28378 - Methodologies of Analysis (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student will have acquired advanced methodological skills in the semiotic analysis of different types of texts: novels and hort stories, newspaper articles, advertising campaigns, photographs, websites, consumer objects.

Course contents

The aim of the course is to introduce students to the main approaches to textual semiotics and to provide them with the methodological tools required to analyse different forms of texts and discourse.

The course will present the fundamental categories for the analysis of literary texts, films and audiovisual products, works of art, media and advertising content, spaces, objects, and practices.

Particular attention will be devoted to the analytical method developed within Algirdas Julien Greimas’s generative semiotics and to Umberto Eco’s interpretive and enunciative model. The two approaches will be presented both in their specific features and in terms of their possible methodological complementarity.

The course will address the following topics:

• semiotics and textual analysis: the empirical and descriptive vocation of semiotics;
• the fundamental concepts of sign, text, narrativity, discourse, and enunciation;
• generative semiotics and interpretive semiotics;
• Greimasian narrative semiotics: actants, narrative programmes, the Canonical Narrative Schema, and the Generative Trajectory of Meaning;
• semantic structures and models for the organization of meaning;
• enunciation, débrayage, embrayage, and enunciative practices;
• Umberto Eco’s narrative and enunciative model: interpretive cooperation, the Model Reader, and textual strategies;
• elements of visual, audiovisual, and syncretic semiotics;
• elements of the semiotics of passions and the aesthetic and sensorial dimensions of meaning;
• elements of sociosemiotics;
• corpus definition, construction of a research hypothesis, and selection of analytical categories;
• application of theoretical tools to different case studies.

Readings/Bibliography

Required Textbook

Pozzato, Maria Pia (2001), Semiotica del testo. Metodi, autori, esempi, Rome: Carocci.

This volume is the main textbook for the preparation of the final examination.

Further Reading

The following works will be used during the course to explore specific theoretical concepts and issues in greater depth:

Bertrand, Denis (2002), Basi di semiotica letteraria, Roma, Meltemi.

Fabbri, Paolo (2001), La svolta semiotica, Roma-Bari, Laterza; nuova edizione accresciuta, a cura di Gianfranco Marrone, Milano, La nave di Teseo, 2024.

Greimas, Algirdas Julien (1976), Maupassant. La semiotica del testo in esercizi, Milano, Bompiani.

Greimas, Algirdas Julien; Courtés, Joseph (1979), Semiotica. Dizionario ragionato della teoria del linguaggio, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, selezione di lemmi.

Marrone, Gianfranco (2001), Corpi sociali. Processi comunicativi e semiotica del testo, Torino, Einaudi.

Marsciani, Francesco; Zinna, Alessandro (1991), Elementi di semiotica generativa, Bologna, Esculapio.

Additional readings may be suggested by the lecturer during classes and through the teaching materials made available on the Virtuale platform. These readings will supplement and expand on the topics covered in the textbook and during the course.

Teaching methods

Assessment will consist of an oral examination.

Before taking the examination, students must submit a proposal outlining the semiotic analysis of a text or corpus, either agreed upon with the lecturer or selected in accordance with the guidelines provided by the lecturer. The proposal should briefly present:

• the object and, where relevant, the corpus of analysis;
•  the research question or hypothesis from which the analysis begins;
•  the semiotic categories and analytical tools considered relevant;
•  the main directions along which the analysis could be developed.

Students are not required to submit a complete analysis, but rather to formulate a methodologically grounded project demonstrating their ability to construct and organize a coherent process of semiotic analysis.

During the oral examination, the proposed analytical framework will be discussed and further developed. Students will be expected to justify their choices, apply the selected categories, and answer any questions concerning the chosen object of analysis.

The oral examination will also include theoretical questions on the topics covered during the course and on the required textbook, aimed at assessing:

• the ability to use the discipline’s metalanguage correctly;
•  knowledge of the main concepts and models of textual semiotics;
•  the ability to establish connections between different theoretical categories;
•  the ability to apply semiotic tools to texts and objects other than the one presented.

The submission procedure, format, and deadlines for the analytical proposal will be communicated by the lecturer during the course and published on the Virtuale platform.

There will normally be two examination dates for each examination period, indicatively in January, March, June, July, September, and November, preferably during periods in which teaching activities are suspended.

Assessment methods

The assessment will take into account:

• knowledge of the theories and methodologies presented during the course;
•  command of semiotic metalanguage;
•  the accuracy and relevance of the categories used;
•  the ability to construct a coherent analytical framework;
•  the ability to justify methodological choices;
•  independent judgement and the ability to engage in critical reflection.

Grades of 30 and 30 with honours will be awarded to examinations demonstrating complete — and, in the case of honours, exceptional — command of the subject and of semiotic metalanguage, together with a strong capacity for critical reflection and a rigorous and original application of analytical tools.

Grades indicating excellent achievement, from 27 to 29, will be awarded to examinations demonstrating very good command of the subject and of semiotic metalanguage, together with a good capacity for critical reflection and the independent application of analytical tools.

Grades indicating good achievement, from 23 to 26, will be awarded to examinations demonstrating good knowledge of the subject and an overall correct ability to apply analytical categories and methods.

Grades indicating satisfactory achievement, from 18 to 22, will be awarded to examinations demonstrating essential knowledge of the subject and a basic ability to apply analytical theories and methodologies.

Significant gaps in preparation, inappropriate use of specialist terminology, or an inability to justify methodological choices or apply analytical tools will result in an insufficient grade.

Students with Disabilities and DSA

Students with disabilities or specific learning disabilities are entitled to special accommodations appropriate to their condition, following assessment by the University Service for Students with Disabilities and Specific Learning Disabilities.

Students are requested not to contact the lecturer directly, but to arrange an appointment with the relevant Service. The Service will determine the appropriate accommodations and communicate them to the lecturer.

Further information is available at:

https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

Teaching tools

Multimedial equipment of the class.

Slides and other teaching materials will be available on the dedicated section of "Virtuale" platform.

Office hours

See the website of Francesco Mazzucchelli