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Numanities - Arts and Humanities in Progress 22 Kristian Bankov The Digital Mind Semiotic Explorations in Digital Culture Numanities - Arts and Humanities in Progress Volume 22 SeriesEditor DarioMartinelli,KaunasUniversityofTechnology,Kaunas,Lithuania AssociateEditors AlinOlteanu,Aachen,Nordrhein-Westfalen,Germany SimonaStano,UniversityofTurin&InternationalSemioticsInstitute,Torino,Italy EditorialBoard EleonoraAdorni,CentroStudiFilosofiaPostumanista,Bologna,Italy OanaAndreica,MusicAcademyofCluj,Cluj-Napoca,Romania PauloChagas,UniversityofCalifornia,Riverside,CA,USA TeoForchtDagi,Queen’sUniversity,NewtonCentre,USA KevinHolm-Hudson,SchoolofMusic,UniversityofKentucky,Lexington,KY, USA SeemaKhanwalkar,IndianInstituteofManagement,Vastrapur,CEPTUniversity, SchoolofDesign,Ahmedabad,Gujarat,India LinaNavickaite-Martinelli,DepartmentofMusicHistory,LithuanianAcademyof Music&Theatre,Vilnius,Lithuania JuhaOjala,DocMusDoctoralSchool,SibeliusAcademy,Oulu,Finland RimaPovilioniene˙,DepartmentofMusicTheory,LithuanianAcademyofMusic& Theatre,Vilnius,Lithuania JohnTredinnick-Rowe,UniversityofExeter,Plymouth,UK NatalyaSukhova,ModernLanguage&CommunicationTechnology,National UniversityofScience&TechnologyMISIS,Moscow,Russia JessicaUllrich,KunstakademieMünster,Münster,Nordrhein-Westfalen,Germany Theseriesoriginatesfromtheneedtocreateamoreproactiveplatformintheform ofmonographsandeditedvolumesinthematiccollections,tocontributetothenew emergingfieldswithinartandhumanisticresearch,andalsotodiscusstheongoing crisis of the humanities and its possible solutions, in a spirit that should be both criticalandself-critical. “Numanities” (New Humanities) aim at unifying the various approaches and potentialsofartsandhumanitiesinthecontext,dynamicsandproblemsofcurrent societies.Theseries,indexedinScopus,isintendedtotargetabroadacademicaudi- ence.Asidefromtakinginterestinworkgenerallydeemedas‘traditionalhumanities research’,Numanitiesarealsofocusedontextswhichmeetthedemandsofsocietal changes. Such texts include multi/inter/cross/transdisciplinary dialogues between humanitiesandsocial,ornaturalsciences.Moreover,theseriesisinterestedalsoin whatonemaycall“humanitiesindisguise”,thatis,worksthatmaycurrentlybelong tonon-humanisticareas,butremainepistemologicallyrootedinahumanisticvision oftheworld.Wealsowelcomearelessacademically-conventionalformsofresearch animatedbycreativeandinnovativehumanities-basedapproaches,aswellasapplied humanities.Lastly,thisbookseriesisinterestedinformsofinvestigationsinwhich thehumanitiesmonitorandcriticallyassestheirscientificstatusandsocialcondition. Thisserieswillpublishmonographs,editedvolumes,andcommentedtranslations. Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttps://link.springer.com/bookseries/14105 Kristian Bankov The Digital Mind Semiotic Explorations in Digital Culture KristianBankov NewBulgarianUniversity Sofia,Bulgaria SichuanUniversity Chengdu,China ISSN2510-442X ISSN2510-4438 (electronic) Numanities-ArtsandHumanitiesinProgress ISBN978-3-030-92554-3 ISBN978-3-030-92555-0 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92555-0 ©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s),underexclusivelicensetoSpringerNature SwitzerlandAG2022 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsaresolelyandexclusivelylicensedbythePublisher,whether thewholeorpartofthematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuse ofillustrations,recitation,broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,and transmissionorinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilar ordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthispublication doesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevant protectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthisbook arebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernortheauthorsor theeditorsgiveawarranty,expressedorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforany errorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregardtojurisdictional claimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations. ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland TomyfatherKrastinBankov(1939–2020) Acknowledgments ThisbooktookshapeduringthemostunusualtimeinwhichIhaveeverlivedin—that ofsocialisolationduetoCOVID-19.FatesentmetoChinaon3January2020,with theintentionofteachinganddoingresearchuntilFebruary16atthebeautifulSichuan University inChengdu. Inmid-January, people began totalkabout the mysterious virus,butofcoursethennoonecouldhaveguessedwhatwouldhappen.OnJanuary 22–23,anti-epidemiologicalmeasureswereissuedattheuniversitycampuses,and atmidnightonthe25thattheheightoftheChineseNewYear,ItravelledtoYangon, Myanmar,foraplannedparticipationinathree-dayinternationalconference.After that, events in China unfolded apace, although the official information was not so alarming. I was determined to return to Chengdu on January 31 and complete my academicmissionnormally;however,thankstotheinsistenceofmycolleaguesand friendsMinglaiDongandGary饶广,Ieventuallychangedmyplansandreturned directlytoSofia.TheyarethefirstpeopleIwouldliketothankhere,astheiradvice protectedmefrommonthsofisolationaftermostairlinesstartedsuspendingflights toandfromChinaduringthenexttwoweeks. IbecameoneofthefirstpeopletobequarantinedinBulgaria,andthiswasthe key moment when the idea of starting to write this book was born. It comes as a continuationofmycommitmenttoSichuanUniversity.Myesteemedcolleagueand friendProf.DarioMartinellialsocontributedgreatlytothis.Itwashewhocreated theseriesNumanitiesforSpringer,inwhichthisprojectisaperfectfit.Manythanks toDario!Theillusionthattheidealconditionsforwritingabookarosefromthefact thatIwasstillwatchingeventsinSofiafromthesidelines,therewerenorisksand massfear,onlyweakpreventivemeasures.Thispromptedmetosetveryoptimistic deadlines for the manuscript, which, after the pandemic broke out and our lives turnedupsidedown,provedimpossibletomeet.Thanksforthegreatpatienceofthe supervisingeditorfromSpringerSanjievkumarMathiyazhagan. Thisbookbringstogethermyresearchondigitalcultureoverthelast10years. Tenyearsago,thesemioticianswhowerestudyingdigitalculturecouldbecounted onthefingersofonehand.Today,almosteveryoneisdoingitandalotofbookson thistopichaveappeared,notalwayscompetentlywritten.Digitalcultureisevolving at such a rate that, as a subject of study at this stage, it does not presuppose the vii viii Acknowledgments constructionofasystematictheory.However,thishasnotpreventedsuchattempts from being made. I chose the form of explorations, because (1) I am an outsider to digital culture, although very informed, very experienced and very committed one;(2)Ibelievethatwearenowinthephaseofinsightswhich,afterquantitative accumulationthankstotheresearchofmanysemioticians,willprovideaqualitative synthesisforthenecessarychangesintheclassicalparadigms. Formyinterestindigitalculture,aswellasmanyothertopicsbefore,thebiggest inspirationcomesfrommymentorProf.UgoVolli,whomIthankfromthebottomof myheart.Hisarticleontheroleofthescreenintwentiethcenturyartopenedmyeyes tothedigitalturnincinematiclanguageandhencethecommunicationofexperiences. TheothersourceofinspirationcamefromNewBulgarianUniversityanditsmodern andopeneducationsystem,whichgavemetheopportunitytointeractmyresearch withstudentsandapplythesemioticapproach,thusverifyingtheoreticalhypotheses withtheirparticipation.Myoverwhelminggratitudeistowardsthisinstitutionand inabsentia toitsfounder, ideologist and mymentor Prof.Bogdan Bogdanov, who leftusfiveyearsago.IalsothankthestudentsfromthemanycoursesIteach,where muchofthecontentofthebookistaughtandinfluencedbytheinvaluablefeedback oftheInternet-borngeneration,therealinsidersofdigitalculture. I would also like to express my gratitude to Prof. Paul Cobley, in his capacity asaclosefriendandPresidentoftheInternationalAssociationforSemioticStudies (IASS,ofwhichIamSecretaryGeneral).Shapingpoliciestointegratesemioticsinto the digital world of the twenty-first century is a key and long-term priority of our leadership,whichhashelpedmegreatlyinassessingtheextenttowhichsemiotics canmakeatheoreticalcontributiontomeetingnewchallenges. ItwouldbeveryamissofmenottothankProf.JiaPeng,thankstowhoseefforts I embarked on my collaboration with Sichuan University which has shaped my research over the past four years. None of this would have been possible without theblessingoftheleaderoftheInstituteofSemiotics&MediaStudiesthere,Prof. HenryZhao. Two of the chapters in this book are published as articles by Springer Nature. Chapter9isanimportantstepinmyscientificdevelopmentandwaspresentedasa plenaryspeechatanexcellentconferenceinLille,France,andthenpublishedunder theeditorshipofProf.AnneWagnerandProf.SarahMarusek,Flags,Color,andthe Legal Narrative, to whom I express my sincere gratitude for our cooperation over the pastfive years.Upon closer reading of thisbook, they willsurely notice some “distantrelatives”ofotherpublishingcollaborationsofours(e.g.Chap.8).Chapter3 waspresentedasareportattheamazingconferenceinHilo,Hawaii,inApril2015. Chapter11isalsotheproductofsuchcollaborationwithAnneWagner,thepioneer ofthesemioticsoflaw. The second chapter published by Springer Nature, is the last in the book (Chap.13),whichisonlypartofthechapterpublishedbyProf.EvgeniaBlagoeva inhercollectionApproachingConsumerCulture:GlobalFlowsandLocalContexts whichappearedin2018.Attheeponymousconference,Iwasabletocommunicate withtheoutstandingtheoristMikeFeatherstone,anopportunityforwhichIshallbe eternallygrateful. Acknowledgments ix For introduction of this book, I chose a paper I wrote few months ago for my colleagueandfriendProf.AndréHelbo,whereIgivefullaccountofthestateofthe artofdigitalsemiotics,orasIusetocallit—semioticsofdigitalculture. PartIofthebookisdedicatedtothemostimportanttheoreticconsiderations.They aredividedintotwochapters.Chapter1synthesizesmymostimportantinsightsinto thecommercialnatureofdigitalculture.Thefirstversionoftheideaswaspresentedas aplenarylectureatthemostimportantsemioticforum—14thIASSWorldCongress inBuenosAires,forwhichIthankProf.ClaudioGuerriandallotherorganizers.An elaboratedversionwasthenpresentedinoneofthesacredtemplesofsemiotics—the UniversityofTartu,forwhichIthankProf.KaleviKull,Prof.PeeterToropandProf. TimoMaran.AdistantrelativeofthistextispublishedundertheeditorshipofDr. OttPuumeisterinVol.48ofthemythicjournalSignSystemsStudies. Chapter2waspresentedasanintroductorylecturetotheXXIIEarlyFallSchool ofSemiotics(EFSS),whichtookplaceinSeptember2017,andafterwardsbecame theresearchprogrammeoftheSoutheastEuropeanCentreforSemioticStudiesand thenewscientificjournalDigitalAgeinSemioticsandCommunication.Chapter6 served as an introduction for the second issue of DigitASC, where also a distant relative of Chap. 12 can be found among the papers. Chapter 7 was presented as a plenary speech of the remarkable VII Congress of the Federación Latinoameri- canadeSemiótica(FELS),heldinSeptember2017inBogota,Colombia,underthe impeccable organization of Prof. Neyla Pardo Abril, to whom I express my deep gratitude. Twootherchapterswereformedandunderwentdifferentstagesofpublicationin thecourseofmylong-termcollaborationwiththeextremelyactivesemioticianand my good friend Prof.MassimoLeone, to whom Iwillnever be able to express all mygratitude.Thesearethesecondchaptersofthetwopartsofthebook,whichina sensemarkedthebeginningofthisdecade-longresearchendeavour. Still, the greatest credit for this book goes to my beloved fiancée Rossy who married me and became my wife during the work on the book. Her support and stoicpatienceforhundredsofhoursduringsocialisolationbecauseofCOVID-19, inwhichIwasconstantlybusywiththemanuscriptinsteadofdedicatingmyselfto moreimportantthingsinlife,deserveallmyloveanddevotion<3. Unfortunately,thehistoryofthisworkwillneverbeseparatedfromatragicevent inmylife.Amidtheworkonit,mybelovedfatherpassedaway.Thisbookisdedicated tohim! Sofia,Bulgaria KristianBankov September2021 Introduction: Semiotics of Digital Culture Abstract Themainaimoftheintroductionistoprovideasystematicandanalytical pictureofthestateoftheartofdigitalsemioticsand tooutlinesomeideasforthe futuredevelopmentofthediscipline.Thefirstpartisanattempttoconstructamap oftheexistingsemioticcontributions,dividedbythedifferenttheoreticschools,and encompassing the major languages of the semioticcommunity’s publications. The secondpartisdevotedtocertaincriticalremarksonthemainsemioticparadigms,as appliedtodigitalculture.Themaincritiqueisthatmostoftheexistingcontributions donotquestionclassicalsemioticmodels,butratheradaptthenewculturalreality tothem.Thereisalsoastrongdivisionbetweentheschoolsandscholars,ignoring eachother’spublications. OmnipresenceofDigital Culture Talkingaboutthesemioticsofdigitalcultureisnolongerliketalkingaboutaprofiled fieldofapplicationsuchasthesemioticsofasubcultureorsemioticsofconsumption. Thesemioticsofdigitalcultureisgraduallybecomingthesummaryequivalentofthe semioticsofcultureandsociosemiotics.Theprocessisprobablyinitsinfancy,but isneverthelessmoreadvancedthantheofficialstatusquohasrealized.WhatImean by this is following asymmetry: if we apply a quantitative content analysis of the publicationswiththepapersfromthelastthreeIASSWorldCongresses(atotalof about5000pages),wewillfindthatover50%ofthearticlesdealmoreorlessindetail withdigitalculturetopics.Atthesametime,nomorethan5%ofthesearticlesinclude atraceofdigitalsemioticsintheirtitle.Thisproportionismaintainedingeneralin thepublicationsofsemioticliterature,althoughthescopeofthisstatementismore difficulttoencompassthanthepreviousone.Aswewillseelater,therearenomore thanadozenmonographsorcollectionsofarticlesdevotedentirelytothesemioticsof digitalissues,againstamainstreamofhundredsofpublishedbooksandmagazines. Thereisanotherhiddensideoftheproblem.Manyofusmaylivewiththeideathat weusedigitaltechnologiesinmoderationandincompletelyutilitarianway,without xi