Semiotic paradoxes: Antinomies and ironies in a transmodern world
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Farouk Y. Seif
Abstract
Semiotic paradoxes are essential characteristics of a transmodern World. The diaphanous feature of transmodernity reveals contradictions among a wide range of polarities. The fundamental nature of life itself is paradoxical, and human existence feeds on these contradictory relations. Antinomies and ironies are inherent in the human condition and innate forces in cultural semiotics. Ironically, when societies face crises, there is a tendency to confuse paradoxical phenomena with problematical situations. This tendency seems to be generated by intolerance for those ambiguities and uncertainties that are unavoidable features of semiotic paradoxes. Although we are challenged by the tension among various conflicting forces, the manner in which we deal with the resulting paradoxes offers us the opportunity for fresh interpretations of a reality that we co-create and co-transform.
Abstract
Semiotic paradoxes are essential characteristics of a transmodern World. The diaphanous feature of transmodernity reveals contradictions among a wide range of polarities. The fundamental nature of life itself is paradoxical, and human existence feeds on these contradictory relations. Antinomies and ironies are inherent in the human condition and innate forces in cultural semiotics. Ironically, when societies face crises, there is a tendency to confuse paradoxical phenomena with problematical situations. This tendency seems to be generated by intolerance for those ambiguities and uncertainties that are unavoidable features of semiotic paradoxes. Although we are challenged by the tension among various conflicting forces, the manner in which we deal with the resulting paradoxes offers us the opportunity for fresh interpretations of a reality that we co-create and co-transform.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Table of contents v
- Preface ix
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Section 1: Semiotics in the world and academia
- What the humanities are for – a semiotic perspective 3
- Semioethics as a vocation of semiotics. In the wake of Welby, Morris, Sebeok, Rossi- Landi 25
- “General semiotics” as the all-round interdisciplinary organizer – general semiotics (GS) vs. philosophical fundamentalism 45
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Section 2: Semiotics, experimental science and maths
- Semiotics as a metalanguage for the sciences 61
- Mastering phenomenological semiotics with Husserl and Peirce 83
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Section 3: Society, text and social semiotics
- Farewell to representation: text and society 105
- Social semiotics: Towards a sociologically grounded semiotics 121
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Section 4: Semiotics and media
- What relationship to time do the media promise us? 149
- Semiotics and interstitial mediatizations 169
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Section 5: Semiotics for moral questions
- Spaces of memory and trauma: a cultural semiotic perspective 185
- Media coverage of the voices of Colombia’s victims of dispossession 205
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Section 6: Questioning the logic of semiotics
- Sense beyond communication 225
- Semiotic paradoxes: Antinomies and ironies in a transmodern world 239
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Section 7: Manifestoes for semiotics
- Semiosis and human understanding 257
- Culture and transcendence – the concept of transcendence through the ages 293
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Section 8: Masters on past masters
- From Peirce’s pragmatic maxim to Wittgenstein’s language-games 327
- Semiotics as a critical discourse: Roland Barthes’ Mythologies 353
- Ricoeur, a disciple of Greimas? A case of paradoxical maïeutic 363
- Index 377
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Table of contents v
- Preface ix
-
Section 1: Semiotics in the world and academia
- What the humanities are for – a semiotic perspective 3
- Semioethics as a vocation of semiotics. In the wake of Welby, Morris, Sebeok, Rossi- Landi 25
- “General semiotics” as the all-round interdisciplinary organizer – general semiotics (GS) vs. philosophical fundamentalism 45
-
Section 2: Semiotics, experimental science and maths
- Semiotics as a metalanguage for the sciences 61
- Mastering phenomenological semiotics with Husserl and Peirce 83
-
Section 3: Society, text and social semiotics
- Farewell to representation: text and society 105
- Social semiotics: Towards a sociologically grounded semiotics 121
-
Section 4: Semiotics and media
- What relationship to time do the media promise us? 149
- Semiotics and interstitial mediatizations 169
-
Section 5: Semiotics for moral questions
- Spaces of memory and trauma: a cultural semiotic perspective 185
- Media coverage of the voices of Colombia’s victims of dispossession 205
-
Section 6: Questioning the logic of semiotics
- Sense beyond communication 225
- Semiotic paradoxes: Antinomies and ironies in a transmodern world 239
-
Section 7: Manifestoes for semiotics
- Semiosis and human understanding 257
- Culture and transcendence – the concept of transcendence through the ages 293
-
Section 8: Masters on past masters
- From Peirce’s pragmatic maxim to Wittgenstein’s language-games 327
- Semiotics as a critical discourse: Roland Barthes’ Mythologies 353
- Ricoeur, a disciple of Greimas? A case of paradoxical maïeutic 363
- Index 377
