Reading the represented city and society: signs, theory, and the dynamic interpretativeness of Peircean semiotics

In the era of visual media, cities, and society are represented, experienced, and interpreted through images. The need for interdisciplinary visual approaches, therefore, is indisputable. By focusing on cinema, this paper aims to develop a conceptual, methodological framework through which theory helps a broad range of researchers in social sciences, humanities, and arts interpret the represented phenomenon. Based on Peirce’s model of signs, the framework provides the basis for a dynamic interpretation of the city and society. This paper shows that Peircean cinesemiotics takes advantage of theory in three ways: First, as the basis that provides scholars with clues necessary for identifying eligible “image-signs”; second, as the guiding framework that helps them reach a final interpretation; third, as ideas are being criticized from visual perspectives. As an example of its application, using Jane Jacobs’ “The Death and Life of Great American Cities,” the final part of the paper applies Peircean cinesemiotics to an image-sign from Death Wish (2018) and interprets it as the representation of safety/crime in a neighborhood.

Representações Quantitativas em Laboratórios Virtuais para o Ensino de Química

Resumo Os laboratórios virtuais utilizados no ensino de Química se constituem importantes recursos didáticos para o avanço dos processos de ensino e aprendizagem, ao passo que podem contribuir para ações de mediação na construção do conhecimento. A presente pesquisa teve como objetivo analisar as representações quantitativas que estão presentes nas interfaces de laboratórios virtuais à luz da Semiótica Peirceana. É uma pesquisa qualitativa exploratória, realizada no repositório portal PhET–Interative Simulation. No percurso da pesquisa foram encontrados 51 aplicativos, desses seis exibiam características de laboratório virtual e três foram semioticamente analisados. Os resultados indicam que três laboratórios apresentam disposições parcialmente satisfatórias nas representações quantitativas que abordam. Esses podem vir a contribuir para o fortalecimento do ensino da Química, por meio de ilustrações, simulações e a participação interativa do estudante. Quanto às possibilidades, esses oferecem diferentes ambientes, formatos e modelos para o estudo desta ciência. Também foram encontradas limitações como a insuficiência de signos iconográficos de ordem quantitativa considerados indispensáveis na conjuntura conceitual de determinados tópicos da Química. As indicações desta pesquisa são para se pensar a respeito dos signos que vão representar a natureza quantitativa da Química, transformando os desafios em possibilidades para os processos de ensino e aprendizagem desta ciência. Palavras-chave: Semiótica. Ensino de Química. Laboratórios Virtuais. Abstract Virtual laboratories used in chemistry teaching are important didactic resources for the advancement of teaching and learning processes, while they can contribute to mediation actions in the knowledge construction. This research aims to analyze the quantitative representations that are present in the virtual laboratories interfaces in light of Peircean semiotics. It is an exploratory qualitative research, conducted at the portal PhET – Interative Simulation. During the research, 51 applications were found, of these, 6 exhibited virtual laboratory characteristics and three were semiotically analyzed. The results indicate that three laboratories have partially satisfactory arrangements in the quantitative representations they address. They can contribute to the strengthening of chemistry teaching through illustrations, simulations and interactive student participation. As for the possibilities they offer different environments, formats and models for the study of this science. Limitations were also found as the insufficiency of quantitative iconographic signs considered indispensable in the conceptual conjuncture of certain topics of chemistry. The indications of this research are to think about the signs that will represent the Chemistry quantitative nature, turning the challenges into possibilities for the teaching and learning processes of this science. Keywords: Semiotics. Chemistry Teaching. Virtual Labs.

Metaphor, induction and innovation: Getting outside the box

Today more than ever innovation seems vital for us to anticipate the future and adapt to our rapidly changing world. But what is innovation and how is it accomplished? How can the mind generate innovative ideas? To gain a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the human capacity to innovate, the present study aims at answering two basic questions: first, ‘what makes innovation possible?’ and second, ‘why are innovative ideas unusual?’. These questions are addressed within the framework of Peircean semiotics, in particular in the light of Peirce’s conception of inference. Different types of inferences are studied to determine the mode of reasoning which is central to innovative thought. While creativity and innovation are often analysed through the prism of abduction, this study puts forward an alternative approach drawing a parallel between modes of inferences and types of hypoicons. It claims that what makes innovation possible is metaphoric reasoning underlying induction.

Symbols and material signs in the debate on human origins

This chapter delves into the issues of symbolization and material signification as they have been conceived in the literature on human origins, focusing on three interrelated questions found at the crux of the debate on behavioral and cognitive “modernity:” firstly, how did material objects signify in prehistoric times? Secondly, how were material signs created at that point in time? And thirdly, how did material signs and human minds evolve and change over time? These questions about the nature, emergence, and evolution of material signification have been addressed in very different ways by two broad schools of thought. The symbolocentric paradigm, which for long was the favored approach, treats material signs in linguistic terms, attributes their creation to predefined mental templates harbored by symbolically and linguistically capable brains, and sees their evolution as an adaptive response to selective pressures. Contrastingly, a more recent approach defines material signs primarily based on their material qualities and relations, ascribes their creation to the anchoring of cognitive projections onto these physical manifestations, and approaches their evolution as an ontogenetic process driven by the prolonged engagement between humans and things. Opting for the latter way of thinking, this chapter evaluates the theoretical assumptions of the traditional approach, and sketches the materially sensitive dictates of Peircean semiotics and the Material Engagement Theory. As we suggest, the emphasis of these chronologically distant, but philosophically proximate frameworks on the ontological primacy of process and situated engagement, allows them to shed new light on the origins of mind and material semiosis.

