Creativity in existential semiotics and psychoanalysis
Abstract
In 2018, Prof. Tarasti elected Sources of Creativity as the theme for the Academy of Cultural Heritages Seminar that took place in Mikkeli, Finland. Using my background in Psychoanalysis I’ve scrutinized creative process under the light of Existential Semiotics. Firstly, the dialogue between endo- and exo-signs was observed in order to understand the interaction between an artist and his/ her medium. Secondly, psychopathological cases were observed in accordance with such dialogue between endo- and exo-worlds. Creativity was also related to sublimation and the discharge of aggressive instincts. Moreover, aspects such as variation, repetition, activity, and inhibition were observed in creative process. Examples from Opera, Painting, Sculpture, Cinema, Literature, Architecture, haute-cuisine, Latin American Cultural Heritages, and Religion were studied by means of concepts from Existential Semiotics and Psychoanalysis. In the end, I’ve observed the role of the exo-field as a space that allows creative process to take place at its best, as in the case of Sibelius’ country-side home known as Ainola, which, although helped him with personal issues, failed to offer him a space to succeed over interwar political ideologies and compositional theories, which may explain why he did not publish his 8th symphony.
Abstract
In 2018, Prof. Tarasti elected Sources of Creativity as the theme for the Academy of Cultural Heritages Seminar that took place in Mikkeli, Finland. Using my background in Psychoanalysis I’ve scrutinized creative process under the light of Existential Semiotics. Firstly, the dialogue between endo- and exo-signs was observed in order to understand the interaction between an artist and his/ her medium. Secondly, psychopathological cases were observed in accordance with such dialogue between endo- and exo-worlds. Creativity was also related to sublimation and the discharge of aggressive instincts. Moreover, aspects such as variation, repetition, activity, and inhibition were observed in creative process. Examples from Opera, Painting, Sculpture, Cinema, Literature, Architecture, haute-cuisine, Latin American Cultural Heritages, and Religion were studied by means of concepts from Existential Semiotics and Psychoanalysis. In the end, I’ve observed the role of the exo-field as a space that allows creative process to take place at its best, as in the case of Sibelius’ country-side home known as Ainola, which, although helped him with personal issues, failed to offer him a space to succeed over interwar political ideologies and compositional theories, which may explain why he did not publish his 8th symphony.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Preface to the anthology Transcending Signs V
- Contents IX
- Figure list XV
- Finnish Baroque of existential semiotics: Eero Tarasti’s musical synthesis of the voluptuous dance of signs 1
- Above and beneath of existential semiotics? 7
- Exact sciences and the semiotics of existence 15
- Voice as transcendence and otherness 35
- The Transcendental and the Transcendent 47
- The metaphysical system of existential semiotics 77
- Being, resistance and post-truth 99
- From semiotic pragmatism to existential semiotics 119
- Structural, yet existential 131
- Prolegomena on the semiotics of silence (from Jankélévitch to Tarasti) 157
- Myth, music and postmodernity 167
- XX century philosophical paradigms of Japan and the West: A view from Greimassian perspective 181
- Thought and consciousness in language as prerequisites for the existential-identity perception of the human self 199
- Umwelt, Lebenswelt, Dasein & monde vécu – (de)constructing the semiotic cosmology of human existentiality 225
- Aesthetics and human praxis. Notes on the existential semiotics of Eero Tarasti 249
- Eero Tarasti, existential semiotics, music, and mind. On the existential and cognitive notions of situation 259
- Cosmologies of life after Peirce, Heidegger and Darwin 273
- Existential semiotics, semiosis and emotions 289
- The Plane of Dasein. Existential Semiotics and the problem of the medium 313
- Existential universals. Biosemiosis and existential semiosis 327
- Memories of the body and pre-signity in music: Points of contact between Existential Semiotics and Globality of Languages 343
- The existential question between musical and linguistic signification 353
- Growth and entropy in semiosis: Signs coming full circle 373
- Creativity in existential semiotics and psychoanalysis 389
- Ethnomethodological, symbolic interactionist, semiotic and existential micro-foundations of research on institutions 405
- “Disturbing quiet people” – on the hyper-bureaucratization and corporatization of universities 429
- The modes of being inside (or outside) the value fragment: The application of Tarasti’s theory of subject, transcendence and modalities of self to the consumer research 459
- Existential semiotics and sociology of music 481
- Destruction of cultural heritages: The case of Jerusalem in the Light of Jeremiah’s prophecies 491
- From identity to transcendence: A semiotic approach to the survival of the Carolingian cycle in the Brazilian cultural heritage 501
- Saudade: A semiotic study of the cultural episteme of Brazilian existence 521
- Semiolinguistic look on mythology, cultural history and meanings of places in Azerbaijan 539
- Ludo Ergo Sum: Play, existentialism and the ludification of culture 567
- Uncertain signifiers: ‘An Affective Phantasy’ in Jacopo Pontormo’s Joseph in Egypt 579
- Existential being of an artist 599
- An essay on the Persian calligraphy in the light of the theory of existential semiotics by Eero Tarasti 607
- Transcending violence: Artistic interpretations of the myths of Kullervo from the Kalevala to Tero Saarinen 623
- Existential soundtracks: Analysing semiotic meanings in minimalist and post-minimal music 659
- Existential choices of existential signs. Love stories, structuralism, and existential semiotics 685
- Exploration on the construction of existential semiotic theory of film criticism 699
