of collective strength – is 46 Postcolonial Interventions, Vol. V, Issue 2 a precondition of political action…It is organizing, and struggling to define a new forward march. (x) This is a noteworthy evolution in Standing’s formulation from the time this influential study was first published in the form of a book in 2011, and later in 2016, where the precariat was seen to be too diverse and divided to consolidate themselves into a class. It was calibrated re- peatedly as a ‘class-in-the-making’. The group was never a homogenous one. Constituencies were numerous and except for an exploitative and alienated relationship with a neoliberal global economic structure (itself in various degrees of gradation), there was no platform of shared interest. In many ways, it seemed to subvert the notion of shared interest, which was a hallmark of all prior class formation – or what constituted class formation. How- ever, Standing’s present observation betrays a sense that the class has become consolidated.
    [Show full text]
  • Redalyc.Intersemiotic Translation from Rural/Biological to Urban
    Razón y Palabra ISSN: 1605-4806 [email protected] Universidad de los Hemisferios Ecuador Sánchez Guevara, Graciela; Cortés Zorrilla, José Intersemiotic Translation from Rural/Biological to Urban/Sociocultural/Artistic; The Case of Maguey and Other Cacti as Public/Urban Decorative Plants.” Razón y Palabra, núm. 86, abril-junio, 2014 Universidad de los Hemisferios Quito, Ecuador Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=199530728032 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative RAZÓN Y PALABRA Primera Revista Electrónica en Iberoamerica Especializada en Comunicación. www.razonypalabra.org.mx Intersemiotic Translation from Rural/Biological to Urban/Sociocultural/Artistic; The Case of Maguey and Other Cacti as Public/Urban Decorative Plants.” Graciela Sánchez Guevara/ José Cortés Zorrilla.1 Abstract. This paper proposes, from a semiotic perspective on cognition and working towards a cognitive perspective on semiosis, an analysis of the inter-semiotic translation processes (Torop, 2002) surrounding the maguey and other cacti, ancestral plants that now decorate public spaces in Mexico City. The analysis involves three semiotics, Peircean semiotics, bio-semiotics, and cultural semiotics, and draws from other disciplines, such as Biology, Anthropology, and Sociology, in order to construct a dialogue on a trans- disciplinary continuum. The maguey and other cactus plants are resources that have a variety of uses in different spaces. In rural spaces, they are used for their fibers (as thread in gunny sacks, floor mats, and such), for their leaves (as roof tiles, as support beams, and in fences), for their spines (as nails and sewing needles), and their juice is drunk fresh (known as aguamiel or neutli), fermented (a ritual beverage known as pulque or octli), or distilled (to produce mescal, tequila, or bacanora).
    [Show full text]
  • The Semiosphere, Between Informational Modernity and Ecological Postmodernity Pierre-Louis Patoine and Jonathan Hope
    Document generated on 09/29/2021 12:07 a.m. Recherches sémiotiques Semiotic Inquiry The Semiosphere, Between Informational Modernity and Ecological Postmodernity Pierre-Louis Patoine and Jonathan Hope J. M. Lotman Article abstract Volume 35, Number 1, 2015 The notion of semiosphere is certainly one of Lotman’s most discussed ideas. In this essay, we propose to investigate its ecological and biological dimensions, URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1050984ar tracing them back to Vernadsky’s concept of biosphere and to Lotman’s DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/1050984ar environmental vision of art articulated in his early work, The Structure of the Artistic Text. Our investigation reveals how the biosemiotic undercurrents in See table of contents Lotmanian thought enable the emergence of a cyclical, homeostatic model of culture that counterbalances a Modernist vision of art as a force working for unquestioned linear progress. Publisher(s) Association canadienne de sémiotique / Canadian Semiotic Association ISSN 0229-8651 (print) 1923-9920 (digital) Explore this journal Cite this article Patoine, P.-L. & Hope, J. (2015). The Semiosphere, Between Informational Modernity and Ecological Postmodernity. Recherches sémiotiques / Semiotic Inquiry, 35(1), 11–26. https://doi.org/10.7202/1050984ar Tous droits réservés © Association canadienne de sémiotique / Canadian This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit Semiotic Association, 2018 (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online. https://apropos.erudit.org/en/users/policy-on-use/ This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Semiosphere, Revisited