Peircean anti-psychologism and learning theory

Taking influence from Peirce’s phenomenological categories (Firstness, Secondness, Thirdness), a notion of what we call bottom-up modeling has become increasingly significant in research areas interested in learning, cognition, and development. Here, following a particular reading of Peircean semiotics (cf. Deacon, Terrence. 1997. The symbolic species: The co-evolution of language and the brain. London and New York: W. W. Norton; Sebeok, Thomas and Marcel Danesi. 2000. The forms of meaning: Modelling systems theory and semiotic analysis. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter), modeling, and thus also learning, has mostly been thought of as ascending from simple, basic sign types to complex ones (iconic – indexical – symbolic; Firstness – Secondness – Thirdness). This constitutes the basis of most currently accepted (neo-Peircean) semiotic modeling theories and entails the further acceptance of an unexamined a priori coherence between complexity of cognition and complexity of signification. Following recent readings of Peirce’s post-1900 semiotic, we will present, in abbreviated form, a discussion as to the limits of this theoretical approach for theories of learning that draws upon Peirce’s late semiotic philosophy, in particular his late work on iconicity and propositions. We also explore the corollary conceptions of semiotic resources and competences and affordances to develop an ecological perspective on learning that notably does not impose a linear developmental progression from simple to complex. In conclusion, we address some of the implications of this (post-Peircean) conceptualization for transdisciplinary research into learning.

The Performativity of the Archive from a Semiotic Perspective

The paper proposes a Peircean semiotics approach to the Archives Studies based on the notion of performativity. In this context, the study of discourses shifts from the representational verification to their effectiveness; the question is no longer about what they represent, but about what discourses are capable of producing in a time and a community. The objective of the paper is to challenge the cultural practice of archiving with these notions. To do this, a semiotic methodology is used to allow the investigation of the ways in which the archives make sense, as well as the aspects that are involved in that production of meaning. Three major interrelated fields of research will thus be defined: the archive as construction of a memory; the archive as the storage and constitution of objects and documents; the archive as the systematization of the archive material.

“Shift Linguals – Cut Word Lines”: Viral Topology and the Cut-Ups of William Burroughs

William Burroughs perceived the method of collage as a way towards a rebellion – an insurrection against the system of control inherent in language itself. In this article, a vision of language as a parasitic life-form presented by Burroughs in books such as The Ticket That Exploded and Nova Express is examined. The method of collage (or, as Burroughs calls it, the cut-up) is analyzed as an opportunity to tear down the oppressive structures of meaning self-reproducing themselves through our adherence to sociolinguistic rules. The very notion of struggling with parasites of meaning is connected with Roland Barthes’s conceptualization of myths as layers of meaning that envelop and parasitize signs in order to further their own agendas. I endeavor to reformulate Barthes’s dyadic model of myths into a triadic one (following Peircean semiotics), which I then relate to Jeffrey Elman’s text on language as a dynamic system, which allows for an in-depth perception of the way in which the parasite of language is described by Burroughs.

Foreign Language Lexicons Used in Indonesian Housing Names: A Peircean Semiotics Overview

Housing belongs to human basic need since to live properly they need a place to stay. Housing names in Indonesia employ not only Bahasa Indonesia but also foreign language because some foreign lexicons are used in Indonesian housing names. Semiotically, names are symbols that carry meaning in certain context. Indonesian housing names are interesting language phenomena since they reveal the use of language as a social praxis. Legally, the use of language in public space is governed by Indonesian Law No.24, Year 2009 on flag, language, national symbols, and national anthem. In fact, Indonesian housing names do not fully follow the law because foreign language lexicons are also used in Indonesian housing names. This research employed 2000 Indonesian housing names and collected during January 2017 until May 2017. Data indicated that there were lexicons from three foreign languages, namely, English, Spanish, and Arabic. This research belongs to descriptive qualitative research. In-depth interview was also utilized to gain deeper information why developers use certain lexicons. Developers believed that names are supposed to be beneficial and bring luck. Using Peircean semiotic, this qualitative research reveals that lexicons used in Indonesian housing names are used to show place name (Baturraden, Citayam, Batam, Surabaya), settlement (cassa, village, residence, estate, city, garden, hill, valley, river, lake), greatness (grand, grande, great, royal, big), positivity (blossom, lucky, oase, firdaus, sakinah, paradise), preciousness (emerald, platinum, diamond, golden, stone), environmental awareness (green color), purity (white color, jasmine), warmth (red rose), and love (red color, orchid, lily, tulip).

Time embodied as space in graphic narratives: A study in applied Peircean semiotics

The paper is a study of how graphic narratives (graphic novels and the comics) represent time in external visual space as well as in inner (mental) representations. Peirce’s semiotics is the main tool of research. After a survey of various approaches to the study of time in narratives in general and in graphic narratives in particular, an outline of the various aspects of the embodiment of time in space in general is given before the forms of the embodiment of time in the space of graphic narratives is examined in detail. Signs of time are signs that represent time as their object and create mental representations of time as their interpretant. On this semiotic premise, the paper proposes a reinterpretation of Genette’s theory of time in narratives. A comparison with narratives in prose reveals that narrative time in graphic narratives evinces marked discontinuities in their spatial representation. The paper distinguishes between time as continuity, time as age, and points in time. It concludes that time as continuity is typically embodied in the form of spatial diagrams whereas time as age and points in time are mainly of the nature of indexical signs. The insights into the forms of embodiment of time in space derived from these premises are applied to examples from recent graphic novels and some traditional comics.