- The transcendent arithmetic of Jesus: An exercise in semiotic reading 711
- Descriptions of death in the Book of Job 725
- Memory in Eero Tarasti’s novel Europe/ Perhaps 741
- Varieties of masculine subjectivity in the Finnish modern literature according to Eero Tarasti’s Zemic-model 757
- H.P. Lovecraft’s subjectivity: an existential semiotic perspective 773
- Structure and meaning in music. A dialogue with Greimas 801
- Existential semiotics and musical hermeneutics: On musical sense advention 819
- Lohengrin by Wagner. Existential narrative-analysis of the Prelude to act I 847
- The emergence of individual subjects in Western music 863
- Existential semiotics and correla(c)tivity of (non-conventional) music (Personal retrospection) 883
- When a few Me-Tones meet: Beethoven à la russe 897
- In the quest of compositional matrices for music themes concerning landscape: Exploring senses as a means for creative processes. Villa-Lobos and his existential signs 919
- Musical arrangement and literary translation as signs: Preserving and renewing cultural heritages 941
- Gustav Mahler’s Wunderhorn orchestral songs: A topical analysis and a semiotic square 957
- Beyond the signs: Art and an artist’s life in Hector Berlioz’s Opus 14 983
- The singing body in a zemic approach: The case of Miguel Garrido 999
- Notes on contributors 1021
- Person index 1039
- Subject index 1049
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Preface to the anthology Transcending Signs V
- Contents IX
- Figure list XV
- Finnish Baroque of existential semiotics: Eero Tarasti’s musical synthesis of the voluptuous dance of signs 1
- Above and beneath of existential semiotics? 7
- Exact sciences and the semiotics of existence 15
- Voice as transcendence and otherness 35
- The Transcendental and the Transcendent 47
- The metaphysical system of existential semiotics 77
- Being, resistance and post-truth 99
- From semiotic pragmatism to existential semiotics 119
- Structural, yet existential 131
- Prolegomena on the semiotics of silence (from Jankélévitch to Tarasti) 157
- Myth, music and postmodernity 167
- XX century philosophical paradigms of Japan and the West: A view from Greimassian perspective 181
- Thought and consciousness in language as prerequisites for the existential-identity perception of the human self 199
- Umwelt, Lebenswelt, Dasein & monde vécu – (de)constructing the semiotic cosmology of human existentiality 225
- Aesthetics and human praxis. Notes on the existential semiotics of Eero Tarasti 249
- Eero Tarasti, existential semiotics, music, and mind. On the existential and cognitive notions of situation 259
- Cosmologies of life after Peirce, Heidegger and Darwin 273
- Existential semiotics, semiosis and emotions 289
- The Plane of Dasein. Existential Semiotics and the problem of the medium 313
- Existential universals. Biosemiosis and existential semiosis 327
- Memories of the body and pre-signity in music: Points of contact between Existential Semiotics and Globality of Languages 343
- The existential question between musical and linguistic signification 353
- Growth and entropy in semiosis: Signs coming full circle 373
- Creativity in existential semiotics and psychoanalysis 389
- Ethnomethodological, symbolic interactionist, semiotic and existential micro-foundations of research on institutions 405
- “Disturbing quiet people” – on the hyper-bureaucratization and corporatization of universities 429
- The modes of being inside (or outside) the value fragment: The application of Tarasti’s theory of subject, transcendence and modalities of self to the consumer research 459
- Existential semiotics and sociology of music 481
- Destruction of cultural heritages: The case of Jerusalem in the Light of Jeremiah’s prophecies 491
- From identity to transcendence: A semiotic approach to the survival of the Carolingian cycle in the Brazilian cultural heritage 501
- Saudade: A semiotic study of the cultural episteme of Brazilian existence 521
- Semiolinguistic look on mythology, cultural history and meanings of places in Azerbaijan 539
- Ludo Ergo Sum: Play, existentialism and the ludification of culture 567
- Uncertain signifiers: ‘An Affective Phantasy’ in Jacopo Pontormo’s Joseph in Egypt 579
- Existential being of an artist 599
- An essay on the Persian calligraphy in the light of the theory of existential semiotics by Eero Tarasti 607
- Transcending violence: Artistic interpretations of the myths of Kullervo from the Kalevala to Tero Saarinen 623
- Existential soundtracks: Analysing semiotic meanings in minimalist and post-minimal music 659
- Existential choices of existential signs. Love stories, structuralism, and existential semiotics 685
- Exploration on the construction of existential semiotic theory of film criticism 699
- The transcendent arithmetic of Jesus: An exercise in semiotic reading 711
- Descriptions of death in the Book of Job 725
- Memory in Eero Tarasti’s novel Europe/ Perhaps 741
- Varieties of masculine subjectivity in the Finnish modern literature according to Eero Tarasti’s Zemic-model 757
- H.P. Lovecraft’s subjectivity: an existential semiotic perspective 773
- Structure and meaning in music. A dialogue with Greimas 801
- Existential semiotics and musical hermeneutics: On musical sense advention 819
- Lohengrin by Wagner. Existential narrative-analysis of the Prelude to act I 847
- The emergence of individual subjects in Western music 863
- Existential semiotics and correla(c)tivity of (non-conventional) music (Personal retrospection) 883
- When a few Me-Tones meet: Beethoven à la russe 897
- In the quest of compositional matrices for music themes concerning landscape: Exploring senses as a means for creative processes. Villa-Lobos and his existential signs 919
- Musical arrangement and literary translation as signs: Preserving and renewing cultural heritages 941
- Gustav Mahler’s Wunderhorn orchestral songs: A topical analysis and a semiotic square 957
- Beyond the signs: Art and an artist’s life in Hector Berlioz’s Opus 14 983
- The singing body in a zemic approach: The case of Miguel Garrido 999
- Notes on contributors 1021
- Person index 1039
- Subject index 1049
