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Semiotics as the science of memory

Bibliographic Data

ID12636746
AuthorsPaul Bouissac (0000-0003-3889-8453, University of Toronto, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume35
Issue1/2
Pages71-88
Publication date2007-12-31
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSign Systems Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1406-4243 • E-ISSN: 1736-7409
PublisherUniversity of Tartu (PUBLISHER • EE)
DOI10.12697/sss.2007.35.1-2.02
OpenAlexW2613202655
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited5

The notion of culture implies the relative stability of sets of algorithms that become entrenched in human brains as children become socialized, and, to a lesser extent, when immigrants become assimilated into a new society. The semiotics of culture has used the notion of signs and systems of signs to conceptualize this process, which takes for granted memory as a natural affordance of the brain without raising the question of how and why cultural signs impact behaviour in a durable manner. Indeed, under the influence of structuralism, the semiotics of culture has mostly achieved synchronic descriptions. Dynamic models have been proposed to account for the action of signs (e.g., semiosis, dialogism, dialectic) and their resulting cultural changes and cultural diversity. However, these models have remained remarkably abstract, and somewhat disconnected from the actual brain processes, which must be assumed to be involved in the emergence, maintenance, and transformations of cultures. Semiotic terminology has contributed to a systematic representation of cultural objects and processes but the philosophical origin of its basic concepts has made it difficult to construct a productive interface with the cognitive neurosciences as they have developed and achieved notable advances in the understanding of memory over the last few decades. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that further advances in semiotics will require a shift from philosophical and linguistic notions toward biological and evolutionary models

Action (physics · Cognitive science · Dialectic · Epistemology · Indexicality · Linguistics · Representation (politics · Semiosis · Semiotics · Semiotics of culture · Sociology · Structuralism (philosophy of science · Terminology · Cognitive Science and Education Research · Fractal and DNA sequence analysis · Language and cultural evolution · Philosophy · Psychology

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  • La sémiosphère de la mémoire individuelle

    Open Access•Emmanuelle Caccamo•Cygne noir•2022

  • Fifty volumes of Sign Systems Studies

    Open Access•Kalevi Kull, Ott Puumeister•Sign Systems Studies•2022

  • Learning and knowing as semiosis

    Open Access•Cary Campbell, Alexandra Olteanu et al.•Sign Systems Studies•2020

  • Greimas embodied

    Open Access•Jamin Pelkey•Semiotica•2017

  • Memes, genes, and signs

    Open Access•Ivan Fomin•Semiotica•2019

  • Explaining culture

    Dan Sperber•Explaining culture•1996

  • Cultural transmission and evolution

    Open Access•G Ainsworth Harrison•Endeavour•1982

  • Remembering

    R F Holland, Robert Holland et al.•The Philosophical Quarterly•1962

  • Remembering

    Open Access•F C Bartlett, Cyril Burt•British Journal of Educational…•1933

Unique citing works6
Citations per year0,67
Citation span2017 - 2026 (10)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 6

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