Systemic Semiotics: A Deductive Study of Communication and Meaning

This book provides a fresh and rigorous interpretation of how to approach the study of communication, signs, and meaning, grounded in a deductive theory of interacting systems. It argues that a deductive semiotic theory generates communication situations of increasing complexity, and key concepts such as information, parainformation, and metainformation can account for cognitive complexity. It explores various applications of this theory in communication studies, cultural theory, literary and film studies, and psychology.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 18 April 2024
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Against the backdrop of often esoteric literature in semiotics, this book offers a fresh and rigorous new interpretation of how to approach the study of communication, signs, and meaning. Grounded in a deductive theory of interacting systems, Piotr Sadowski's book provides an accessible account of the hierarchy of communication. Divided into two parts, this book argues in the first section that a deductive semiotic theory generates communication situations of increasing complexity, from contiguous communication to indirect, referential forms based on indexical, iconic, and symbolic signs. Within this system, Sadowski explains how key concepts of the semiotic model such as information, parainformation, and metainformation can account for degrees of cognitive complexity of communication processes, including the perception and interpretation of signs on literal and figurative levels.

After this clear, step-by-step exposition of the theory of interacting systems, Systemic Semiotics then explores various applications of this theory, providing new insights into problems subsumed under communication studies, cultural theory, literary and film studies, and psychology.

This book is a valuable resource for students, scholars, and practitioners interested in exploring the complex dynamics of communication, signs, and meaning. Its rigorous approach to semiotic theory and its application to a wide range of fields make it an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the intricacies of human communication and the broader cultural and social contexts in which it occurs.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350240704