Semiotics has a long and distinguished tradition in Italy. Currently, Semiotics is taught in diff... more Semiotics has a long and distinguished tradition in Italy. Currently, Semiotics is taught in different universities where structured groups of research work, particularly in Bologna, Reggio Emilia, Palermo, Teramo, Torino, Roma, Siena, Urbino and Venezia (Ca’ Foscari). Main centres of research Centro di semiotica e teoria dell’immagine Omar Calabrese (Università di Siena, http://www.media.unisi.it/css/centro.html) Centro Internazionale di Studi Interculturali di Semiotica e Morfologia (Univer..
Beyond the body: Towards a full embodied semiosis Patrizia Violi Abstract The notion of embodimen... more Beyond the body: Towards a full embodied semiosis Patrizia Violi Abstract The notion of embodiment has become very prevalent in current research in a num- ber of disciplines associated with cognitive science such as philosophy, computer science, psychology, linguistics and semiotics. ...
This dissertation deals with the problems and the opportunities of a semiotic approach to percept... more This dissertation deals with the problems and the opportunities of a semiotic approach to perception. Is perception, seen as the ability to detect and articulate an coherent picture of the surrounding environment, describable in semiotic terms? Is it possibile, for a discipline wary of any attempt to reduce semiotic meaning to a psychological and naturalized issue, to come to terms with the cognitive, automatic and genetically hard-wired specifics of our perceptive systems? In order to deal with perceptive signs, is it necessary to modify basic assumptions in semiotics, or can we simply extend the range of our conceptual instruments and definitions? And what if perception is a wholly different semiotic machinery, to be considered as sui generis, but nonetheless interesting for a general theory of semiotics? By exposing the major ideas put forward by the main thinkers in the semiotic field, Mattia de Bernardis gives a comprehensive picture of the theoretical situation, adding to the ...
... The Philosophy of John Dewey. Ed. John J. McDermott. Chicago : U of Chicago P, 1981. DeWitt,S... more ... The Philosophy of John Dewey. Ed. John J. McDermott. Chicago : U of Chicago P, 1981. DeWitt,Scott Lloyd. "The Current Nature of Hypertext Research in Computers and Compositions Studies: An Historical Perspective." Computers and Composition 13 (1996): 69-84. ...
Rivista Italiana di Filosofia del Linguaggio, 2019
This article aims to analyse the notion of diachronic identity within a semiotic framework rooted... more This article aims to analyse the notion of diachronic identity within a semiotic framework rooted in the structuralist approach. What are the conditions that allow to maintain the identity of a given entity through temporal transformations? When can we say that ‘something’ is still the same? Tracing back to the works of Umberto Eco and Luis Prieto, the author discusses the conditions that regulate changes of semantic identity, claiming that identity cannot be defined on the basis of any substantial essence, but only in relational terms, according to different criteria of relevance. Various examples are discussed in order to show a similar non empiristic and non-essentialist definition of identity and the ways in which it can change over time. Far from being just the result of cultural diversities, semantic identify turns out to be a heuristic and a methodological tool that can explain the system of meaning and values of a given culture.
Rivista Italiana di Filosofia del Linguaggio, Oct 31, 2016
This paper aims to investigate the ways in which space signifies the past and conveys memories, w... more This paper aims to investigate the ways in which space signifies the past and conveys memories, with a particular attention to traumatic pasts. After having offered a synthetic description of the specificity of a semiotic approach to the study of memory seen as an endless construction and reconstruction of the past, rather than its faithful representation, and having made a claim for a basic distinction between events and their sense, the article considers some particular places devoted to the transmission of a traumatic memory, denominated "trauma sites". Trauma sites are memorials that elaborate existing traces of mass murders of various kinds that have taken place in that specific point in space. This paper argues for the indexical nature of such places, and discusses the semiotic nature of imprints and traces, proposing a non-ontological perspective on indexicality based on beliefs rather than on referential links to external reality.
Over the last twenty years memory and trauma have been the object of fast growing attention in th... more Over the last twenty years memory and trauma have been the object of fast growing attention in the Humanities and have been investigated within the perspectives of Cultural Studies and Critical Theory. This paper aims to discuss how a culturally oriented semiotic approach is more adequate in terms of reframing in a more insightful way some fundamental issues of this field. With reference to my recent research regarding memorials and museums, I will analyse the relationship between space and memory and the key role that a number of specific places play in the cultural memorisation of traumatic events, demonstrating how a semiotic methodology may serve to clarify a number of theoretical and methodological impasses. In particular I will discuss the notion of trauma, as it has been defined within the field of Trauma Studies, and also the notion of trauma sites, a category of \u2018places of memory\u2019 that exhibit a very specific type of semiotic functioning. The notions of trace, authenticity and indexicality will be presented and further analyzed in terms of their usefulness within this broader perspective
Semiotics has a long and distinguished tradition in Italy. Currently, Semiotics is taught in diff... more Semiotics has a long and distinguished tradition in Italy. Currently, Semiotics is taught in different universities where structured groups of research work, particularly in Bologna, Reggio Emilia, Palermo, Teramo, Torino, Roma, Siena, Urbino and Venezia (Ca’ Foscari). Main centres of research Centro di semiotica e teoria dell’immagine Omar Calabrese (Università di Siena, http://www.media.unisi.it/css/centro.html) Centro Internazionale di Studi Interculturali di Semiotica e Morfologia (Univer..
