he course follows the online lecture series Semiosalong, the afterhours Tartu semiotic salon. The Aumtumn 2023 Semiosalong is a special series on the history of linguistics and semiotics. It will consist of 4 sessions with 10 speakers total. All talks will take place on Zoom, Thursdays at 18:00 CET. During weeks 1-5 we will review previous semiosalong sessions, write summaries and comment on classmates's posts in the forum. There is also a short list of high-level semiotics texts posted under week 1. The student may choose one of these texts and contact the instructor for further direction. Here is the series theme description. Unde venis et quo tendis? Semiosalong series, Autumn 2023 It is hard to deny that the history of European linguistics during the second half of the twentieth century was marked by the publication of the Cours de Linguistique Générale. The reception of this particular work gave rise to a variety of schools and trends in linguistics across Europe, attracting many thinkers even from outside the continent. One of the more distinctive traits of the book was the conception of language as a system of signs, and thus, its reception is intrinsically linked to the rise of another discipline, to wit, semiotics, or sémiologie. By the turn of the century, the theoretical proposal advanced by the book, and by its many interpreters, from Éric Buyssens to Roy Harris, has been often deemed as either surpassed, or as not suitable to bring forth a comprehensive understanding neither of language, in all its dynamicity, nor of sign systems, as they extend beyond the human sphere. Yet, in recent years, numerous scholars have turned their eyes to the Cours, to Saussure, and to some of his intellectual heirs, and have pointed out that the theoretical depth of the Cours, of Saussure's original writings, and of the ideas advanced by the different schools that are sometimes grouped under the label of "(linguistic) structuralism" - and which uphold Saussure as a central figure - can bring new insights into our understanding of language, especially when conceived as a semiotic phenomenon, and thus bring new insights into our understanding of sign systems in general. The aim of this Semiosalong series is to present to a broad audience, including students of linguistics, semiotics and adjacent fields, the relevance that "structural linguistics" and "structural semiotics" can have today, as well as the interrelations between linguistics and semiotics as disciplines that share, at least to some extent, their fields of study. We thus invite presenters to talk about specific chapters, or figures, of the history of linguistics, the connections between areas of linguistics and semiotics (e.g. the relevance of syntax for the development of a typology of sign systems), theoretical problems related to the conception, or lack thereof, of language as a sign system, the reception of particular books (e.g. the Cours, Trubetzkoy's Grundzüge, Hjelmslev's Prolegomena, etc.), the difference between schools of "structural linguistics", or any other topic they deem pertinent. Additionally, the lectures will be collected and published in a special issue of Linguistic Frontiers. The Autumn 2023 Semiosalong begins on October 26th. Follow the Semiosalong Facebook page for updates.
Practical introduction to research activities in actual projects
|