Power in society, economy, and mentality: Towards a semiotic theory of power
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Martin Siefkes
Abstract
It is a well-known fact that power is closely connected with signs, but usually this connection is thought to be “after the fact”: signs representing a power whose origin could be understood in non-semiotic terms. In this paper, a different view is introduced: power is an inherently semiotic phenomenon, which can be analyzed with concepts of cultural semiotics. To reach this aim, the three areas of culture defined in Roland Posner's theory of cultural semiotics are taken as basis for definitions of three types of power: power of position, power of disposition, and power of interpretation. These main types of power are delimitated from each other, further differentiated and carefully examined in their semiotic as well as sociological dimensions. The conclusion is reached that the full range of power phenomena can be analyzed with the help of cultural semiotics.
© 2010 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/New York
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Articles in the same Issue
- L'onomatologie et ses différentes facettes
- La double chaîne prédicative: Analyse du texte de la première partie du traité de la Constitution de l'Europe avec l'hypothèse du génotexte
- Des éléments structurels à identifier dans le texte: “Point de vue” et repérage topologique du schème associé
- Beyond the merely visual: Interacting with digital objects in interdisciplinary scientific practice
- “Tséyi' first, because Navajo language was here before contact”: On intercultural performances, metasemiotic stereotypes, and the dynamics of place
- Managing miànzi in Mandarin Chinese talk-in-interaction: A nonverbal perspective
- Power in society, economy, and mentality: Towards a semiotic theory of power
- Image and primary iconism: Peirce and Husserl
- Metaphoric image and iconic likeness
- Vers une écriture rhizomatique: Style et syntaxe dans La bataille de Pharsale de Claude Simon
- Qui a peur de Saussure?
- A stroll around the worlds of zoosemioticians and other animals
