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Lecture 2

This document provides an overview of semiotics and its application to cultural studies. It discusses key theorists in the development of semiotics like Saussure, Peirce, Morris, and Vygotsky. Their concepts of signs, sign systems, and the role of language in shaping thought are summarized. The document also discusses structuralism and how culture can be understood as a system of symbols. Finally, it introduces a three-dimensional model of culture that categorizes types of cultural meaning and dimensions of cultural space.

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53 views

Lecture 2

This document provides an overview of semiotics and its application to cultural studies. It discusses key theorists in the development of semiotics like Saussure, Peirce, Morris, and Vygotsky. Their concepts of signs, sign systems, and the role of language in shaping thought are summarized. The document also discusses structuralism and how culture can be understood as a system of symbols. Finally, it introduces a three-dimensional model of culture that categorizes types of cultural meaning and dimensions of cultural space.

Uploaded by

Aruzhan
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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LECTURE 2

SEMIOTICS OF CULTURE
ANATOMY OF CULTURE
PLAN
- STRUCTURALISM AND SEMIOTICS IN CULTURAL STUDIES. SEMIOTIC
CONCEPTS OF CULTURE F. SAUSSURE, CHARLES SANDERS PEIRCE,
CHARLES MORRIS, L. S. VYGOTSKY
- TEXTOLOGICAL CONCEPTS OF CULTURE R. BARTH, O. SULEIMENOV
- THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODEL OF CULTURE
• SEMIOTICS OF CULTURE IS A RESEARCH FIELD WITHIN SEMIOTICS THAT ATTEMPTS TO DEFINE CULTURE
FROM SEMIOTIC PERSPECTIVE AND AS A TYPE OF HUMAN SYMBOLIC ACTIVITY. HERE CULTURE IS
UNDERSTOOD AS A SYSTEM OF SYMBOLS OR MEANINGFUL SIGNS.  

• ANATOMY OF CULTURE STUDIES ISSUES OF THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF CULTURAL SYSTEMS (SPACE
OF CULTURE, DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE, FORMS OF CULTURE ….)
STRUCTURALISM AND SEMIOTICS IN CULTURAL STUDIES.
SEMIOTIC CONCEPTS OF CULTURE F. SAUSSURE,
CH.S. PEIRCE, CH. MORRIS

• LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL SEMIOTICS INVESTIGATES SIGN SYSTEMS AND THE MODES
OF REPRESENTATION THAT HUMANS USE TO CONVEY FEELINGS, THOUGHTS, IDEAS, AND
IDEOLOGIES

• UMBERTO ECO "STUDYING EVERYTHING WHICH CAN BE USED IN ORDER TO LIE"


(A THEORY OF SEMIOTICS. 1976, P. 7)
TRADITIONS IN MODERN SEMIOTIC THEORY:

• A EUROPEAN TRADITION - FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE . HE SOUGHT TO EXPLAIN HOW ALL


ELEMENTS OF A LANGUAGE ARE TAKEN AS COMPONENTS OF A LARGER SYSTEM OF
LANGUAGE IN USE. THIS LED TO A FORMAL DISCIPLINE THAT HE CALLED SEMIOLOGY.

• AMERICAN TRADITION - CHARLES SANDERS PEIRCE. HIS INTEREST IN LOGICAL


REASONING LED HIM TO INVESTIGATE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF SIGNS AND THE
MANNER BY WHICH HUMANS EXTRACT MEANING FROM THEM.
FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE -
STRUCTURALIST SCHOOL
• A STRUCTURALIST LOOKS AT THE UNITS OF A SYSTEM AND THE RULES OF LOGIC THAT
ARE APPLIED TO THE SYSTEM, WITHOUT REGARD TO ANY SPECIFIC CONTENT.

• THE UNITS OF HUMAN LANGUAGE COMPRISE A LIMITED SET OF SOUNDS CALLED


PHONEMES, AND THESE COMPRISE AN UNLIMITED SET OF WORDS AND SENTENCES,
WHICH ARE PUT TOGETHER ACCORDING TO A SET OF SIMPLE RULES CALLED GRAMMAR.

