Page i Handbook of Semiotics Page ii Advances in Semiotics THOMAS A. SEBEOK, GENERAL EDITOR Page iii Handbook of Semiotics Winfried Nöth Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis Page iv First Paperback Edition 1995 This English­language edition is the enlarged and completely revised version of a work by Winfried Nöth originally published as Handbuch der Semiotik in 1985 by J. B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart. ©1990 by Winfried Nöth All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses' Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging­in­Publication Data Nöth, Winfried. [Handbuch der Semiotik. English] Handbook of semiotics / Winfried Nöth. p. cm.—(Advances in semiotics) Enlarged translation of: Handbuch der Semiotik. Bibliography: p. Includes indexes. ISBN 0­253­34120­5 1. Semiotics—handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Communication —Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title. II. Series. P99.N6513 1990 302.2—dc20 89­45199 ISBN 0­253­20959­5 (pbk.) CIP 4 5 6 00 99 98 Page v CONTENTS Preface ix Introduction 3 I. History and Classics of Modern Semiotics History of Semiotics 11 Peirce 39 Morris 48 Saussure 56 Hjelmslev 64 Jakobson 74 II. Sign and Meaning Sign 79 Meaning, Sense, and Reference 92 Semantics and Semiotics 103 Typology of Signs: Sign, Signal, Index 107 Symbol 115 Icon and Iconicity 121 Metaphor 128 Information 134 Page vi III. Semiosis, Code, and the Semiotic Field Zoosemiotics, Ethology, and Semiogenesis 147 Communication and Semiosis 168 Function 181 Magic 188 Structure 192 System 198 Code 206 Teaching 221 IV. Language and Language­Based Codes Verbal Communication: Introduction 227 Language in a Semiotic Frame 229 Arbitrariness and Motivation: The Language Sign 240 Paralanguage 247 Writing 251 Universal Language 267 Sign Language 279 Language Substitutes 287 V. From Structuralism to Text Semiotics: Schools and Major Figures Introduction 295 Structuralism, Poststructuralism, and Neostructuralism 298 Russian Formalism, Prague School, Soviet Semiotics 307 Barthes's Text Semiotics 310 Greimas's Structural Semantics and Text Semiotic Project 314 Kristeva's Semanalysis 321 Eco 325 Page vii VI. Text Semiotics: The Field Text Semiotics: Introduction 329 Hermeneutics and Exegesis 334 Rhetoric and Stylistics 338 Literature 346 Poetry and Poeticalness 354 Theater and Drama 361 Narrative 367 Myth 374 Ideology 377 Theology 381 VII. Nonverbal Communication Nonverbal Communication: Introduction 387 Gesture, "Body Language," and Kinesics 392 Facial Signals 402 Gaze 405 Tactile Communication 407 Proxemics: The Semiotics of Space 410 Chronemics: The Semiotics of Time 415 VIII. Aesthetics and Visual Communication Aesthetics 421 Music 429 Architecture 435 Objects 440 Image 446 Painting 456 Photography 460 Film 463 Comics 472 Advertising 476 Bibliography 481 Index of Subjects and Terms 551 Index of Names 565 Page ix PREFACE A handbook with the ambitious objective of dealing with a vast field of research ranging from A(esthetics) to Z(ooethology) may be excused for beginning with a few apologetic remarks on the design of such a daring undertaking. 1. A Topography of Semiotics Imagine you should have to describe [. ] the topography of a country about which there is hardly any certain knowledge. Neither the frontiers of this country are known, nor do we know whether it is a country in the traditional sense at all. Many claim that it is indeed a genuine country, even one that surpasses all known countries in beauty and riches, a country whose possession, once gained, would end all need. Others not only call this hope into question, but also consider the very existence of the country a mere utopia. But let us see further. Sources available for a topographic description are on the one hand certain reports by different authors. Every one of the authors lays claim to having discovered a new country, but it is uncertain whether they have the same country in mind. Indeed, they not only use different names for the newly discovered country, but also describe it in diverging ways. Moreover, several historians are of the opinion that the country in question has been discovered not only by these modern pioneers but much earlier, even in antiquity. There are still further sources in an immense number of writings giving a detailed description of some regions supposedly belonging to this country. But since these descriptions are mostly quite diverse—some, for example, presenting the landscape of a moorland or a rugged highland, others an urban landscape, and still others describing its flora and fauna—therefore