This course introduces students to the fields of semiotics and semiology – i.e., the study of signs – with particular reference to theories of the sign and what they have to tell us about ‘culture’ and ‘nature’, that is, how culture and nature are mediated via signs, linguistic or non-linguistic.

Students will be introduced to classical ruminations about the sign, some of the major schools in semiotics and semiology (including Saussurean structuralism and Peircean semiotics), as well as contemporary ideological currents revolving around and exploiting to some extent certain semiotic and semiological notions of a sign (which encompass poststructuralism and biosemiotics). Alternatives to the aforementioned, deep-rooted and popular (Western) doctrines of the sign, such as the integrationist and Southern perspectives, will also be explored. Key thinkers to be examined include Aristotle, John Locke, Ferdinand de Saussure, Charles S. Peirce, Roman Jakobson, Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida, Thomas Sebeok, Jakob von Uexkuell, Roy Harris, etc.

All in all, we will inquire into how signs function, how they mediate between us and others, between us and ‘reality’, and how abstract terms like ‘discourse’ and ‘ideology’ are theorized in semiotics and linguistics (as semiology). We will also consider the sign in its various conceptions and analyse them with respect to our personal (linguistic) experience.

 

1. To foster an awareness of the role of the sign in the mediation between culture and nature
2. To learn about the fundamental, theoretical differences between semiology which originated in a linguistic, humanistic project and semiotics which aims at proffering the most general theory of signs, human and non-human/post-human, as well as their complications
3. To critically reflect on the widely accepted notions of the sign and their place in (non-Western) personal experience

 

At the end of the course, you will be able to

1. produce a critical account of how the relationship between signs, cultural and natural phenomena is explained in a particular theory or across theories.
2. articulate an understanding of how semiotic/semiological theories relate to each other thematically and historically.
3. demonstrate an understanding of how different conceptions of the sign presuppose certain worldviews and ideologies.
4. conduct independent research related to cultural semiotics.

 

There will be a 2-hour session every Wednesday, and 13 sessions in total. In-class discussions will be incorporated in some sessions, and an in-class quiz will take place during one of the sessions (more details will be provided later).

 

This is a theoretically-laden course. It is not data-driven, and is not meant to be a typical sociolinguistic course, but it does uncover our assumptions about signification/meaning-making that underlie major linguistic fields. Main topics include classical sign models, Saussurean structuralism, poststructuralism, Peircean semiotics, biosemiotics, social semiotics, integrational semiology, southern theories, speech and writing, and multimodality.

 

Class readings will be made available on Moodle. Please read them before each session.

• Session 2:

- Harris, R. & Taylor, T. J. (1997). Aristotle on metaphor. In Landmarks in Linguistic Thought I: The Western Tradition from Socrates to Saussure, 2^nd ed. (pp.19-33). London & New York: Routledge.

- Harris, R. & Taylor, T. J. (1997). Locke on the imperfection of words. In Landmarks in Linguistic Thought I: The Western Tradition from Socrates to Saussure, 2^nd ed. (pp.125-136). London & New York: Routledge.

• Sessions 3 and 4:

- Chandler, D. (2007). Models of the sign. In Semiotics: The Basics, 2^nd ed. (pp.14-28). London & New York: Routledge.

- Harris, R. & Taylor, T. J. (1997). Saussure on language and thought. In Landmarks in Linguistic Thought I: The Western Tradition from Socrates to Saussure, 2^nd ed. (pp.209-224). London & New York: Routledge.

- de Saussure. F. (1983). Course in General Linguistics (R. Harris, Trans.) (pp. 1-17; 65-70). London: Duckworth.

• Session 5:

- Barthes, R. (1972). Mythologies (A. Lavers, Trans.) (pp.43-46; 109-130). New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

- Harris, R. (2001). Barthes’ Saussure. In Saussure and His Interpreters (pp. 133-151). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

• Session 6:

- Derrida, J. (1978) Structure, sign and play in the discourse of the human sciences. In Writing and Difference (A. Bass, Trans.) (pp. 351-370). London & New York: Routledge.

- Harris, R. (2001). Derrida’s Saussure. In Saussure and His Interpreters (pp. 171-188). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

• Session 7:

- Chandler, D. (2007). Models of the sign. In Semiotics: the Basics, 2^nd ed. (pp.29-53). London & New York: Routledge.

- Deledalle, G. (2000). Charles S. Peirce’s Philosophy of Signs: Essays in Comparative Semiotics (pp. 3-22; 37-53). Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.

• Session 8:

- Cobley, P. (2016). Semiotics and biosemiotics. In Cultural Implications of Biosemiotics (pp. 17-28). Berlin: Springer.

- Petrilli, S. (2015). Language, communication and speech: Human signs in global semiosis. Semiotica 204: 173-228.

• Sessions 9 and 10:

- Harris, R. (2009). The Integrational Conception of the Sign. In Integrationist Notes and Papers 2006-2008 (pp.61-81). Gamlingay: Bright pen.

- Joseph, J, Love, N. & Taylor, T. (2001). Linguistics without languages. In Landmarks in Linguistic Thought II (pp.203-218). London & New York: Routledge.

- Pennycook, A. & Makoni, S. (2019). Southern multilingualisms. In Innovations and Challenges in Applied Linguistics from the Global South (pp.42-62). London & New York: Routledge.

• Session 11:

- Harris, R. (2000). Rethinking Writing (pp.184-214). London & New York: Continuum.

- (Optional) Duncker, D. (2022). Scriptism with a vengeance. Or, how writing was forgotten. Language & Communication 86, 18-27.

• Session 12:

- Kress, G. (2009). Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication (pp.54-78). London & New York: Routledge.

 

In-class Quiz	30%
Final Research Paper	50%
Participation (In-class discussions)	20%