• FROM SIMPLE UNITS HUMANS DERIVE MORE COMPLEX UNITS THAT ARE APPLIED TO
NEW RULES TO FORM MORE COMPLEX STRUCTURES
FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE

• THE SMALLEST UNIT OF ANALYSIS IS THE SIGN, MADE UP OF A SIGNIFIER


(ОЗНАЧАЮЩИЙ/ОБОЗНАЧАЮЩЕЕ (ЗВУЧАНИЕ, НАПИСАНИЕ) OR SENSORY PATTERN AND A SIGNIFIED
(ОЗНАЧАЕМОЕ/ОБОЗНАЧАЕМОЕ (СОДЕРЖАНИЕ), THE CONCEPT THAT IS ELICITED IN THE MIND BY
THE SIGNIFIER

• THE SIGNIFIER DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SIGN UNTIL IT IS INTERPRETED


CHARLES SANDERS PEIRCE
• THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE SIGN TO THE OBJECT IS MADE IN THE MIND OF THE
INTERPRETER AS A MENTAL TOOL THAT PEIRCE CALLED THE INTERPRETANT (COGNITIVE
REACTION ELICITED IN THE MIND OF THE INTERPRETER)

• SEMIOSIS (THE PROCESS OF SIGN INTERPRETATION) IS AN ITERATIVE (REPETITIVE) PROCESS


INVOLVING MULTIPLE INFERENCES.

• THE SIGNIFIER ELICITS IN THE MIND AN INTERPRETANT THAT IS NOT THE FINAL
SIGNIFIED OBJECT, BUT A MEDIATING THOUGHT THAT PROMOTES UNDERSTANDING
CHARLES MORRIS
• FOR MORRIS, SEMIOTICS INVOLVES "GOAL-SEEKING BEHAVIOR IN WHICH SIGNS
EXERCISE CONTROL" (MORRIS 1971 [1938], P. 85 MORRIS, CHARLES. (FOUNDATIONS OF THE THEORY
OF SIGNS )

• THREE SUBFIELDS OF SEMIOTICS:


• SEMANTICS STUDIES THE AFFILIATIONS BETWEEN THE WORLD OF SIGNS AND THE
WORLD OF THINGS

• SYNTACTICS OBSERVES HOW SIGNS RELATE TO OTHER SIGNS


• PRAGMATICS EXPLAINS THE EFFECTS OF SIGNS ON HUMAN BEHAVIOR
LEV SEMENOVICH VYGOTSKY

• APPLIED THE INSTRUMENTAL NOTION OF SEMIOTICS TOWARD COGNITION AND LEARNING


• IDENTIFIED THE PIVOTAL ROLE LANGUAGE PLAYS DURING THE EXERCISE OF COMPLEX MENTAL FUNCTIONS
• ANALYZED THE ROLE OF SPEECH IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS, AND THE
RELATIONSHIP OF LANGUAGE TO COMPLEX THINKING IN HUMANS
TEXTOLOGICAL CONCEPTS OF CULTURE R. BARTH,
O. SULEIMENOV

• BARTHES'S MOST INFLUENTIAL WORK, MYTHOLOGIES, CONTINUES TO HAVE AN INFLUENCE ON CRITICAL


THEORY IN THE EARLY TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY.

• IN MYTHOLOGIES, BARTHES DESCRIBES MYTH AS A WELL-FORMED, SOPHISTICATED SYSTEM OF


COMMUNICATION THAT SERVES THE IDEOLOGICAL AIMS OF A DOMINANT CLASS.

• BARTHES CONCEIVED OF MYTH AS A SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED REALITY THAT IS PASSED OFF AS


NATURAL.