one does not really know whether these are different regions and ecological areas of one and the same country or whether these are, instead, different countries. With this poetic image, Peter Schmitter (Kratylos 32 [1987]: 1) described the situation in which the author of this handbook found himself, embarking on the adventure of writing a Handbuch der Semiotik in the early 1980s (Nöth 1985). This handbook once more aims at the adventurous goal of a topographical survey of the main areas of theoretical and applied semiotics. The survey of the history and the present state of the art in this domain of research intends to be systematic, comprehensive, and up to date. Wherever limitations of space prevent a more extensive discussion, bibliographical references indicate further sources of orientation. Readers with particular terminological questions may find answers with the aid of the index of terms. With its Page x comprehensive bibliography and detailed indexes of subjects and names, this handbook is intended to be useful as an encyclopedic reference book in semiotics. 2. A Pluralistic Approach A project of such ambitious scope is likely to attract criticism from two opposing directions. Some will find that this handbook covers too little, neglecting areas of the semiotic field which they might find more important. These critics may occasionally be satisfied with the explicit acknowledgment of lacunae and appropriate further references (see, for example, Introduction 2.). Others will object that the handbook covers too much, including many topics or approaches that are not "semiotic enough" or perhaps are no longer sufficiently relevant to current developments in semiotics. Such criticism is expected from the disciples of particular schools of semiotics. Against these critics, it must be emphasized that the approach to semiotics adopted in this handbook is basically descriptive and pluralistic. Current trends in semiotics are quite heterogeneous, and it is not the intention of this handbook to conceal the great variety in approaches to the study of signs. Wherever necessary, differences will be emphasized. But wherever possible, the common foundations of these approaches and the interconnections among them will be pointed out. This handbook is not a collection of critical review articles. A critical evaluation of the semiotic research under discussion is not one of its primary objectives. The critical reader should have ample opportunity to draw his or her own critical conclusions. On the other hand, the author is well aware of the impossibility of a totally value­neutral account of the state of the art. According to a principle of structuralist semiotics, any selection is an implicit evaluation, since it implies the rejection of all nonselected items. In this sense, this volume cannot escape being evaluative. However, the author hopes that the choice of the chapters and their comparative length is motivated less by his own personal preferences than by the degree of attention which the topics under discussion have attracted during the last few decades of semiotic research. Necessarily remaining lacunae are not always intended. Apart from the fact that a still more comprehensive account of the state of the art in semiotics exceeds the capabilities of an individual scholar, the author admits frankly that a report on some of the more specialized areas of semiotics, such as the semiotics of mathematics, is beyond his own qualification. For the same reason he has been unable to consult in the original the rich semiotic literature published in East European languages. 3. Handbook and Handbuch This handbook has a precursor in my German Handbuch der Semiotik (Stuttgart: Metzler 1985). The very positive and sometimes enthusiastic (Sebeok 1986a, Bar 1987) assessment of this publication in no fewer than twenty­five reviews has resulted in a Serbo­Croation translation (Belgrad: Globus) and the invitation for an English translation. In 1986, Thomas A. Sebeok and John Gallman of Indiana University Press persuaded me to take care of the English translation myself. However, beginning to work as my own translator, I soon discovered the truth of the Italian proverb "Translator, traitor!" (traduttore tradittore). It obliged me to completely rewrite the Handbuch of 1985. The result is this totally reworked, updated, and largely expanded Handbook. 4. The Encyclopedic Landscape of Semiotics My German handbook was the second publication of this title in the history of semiotics. Page xi However, the earlier Handbuch der Semiotik, which Konrad Sprengel published in 1801, has little in common with