Books in the Advances in Semiotics series

Discusses the possibilities of real theatrical performances: a project which is an unavoidable challenge for a semiotics of theatre. The author develops a systematic definition of performance in terms of text, a new theoretical object, which he sees as the result of treating theatrical performance as a material object.

The study of semiotics underwent a gradual but radical paradigm shift during the 20th century, from a glottocentric enterprise to one that encompasses the whole terrestrial biosphere. In this collection of 17 essays, Tom Sebeok, a thinker in the field, shows how this progression took place.

How semiotic theory can illuminate highly complex social and cultural practices.

Umberto Eco is, quite simply, a genius. He is a renowned medievalist, philosopher, novelist, a popular journalist, and linguist. This anthology intends to examine his ideas of literary semiotics and interpretation as evidenced both in his scholarly work and in his fiction.

Elucidates a syntax of visual language that sheds light on nonverbal language as a form of representation and communication. This book describes the evolution of this language in the visual arts as well as its multiple uses in contemporary media.

Explores each of the sign-systems of the theater and investigates the ways they relate to one another. This book is accessible to readers with some knowledge of theater but not much of semiotics. It is for those with an interest in theater production and performance, or indeed theater history.

A fresh contemplation of subjectivity and musical meaning.

Suitable for armchair detectives with a penchant for logical reflection and Peirce scholars.

... the greatest contribution to [semiotics] since the pioneering work of C. S. Peirce and Charles Morris."e; -Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism... draws on philosophy, linguistics, sociology, anthropology and aesthetics and refers to a wide range of scholarship... raises many fascinating questions."e; -Language in Society... a major contribution to the field of semiotic studies."e; -Robert Scholes, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism... the most significant text on the subject published in the English language that I know of."e; -Arthur Asa Berger, Journal of CommunicationEco's treatment demonstrates his mastery of the field of semiotics. It focuses on the twin problems of the doctrine of signs-communication and signification-and offers a highly original theory of sign production, including a carefully wrought typology of signs and modes of production.

Beeman's study in cross-cultural linguistics will clearly be a model for the study of different languages and cultures.

Covers the field of semiotics from Aesthetics to Zoosemiotics. This work contains sixty-five encyclopedic articles, a consolidated bibliography of almost 3,000 titles, an index of names, and an index of terms. It is intended for those who desire a comprehensive survey of this diverse field.

A translation with introduction of the first ethnographic and semiotic study of gesture in daily life.

A collection of essays, which debate the questions of logical versus psychologically-based interpretations of language.

Examines Peirce's philosophy and semiotic thought from a European perspective, comparing the American's unique views with a wide variety of work by thinkers from the ancients to moderns. This work deals with the philosophical paradigms which are at the root of Peirce's new theory of signs, pragmatic and social and more.

..". fifteen texts which are essential reading for anyone interestedin semiotics... This collection will surely become a standard text for those whoteach semiotics, aesthetics or philosophy of language." -- InternationalPhilosophical QuarterlyThis volume presents the classicstatements in semiotics and touches on a vast set of problems and themes --philosophical, aesthetic, literary, cultural, biological, andanthropological.

Analyzes musical works through the theoretical frameworks of narratology and French structural semiotics, especially that of A J Greimas. This book views theories from the 'classical' semiotic tradition, from Saussure to Peirce to Lotman, as possible foundations of musical semiotics.

In this collection of nine essays, Umberto Eco sets forth a dialectic between 'open' and 'closed' texts, between a work of art that actively involves the 'addressee' in its production and one that holds the 'addressee' at bay and seeks to evoke a limited and predetermined response. He investigates the contributions of contemporary semantics to the study of narrative, and connects the modalities of textual interpretation with the problem of possible worlds.

Focuses on what the author once called 'the cancer of uncontrolled interpretation' - that is, the belief that many interpreters have gone too far in their domination of texts, thereby destroying meaning and the basis for communication. This book begins with four theoretical essays dealing with various aspects of interpretive theory.