• THE ROLE OF THE MYTHOLOGIST IS TO IDENTIFY THE ARTIFICIALITY OF THOSE SIGNS THAT DISGUISE
THEIR HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL ORIGINS.
OLZHAS OMAROVICH SULEIMENOV
• KAZAKH NATIONAL, BILINGUAL BUT PREDOMINANTLY RUSSOPHONE BY VIRTUE OF EDUCATION AND
CREATIVE PREFERENCE

• "I NOW BOLDLY DECLARE THAT MANY OBSCURE ASPECTS OF THE HISTORY OF LITERATE PEOPLES CAN
NOT BE EXPLAINED WITHOUT SOME KNOWLEDGE OF THE HISTORY OF THE TURKS. I AM CONVINCED THAT
AT SOME POINT THERE WILL APPEAR A GENUINE, REALISTIC BOOK, 'THE TRUE HISTORY,' AND THAT WE
TOO WILL BE COMPLICIT IN ITS BIRTH. ONLY POETS CAN EXPLAIN THE MEANING OF WORDS, CREATED BY
THE ANCIENT FORGERS OF LANGUAGE. KNOWING ONE'S NATIVE HISTORY IS THE ESSENTIAL CONDITION
FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTERNATIONALIST CONSCIOUSNESS"
AZ I IA. THE BOOK OF A WELL-INTENTIONED READER

• FIRST HALF IS DEVOTED TO REREADING A CELEBRATED LITERARY ARTIFACT OF


MEDIEVAL RUSSIA, THE SONG OF IGOR'S CAMPAIGN. BY CLAIMING TO HAVE
UNCOVERED TURKIC LEXICAL AND NARRATIVE ELEMENTS IN THE MOST REVERED OF
EARLY RUSSIAN TEXTS, SULEIMENOV SEEKS TO REWRITE THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE
RUSSO-TURKIC ENCOUNTER FROM A TURKIC PERSPECTIVE
• AZ I IA - MIGHT BE TRANSLATED "I AND I"
• "THE IGOR TALE NEEDS TO BE READ NOT BY A COLLECTIVE OF WE'S (SLAVIST,
TURKOLOGIST, HISTORIAN, POET), BUT BY A COLLECTIVE OF I'S [КОЛЛЕКТИВНОЕ Я].
THE SAME PERSONS, BUT UNITED WITHIN ONE INDIVIDUAL [ТЕ ЖЕ ПЕРСОНАЖИ, НО
ОБЪЕДИНЕННЫЕ В ОДНОЙ ЛИЧНОСТИ] ." SULEIMENOV, AZ I IA, Р.8
• КОЧУЮ ПО ЧЁРНО-БЕЛОМУ СВЕТУ.
МНЕ ДОМ ДВУХЭТАЖНЫЙ ПОСТРОИТЬ СОВЕТУЮТ,
А Я, КАК УДАСТСЯ КАКАЯ ОКАЗИЯ,
МОТАЮСЬ ПО АФРИКАМ, ФРАНЦИЯМ, АЗИЯМ.
В НЬЮ-ЙОРКЕ С ДАСТАНАМИ ВЫСТУПАЮ,
В АЛЕППЕ АРАБАМ ГЛАЗА ОТКРЫВАЮ,
ВЕРНУСЬ, И В КАРМАНЕ ОПЯТЬ — НИ КОПЬЯ;
КОПЬЁ ЗАВЕДЁТСЯ — ОПЯТЬ НА КОНЯ!
(АЙНАЛАЙН, 1964)
THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODEL OF CULTURE

• THREE DIMENSIONS OF CULTURAL SPACE ACCORDING TO THE MAIN TYPES OF MEANINGS


• TYPES OF MEANING: 1) KNOWLEDGE, 2) VALUES, 3) REGULATIVES
• THEY CORRESPOND TO THREE INTERSECTING "COORDINATE AXES": 1) "COGNITIVE", 2) "VALUE", 3)
"REGULATORY".
X-Y SPIRITUAL CULTURE
X-Z TECHNOLOGICAL CULTURE
Y-Z SOCIAL CULTURE
NEXT

• NOMADS’ CULTURE OF KAZAKHSTAN.


• CULTURAL HERITAGE OF THE PROTO-TURKIC PEOPLE

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