The Quest for Meaning: A Guide to Semiotic Theory and Practice

 Marcel Danesi

The Quest for Meaning: A Guide to Semiotic Theory and Practice (Toronto Studies in Semiotics and Communication)

Illustrated Edition
ISBN-13: 978-0802095145, ISBN-10: 0802095143
The Quest for Meaning: A Guide to Semiotic Theory and Practice (Toronto Studies in Semiotics and Communication)

Description

Product Description

Semiotics is the study of the most critical feature of human consciousness - the capacity for creating and using signs such as words and symbols for thinking, communicating, reflecting, transmitting, and preserving knowledge. The Quest for Meaning is designed as a guide to basic semiotic theory and practice, discussing and illustrating the main trends, ideas, and figures of semiotics. Written as an introduction to the field, this study makes an otherwise complex discipline accessible to the interested reader.

Marcel Danesi examines the various themes, concepts, and techniques that constitute current semiotic theory, and does so in lucid, easy to follow language. Cross-references between topics show the interconnectedness of many aspects of semiotic practice with a view to easing the understanding of the subject as a whole. Logically organized, Danesi treats such things as food, clothing, mathematics, and popular culture to semiotic readings, providing basic examples of how the discipline can be applied in everyday life.

As a step-by-step introduction, The Quest for Meaning is the definitive guide for students and teachers exploring semiotics at the undergraduate level and beyond.

From the Back Cover

The Quest for Meaning is a sound, articulate, and significant contribution to the study of semiotic theory. Marcel Danesi begins with a run-down of key concepts in the field followed by a brief history and careful definition of the term -semiotics.- This format will serve students from virtually any background who wish to learn about the discipline.'-Frank Nuessel, Department of Classical and Modern Languages, University of Louisville

REVIEWS

"The second edition of The Quest for Meaning is remarkably accessible without sacrificing the necessary challenge posed by questions of knowledge-making and meaning. The book establishes a sound and ample historical foundation that deftly navigates around rabbit holes."

Peter Vandenberg, Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse, DePaul University

"The role of semiotics in digital humanities is a major contribution to the second edition. The Quest for Meaning aptly implements semiotic theory and practice to areas of artificial intelligence, modeling structure, and digital text."

Jelena Jovicic, Department of Languages and World Literatures, The University of British Columbia, Okanagan

About the Author

Marcel Danesi is a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto. 


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

1. What Is Semiotics?

1.1 Introduction
1.2 Historical Sketch
1.3 The Science of Meaning
1.4 Two Fundamental Models of the Sign
1.5 The Current Practice of Semiotics
1.6 Semiotics in the Global Village
1.7 Further Reading

2. Signs

2.1 Introduction
2.2 Defining the Sign
2.3 Symptoms and Signals
2.4 Icons
2.5 Indexes
2.6 Symbols
2.7 Names
2.8 Body, Mind, and Culture
2.9 Further Reading

3. Structure

3.1 Introduction
3.2 Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Structure
3.3 Associative Structure
3.4 Structural Economy
3.5 Post-Structuralism
3.6 Modeling 
3.7 Further Reading

4. Codes

4.1 Introduction
4.2 What Is a Code?
4.3 Opposition and Markedness
4.4 Types of Codes
4.5 Codes and Perception
4.6 Further Reading

5. Texts

5.1 Introduction
5.2 What Is a Text?
5.3 Narrative Texts
5.4 Visual Texts
5.5 Digital Texts
5.7 Texts, Mind, and Culture
5.8 Further Reading

6. Representation

6.1 Introduction
6.2 What Is Representation?
6.3 Representation and Myth
6.4 Online Knowledge Representation
6.5 Representation and Reality
6.5 Further Reading

7. Semiotics in the Internet Era

7.1 Introduction
7.2 The Simulacrum
7.3 Memes
7.4 Emojis 
7.5 The Global Brain
7.6 Posthumanism
7.7 Further Reading

8. Applications

8.1 Introduction
8.2 Clothing
8.3 Food
8.4 Visual Rhetoric
8.5 The Quest for Meaning
8.6 Further Reading

Glossary of Technical Terms
Index




SUBJECTS AND COURSES


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