Beyond the body: Towards a full embodied semiosis Patrizia Violi Abstract The notion of embodimen... more Beyond the body: Towards a full embodied semiosis Patrizia Violi Abstract The notion of embodiment has become very prevalent in current research in a num- ber of disciplines associated with cognitive science such as philosophy, computer science, psychology, linguistics and semiotics. ...
This dissertation deals with the problems and the opportunities of a semiotic approach to percept... more This dissertation deals with the problems and the opportunities of a semiotic approach to perception. Is perception, seen as the ability to detect and articulate an coherent picture of the surrounding environment, describable in semiotic terms? Is it possibile, for a discipline wary of any attempt to reduce semiotic meaning to a psychological and naturalized issue, to come to terms with the cognitive, automatic and genetically hard-wired specifics of our perceptive systems? In order to deal with perceptive signs, is it necessary to modify basic assumptions in semiotics, or can we simply extend the range of our conceptual instruments and definitions? And what if perception is a wholly different semiotic machinery, to be considered as sui generis, but nonetheless interesting for a general theory of semiotics? By exposing the major ideas put forward by the main thinkers in the semiotic field, Mattia de Bernardis gives a comprehensive picture of the theoretical situation, adding to the ...
... The Philosophy of John Dewey. Ed. John J. McDermott. Chicago : U of Chicago P, 1981. DeWitt,S... more ... The Philosophy of John Dewey. Ed. John J. McDermott. Chicago : U of Chicago P, 1981. DeWitt,Scott Lloyd. "The Current Nature of Hypertext Research in Computers and Compositions Studies: An Historical Perspective." Computers and Composition 13 (1996): 69-84. ...
Rivista Italiana di Filosofia del Linguaggio, 2019
This article aims to analyse the notion of diachronic identity within a semiotic framework rooted... more This article aims to analyse the notion of diachronic identity within a semiotic framework rooted in the structuralist approach. What are the conditions that allow to maintain the identity of a given entity through temporal transformations? When can we say that ‘something’ is still the same? Tracing back to the works of Umberto Eco and Luis Prieto, the author discusses the conditions that regulate changes of semantic identity, claiming that identity cannot be defined on the basis of any substantial essence, but only in relational terms, according to different criteria of relevance. Various examples are discussed in order to show a similar non empiristic and non-essentialist definition of identity and the ways in which it can change over time. Far from being just the result of cultural diversities, semantic identify turns out to be a heuristic and a methodological tool that can explain the system of meaning and values of a given culture.
Rivista Italiana di Filosofia del Linguaggio, Oct 31, 2016
This paper aims to investigate the ways in which space signifies the past and conveys memories, w... more This paper aims to investigate the ways in which space signifies the past and conveys memories, with a particular attention to traumatic pasts. After having offered a synthetic description of the specificity of a semiotic approach to the study of memory seen as an endless construction and reconstruction of the past, rather than its faithful representation, and having made a claim for a basic distinction between events and their sense, the article considers some particular places devoted to the transmission of a traumatic memory, denominated "trauma sites". Trauma sites are memorials that elaborate existing traces of mass murders of various kinds that have taken place in that specific point in space. This paper argues for the indexical nature of such places, and discusses the semiotic nature of imprints and traces, proposing a non-ontological perspective on indexicality based on beliefs rather than on referential links to external reality.