    Yorgos Marinakis On the Semiosphere, Revisited Abstract The semiosphere is frequently described as a topos of complexification, namely discontinuous or heterogeneous, recursive or self-reflexive, stochastic, radically subjective, and capable of simultaneous multiple perspectives. While the topos of complexification describes the gross morphology of a model, it is not a model adequate for explaining phenomena or making predictions. The ecological theory of dual hierarchies is proposed as a framework for developing models of the semiosphere that are appropriately limited in scope and scale. In particular the semiosphere is modeled as a dual hierarchy of semiotic spaces, the dual hierarchies corresponding to the semiosis that is occurring within the dual hierarchies of ecological organization. This framework immediately solves several theoretical problems, such as clearing up conceptual inconsistencies in Lotman's concept of semiosphere. Keywords: semiotics, semiosphere, ecosystem, hierarchy theory, category theory, semiotic triad Introduction Juri Lotman's (2005) On the semiosphere, first published in 1984, introduced the concept of the semiosphere and attempted to describe its gross structural features in broad terms. The semiosphere is defined as the semiotic space outside of which semiosis cannot exist, where semiosis is any form of activity, conduct, or process that involves signs. On its face, the structure of Lotman's concept of semiosphere has difficulties, but by focusing on these difficulties one loses sight of the value of the concept. Lotman's conceives of the semiosphere as a space that carries an abstract character and possessing signs, which space he asserts is not metaphorical (therefore not abstract?) but specific (therefore material and not abstract?).
    [Show full text]
  • Ethnolinguistics in the Year 2016∗
    Ethnolinguistic 28 Lublin 2017 I. Research articles DOI: 10.17951/et.2016.28.7 Jerzy B a r t m i ń s k i (UMCS, Lublin, Poland) Ethnolinguistics in the Year 2016∗ This article is the voice of Etnolingwistyka’s Editor-in-Chief on the current tasks of ethnolinguistics as a scholarly subdiscipline, as well as those of the journal. According to the author, of the two foundations of Slavic ethnolin- guistics mentioned by Nikita Tolstoy (i.e., its pan-Slavic character and the unity of language and culture) it is mainly the latter that has preserved its topicality: language is the source of knowledge about people and human com- munities, as well as the basis for building one’s identity (individual, national, regional, professional). The agenda of cultural linguistics has been followed by the contributors to the present journal and its editorial team with a focus on various genres of folklore, the problems of the linguistic worldview, and in recent issues with studies on the semantics of selected cultural concepts (FAMILY, DEMOCRACY, EQUALITY, OTVETSTVENNOST’, etc.). An ethnolinguistics that thus seeks “culture in language” (i.e. in the semantic layer of linguistic forms) is close – especially in its cognitivist variant – to Western cultural or anthropological linguistics. When Slavic ethnolinguistics focuses on the semantics of value terms, it stands a good chance of engaging in a dialogue with Western anthropological linguistics and contribute original insights to the common body of research on values. A specific proposal in this direction is the international project EUROJOS. Key words: cultural linguistics, culture in language, Etnolingwistyka, EUROJOS, Axiological Lexicon of Slavs and their Neighbours, cultural concepts ∗ This is a revised and extended version of the paper presented at the conference Slawische Ethnolinguistik: Methoden, Ergebnisse, Perspektive (17–19 December, 2015), organized by the Department of Slavonic Studies at the University of Vienna.
