Conversations with Lotman: Cultural Semiotics in Language, Literature, and Cognition

221 Pages·2003·10.975 MB·

by  Edna Andrews

CONVERSATIONS WITH LOTMAN:
CULTURAL SEMIOTICS IN LANGUAGE,
LITERATURE, AND COGNITION
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EDNA ANDREWS
Conversations with Lotman:
Cultural Semiotics in
Language, Literature,
and Cognition
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
www.utppublishing.com
© University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2003
Toronto Buffalo London
Printed in Canada
ISBN 0-8020-3686-4 (cloth)
Printed on acid-free paper
Toronto Studies in Semiotics and Communication
Editors: Marcel Danesi, Umberto Eco, Paul Perron, Peter Schulz
National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Andrews, Edna, 1958-
Conversations with Lotman : cultural semiotics in language,
literature and cognition / Edna Andrews.
(Toronto studies in semiotics and communication)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8020-3686-4
I. Lotman, IU. M. (lUrii Mikhailovich), 1922-1993 2. Semiotics.
3. Communication. 4. Semiotics and literature. 5. Culture - Semiotic
models 6. Russian literature - History and criticism. I. Title.
II. Series.
GN357.A53 2003 302.2 C2002-903939-8
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to
its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the
Ontario Arts Council.
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities
and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for
its publishing activities of the Government of Canada through the
Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP).
To Tom Sebeok
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Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
PART ONE: LOTMAN'S CULTURAL SEMIOTIC THEORY
1 Lotman's Contributions to the Semiotics of Culture 3
Lotman's Cultural and Intellectual Environment 5
The Early Years 5
The Tartu-Moscow Collaboration 7
Lotman's Mature Years 9
Fundamental Principles of the Tartu-Moscow School 10
2 The Structure of Cultural Semiotic Systems 13
Language or Languages? Minimum Requirements for
Dynamic Cultural Space 17
Language versus Code 17
Communication Acts 17
The Creation of Cultural Texts 18
Lotman's Communication Model 18
Jakobson's Communication Model 18
Sebeok's Communication Model 20
Binary or Triadic Signs 21
3 Introduction to the Semiosphere 26
Entropy and Communication 26
Autocommunication 28
viii Contents
Semiotic Space 31
Continuity and Discontinuity 35
Collective Memory 40
4 Characteristics and Origins of the Semiosphere 42
Characteristics of the Semiosphere 42
Boundaries 46
Tension and Explosion 48
The Illusion of Continuity 53
Origins of the Semiosphere 55
Energy and Entropy in Semiotic Space 58
Uexkull's Semiotic Model 60
The Functioning Semiosphere 65
Proper Names 65
Metatexts 66
Memory 68
PART TWO: THE CONSTRUCTION OF SEMIOTIC SPACE
IN VERBAL TEXTS
5 Lotman, Bulgakov, and Zamyatin 73
Lotman on Bulgakov's Master and Margarita 74
The Oppositions of Home 74
The Artistic Text 77
Artistic Spaces and Textual Dynamics 80
Space and the Road 81
Types of Infinity 82
Florensky and Imaginary Space 84
Bulgakov's Journey in Time and Space 86
6 Bulgakov and Zamyatin 93
Intertextuality and Revolution 93
Zamyatin and Bulgakov 94
Textual Links between Master and 'Drakon' 97
Atemporal Reflections 107
Construction and Intention in the Artistic Text 108
7 Extending Lotmanian Theory 112
Zamyatin and Heresy 113
The Synthetic Texts in We 114
Contents ix
Numerical Texts 115
Mathematical Texts 118
The Taylor Series 123
Decoding of Multiple Texts 125
PART THREE: SEMIOTIC THEORY AS A COGNITIVE SCIENCE
8 Visual and Auditory Signs in Human Language: Perception
and Imagery 133
Visual Categories in Semantic Structures 135
The Functioning of the Visual Cortex 137
Language Development and the Absence of Vision 140
The Relationship between Visual and Auditory Signs 142
Brain, Language, and Culture: The Construction of Meaning 144
9 The Language of Memory in the Memory of Language 147
Encoding and Decoding: Learning and Retrieval 148
Semantic Memory and Priming 153
Source Memory 154
Collective Memory 155
Interpretants and Memory 157
Notes 161
References 179
Index 193