Over the last twenty years memory and trauma have been the object of fast growing attention in th... more Over the last twenty years memory and trauma have been the object of fast growing attention in the Humanities and have been investigated within the perspectives of Cultural Studies and Critical Theory. This paper aims to discuss how a culturally oriented semiotic approach is more adequate in terms of reframing in a more insightful way some fundamental issues of this field. With reference to my recent research regarding memorials and museums, I will analyse the relationship between space and memory and the key role that a number of specific places play in the cultural memorisation of traumatic events, demonstrating how a semiotic methodology may serve to clarify a number of theoretical and methodological impasses. In particular I will discuss the notion of trauma, as it has been defined within the field of Trauma Studies, and also the notion of trauma sites, a category of \u2018places of memory\u2019 that exhibit a very specific type of semiotic functioning. The notions of trace, authenticity and indexicality will be presented and further analyzed in terms of their usefulness within this broader perspective
Stranieri nel ricordo. Per una memoria pubblica delle migrazioni, 2020
The collection is the result of a project at the University of San Marino and its Museum of the E... more The collection is the result of a project at the University of San Marino and its Museum of the Emigrant and the Research Centre on Migrations. In the introduction we define the very meaning of the words "migrant" and "foreigner" within politics of memory shaped by the Nation-State and we offer a detailed overview of the ten chapters that forms the volume. *** Come si narrano le migrazioni e come se ne trasmette la memoria? Se il museo, l’archivio e il monumento sono le forme istituzionali della memoria dello stato-nazione, i movimenti migratori mettono in crisi il quadro sociale e semiotico entro cui si racconta il passato e se ne trasmette la memoria. Nato da un progetto presso il Centro di Ricerca sull’Emigrazione della Repubblica di San Marino e il suo Museo dell’Emigrante e introdotto dai due curatori, il volume raccoglie dieci contributi che riflettono sulle forme della memoria pubblica nel racconto delle migrazioni. La scelta di riunire il punto di vista di studiosi e operatori culturali offre al lettore una riflessione sui modi di narrare e trasmettere la memoria delle migrazioni nel mondo contemporaneo a partire da casi di analisi e concrete esperienze di progettazione.
Editorial de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras Universidad de Buenos Aires, 2021
¿Puede el arte reparar la pérdida? ¿Cómo abordar la construcción permanente de la memoria teniend... more ¿Puede el arte reparar la pérdida? ¿Cómo abordar la construcción permanente de la memoria teniendo en cuenta redes de relaciones y significados que dialogan y/o confrontan?
Somos seres temporales gracias al trabajo que realiza la memoria articulando presente y pasado en un permanente reordenamiento. El presente nunca transcurre solo sino acompañado de sombras y colores del pasado. A ese pasado al que no es posible acceder tal como fue podemos acercarnos a través de la creación artística abordando su reminiscencia. Los textos que integran esta compilación refieren a memorias traumáticas que requieren ser narradas. Sobrevivientes e integrantes de la “segunda generación” emprenden ese laborioso trabajo con memorias difíciles. Tensiones y dinámicas de género atraviesan relatos laboriosamente enhebrados en torno a experiencias complejas. Los cuerpos, soportes de las prácticas performáticas, adquieren un significado particular en un país atravesado por la ausencia de los cuerpos desaparecidos. Un hecho gráfico disruptivo y emblemático en el pasado reciente argentino, El Siluetazo, y presentaciones del activismo artístico destacan los significados de las prácticas en el espacio público e iluminan la dimensión espacial/territorial en la permanente construcción de la memoria.
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Come si narrano le migrazioni e come se ne trasmette la memoria? Se il museo, l’archivio e il monumento sono le forme istituzionali della memoria dello stato-nazione, i movimenti migratori mettono in crisi il quadro sociale e semiotico entro cui si racconta il passato e se ne trasmette la memoria. Nato da un progetto presso il Centro di Ricerca sull’Emigrazione della Repubblica di San Marino e il suo Museo dell’Emigrante e introdotto dai due curatori, il volume raccoglie dieci
contributi che riflettono sulle forme della memoria pubblica nel racconto delle migrazioni. La scelta di riunire il punto di vista di studiosi e operatori culturali offre al lettore una riflessione sui modi di narrare e trasmettere la memoria delle migrazioni nel mondo contemporaneo a partire da casi di analisi e concrete esperienze di progettazione.
Somos seres temporales gracias al trabajo que realiza la memoria articulando presente y pasado en un permanente reordenamiento. El presente nunca transcurre solo sino acompañado de sombras y colores del pasado. A ese pasado al que no es posible acceder tal como fue podemos acercarnos a través de la creación artística abordando su reminiscencia. Los textos que integran esta compilación refieren a memorias traumáticas que requieren ser narradas. Sobrevivientes e integrantes de la “segunda generación” emprenden ese laborioso trabajo con memorias difíciles. Tensiones y dinámicas de género atraviesan relatos laboriosamente enhebrados en torno a experiencias complejas. Los cuerpos, soportes de las prácticas performáticas, adquieren un significado particular en un país atravesado por la ausencia de los cuerpos desaparecidos. Un hecho gráfico disruptivo y emblemático en el pasado reciente argentino, El Siluetazo, y presentaciones del activismo artístico destacan los significados de las prácticas en el espacio público e iluminan la dimensión espacial/territorial en la permanente construcción de la memoria.