Volume 14, Issue 3

Previous semiotic research classified human signs into linguistic signs and non-linguistic signs, with reference to human language and the writing system as the core members of the sign family. However, this classification cannot cover all the types of translation in the broad sense in terms of sign transformation activities. Therefore, it is necessary to reclassify the signs that make meaning into tangible signs and intangible signs based on the medium of the signs. Whereas tangible signs are attached to the outer medium of the physical world, intangible signs are attached to the inner medium of the human cerebral nervous system. The three types of transformation, which are namely from tangible signs into tangible signs, from tangible signs into intangible signs, and from intangible signs into tangible signs, lay a solid foundation for the categorization of sign activities in translation semiotics. Such a reclassification of signs can not only enrich semiotic theories of sign types, human communication, and sign-text interpretation, but also inspire new research on translation types, the translation process, translators’ thinking systems and psychology, and the mechanism of machine translation.

The hitherto unrecognized task of Empirical Semiotics is to identify particular testing procedures which measure qualitative differences in how representations are processed. Elicited imitation (EI) can indicate the nature of the interpretants which hold between sign and object by tapping how meanings are processed in working memory (WM). The way in which linguistic forms are handled in WM reveals striking distinctions between interpretants which express a proposition, as opposed to those which are simply diagrammatic in nature. EI is the soundest method (compared to natural speech, grammatical judgments) to measure qualitative semiotic advances because it measures meaning changes accorded to the sign in WM. Subjects were instructed to provide word associations after each stimulus (twenty-four sentences) to guard against verbatim recall. Repetitions of the advanced groups more often contained meaningful substitutions (words/inflections), whereas word deletions were more often documented in the beginner groups. Findings indicate the propensity of the more advanced L2s to process signs as meaningful propositions – lower proficiency learners illustrating verbatim repetitions in Secondness (associating more diagrammatic interpretants), while more symbolic meanings surfaced (Thirdness) in advanced groups. The EI procedure constitutes the best method of tapping L2s interpretants which mediate sign–object relations.

The paper addresses the origins of Peirce’s innovative theory of the hypoicons from the Lowell Lectures of 1903, metaphor in particular, and seeks to justify Peirce’s definition of these by referring to his later, six-correlate theory of semiosis and the hexadic, 28-class typology it generated. After discussing Peirce’s apparent preference for metaphor over example as the realization of the third and most complex hypoicon, the paper goes on to substantiate in two ways the definition of metaphor as the representation in the sign of a parallelism in the structure of the object represented. First, it shows how the typology of 1908 accommodates the classification of a sign in relation to both dynamic and immediate objects more complex than itself. Second, by drawing on Peirce’s late conception of the object, it shows how the dynamic object can be formed from entities belonging to two or more different universes. At the same time, Peirce’s conception of signs and typologies is shown to evolve from a strictly phenomenological approach to the classification of signs involving three categories as distinguishing criteria in 1903 to an ontological framework characterized by three universes with respect to which the sign and its correlates were referred in classification in 1908.

A growing body of research highlights how patients’ use of the Internet, including constructing, sharing personal stories, and accessing knowledge online, gives rise to a new form of lay expertise, which may further challenge the expertise of medical professionals. Accentuating patients’ perspectives, this paper investigates the variety of positions Chinese cancer patients articulate and adopt regarding knowledge and expertise within an online support group. My analyses demonstrate that, despite being highly proactive and reflexive, these patients actually reproduce and reinforce the dualistic positioning of doctor and patient within broader discourses of scientific knowledge and authoritarian hierarchies, which eventually disempower them. I then provide an explanation of this dualism by underlining the unique reality of China in terms of the co-existence of Western scientific medicine (WSM) and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and doctor-patient hierarchies. Finally, I outline the implications of this positioning for cancer care and discuss possible solutions drawing on recent humanistic models from the West.

Rarely do the worlds of classical music and video games collide explicitly; when they do, as in the 2007 JRPG Eternal Sonata , the result is of marked semiotic interest. The game’s complex metafictional plotline – involving multiple levels of narrative seeking to blend fantasy and reality – invites speculation and interpretation, particularly concerning its multivalent ending. This article uses recently developed analytical methods from the burgeoning field of musical semiotics to glean poignant interpretative meaning from the video game’s musical surface. By invoking music-theoretic work in intertextuality (Klein 2004), musical narrative (Almén 2008), and virtual agency (Hatten forthcoming), I argue that the video game’s musical score is a hermeneutic key for decoding artistic meaning in Eternal Sonata . Thus, ludomusicology contributes vitally to the semiosis of a video game’s meaning as a holistic, multimedia entity.

Esoteric symbolism of various kinds is dispersed in media for mass communication, and from the semiotic perspective, films, historically the primary medium for motion pictures, are the most powerful weapons for worldwide attraction. In this paper, two famous cartoon animated movies by Disney, Moana and Zootopia , are under analysis. For one thing, they use profound symbols in conveying a message to the audience, especially to children, and for another, their impact on society is wide due to the breadth and diversity of Disney-branded products. Thus, the present paper discusses these two movies using semiotic theories of signs, codes, and symbols, weaving them together to trace the system of communication between the text (here referring to the cinematic texts) and its audience, and especially how a heroine frame is built in the adventure genre. Interpreting the hidden meaning or occult symbolism requires a special kind of knowledge if we aim to convey the essence of the story to our children beyond merely knowing the plot of the film. The films Moana and Zootopia feature a number of interior or hidden elements such as metaphors and allegories, and illuminati or esoteric symbolism, even though they are animated ones.

Peking opera epitomizes the traditional Chinese performing arts, and all six factors concerning the story and performance of Peking opera, namely plot, role type, song, speech, acting, and combat, can produce humorous effects among the audience. The present paper is a tentative study on humor and sensing humor in Peking opera. The scale study testified that all six factors were able to produce humorous effects and that they had different degrees of comprehension difficulty and humor for different contributing factors. The degree of comprehension difficulty can assert negative influence upon the degree of humor. Different from the traditionally held nonmonotonic (inverted-U) correlation between the two, a monotonic inverse proportion between the two has been detected. The interview analyses revealed that the humorous effects had something to do with incongruity but that resolution might not necessarily be involved. The scale study and the interview analysis both support this finding.