    [Show full text]
  • Eating the Other. a Semiotic Approach to the Translation of the Culinary Code
    UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI TORINO (UNITO) UNIVERSITÀ DELLA SVIZZERA ITALIANA (USI) Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici (UNITO) / Faculty of Communication Sciences (USI) DOTTORATO DI RICERCA (IN CO-TUTELA) IN: Scienze del Linguaggio e della Comunicazione (UNITO) / Scienze della Comunicazione (USI) CICLO: XXVI (UNITO) TITOLO DELLA TESI: Eating the Other. A Semiotic Approach to the Translation of the Culinary Code TESI PRESENTATA DA: Simona Stano TUTORS: prof. Ugo Volli (UNITO) prof. Andrea Rocci (USI) prof. Marcel Danesi (UofT, Canada e USI, Svizzera) COORDINATORI DEL DOTTORATO: prof. Tullio Telmon (UNITO) prof. Michael Gilbert (USI) ANNI ACCADEMICI: 2011 – 2013 SETTORE SCIENTIFICO-DISCIPLINARE DI AFFERENZA: M-FIL/05 EATING THE OTHER A Semiotic Approach to the Translation of the Culinary Code A dissertation presented by Simona Stano Supervised by Prof. Ugo Volli (UNITO, Italy) Prof. Andrea Rocci (USI, Switzerland) Prof. Marcel Danesi (UofT, Canada and USI, Switzerland) Submitted to the Faculty of Communication Sciences Università della Svizzera Italiana Scuola di Dottorato in Studi Umanistici Università degli Studi di Torino (Co-tutorship of Thesis / Thèse en Co-tutelle) for the degree of Ph.D. in Communication Sciences (USI) Dottorato in Scienze del Linguaggio e della Comunicazione (UNITO) May, 2014 BOARD / MEMBRI DELLA GIURIA: Prof. Ugo Volli (UNITO, Italy) Prof. Andrea Rocci (USI, Switzerland) Prof. Marcel Danesi (UofT, Canada and USI, Switzerland) Prof. Gianfranco Marrone (UNIPA, Italy) PLACES OF THE RESEARCH / LUOGHI IN CUI SI È SVOLTA LA RICERCA: Italy (Turin) Switzerland (Lugano, Geneva, Zurich) Canada (Toronto) DEFENSE / DISCUSSIONE: Turin, May 8, 2014 / Torino, 8 maggio 2014 ABSTRACT [English] Eating the Other. A Semiotic Approach to the Translation of the Culinary Code Eating and food are often compared to language and communication: anthropologically speaking, food is undoubtedly the primary need.
    [Show full text]
  • Cultural Trauma and Life Stories
    Aili Aarelaid-Tart Cultural Trauma And Life Stories KIKIMORA PUBLICATIONS A 15 Cultural Trauma and Life Stories ISBN 952-1-3416-5 ISSN 1455-481X Cover design: Vesa Tuukkanen Layout: Indrek Tart and Anu Heiskanen © The Aleksanteri Institute and the author Gummerus Printing 2006 Vaajakoski Contents Abbreviations 6 List of the table and figures 6 Preface 7 I Introduction 10 I.1 My life story: the framework for my field of study and research interests 10 I.2 Research design 14 1.2.1 The composition of the sample. Collaborations 14 1.2.2 Theoretical objectives 18 II Human time and life course 22 II.1 Human time: the compass within uncertainty 22 II.2 Modes of human time 24 II.2.1 Cultural time 25 II.2.2 Political time 26 II.2.3 Generational time 26 II.3 Individual life course and life story 30 II.4 Human time throughout the trauma prism 34 III Understanding of cultural trauma 40 III.1 Making sense of the theory of cultural trauma 40 III.1.1 Cultural trauma as a new master paradigm 40 III.1.2 Cultural trauma as social practice 41 III.1.3 Cultural trauma as a discourse 45 III.1.4 Discourses as a search for usable past 49 III.2 Trauma and explosion: re-building the cultural fabric 51 III.3 From life stories to the discourse of cultural trauma 53 IV Framing biographical research in post-traumatic social practice 57 IV.1 Unbalanced social memory 57 IV.1.1 A double trauma discourse let loose by the collapse of Socialism 57 IV.1.2 A non-unified European memory as the cause of new traumas 59 IV.2 Living through Estonia: the contours of the main CT
    [Show full text]