Conversations with Lotman: Cultural Semiotics in Language, Literature, and Cognition PDF
Preview Conversations with Lotman: Cultural Semiotics in Language, Literature, and Cognition
CONVERSATIONS WITH LOTMAN: CULTURAL SEMIOTICS IN LANGUAGE, LITERATURE, AND COGNITION This page intentionally left blank 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 This page intentionally left blank 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
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