28371 - Semiotic Interpretation (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The student will become acquainted with an advanced competence on the theoretical and methodological features of interpretative semiotics and will get ability to verify the effectiveness of this approach in the analysis of texts and languages.

Course contents

This year's course is dedicated to the construction of a methodology of analysis based on interpretative semiotics. The course aims to provide the semantic and the semiotic tools necessary to analyze different contemporary languages, applying them to both aesthetic and popular culture texts, such as movies, television programs, songs, video clips, etc.

In the first part of the course, the characteristics of interpretative semiotics, as it is outlined in Umberto Eco's thought (the attempt to hold together Peirce and Hjelmslev's semiotics) will be illustrated. Later, some notions will be introduced that will serve to address the applicative part that will follow, which will be dedicated to the cinema of Lynch (Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway), Nolan (Inception) and Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), to the TV series (Westworld) to the parodies (Guzzanti , Elio e le storie tese, Neri Marcoré), to the pop-rock song (Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Doors, Cure, Sigur Ros) and to the opera (Rossini). It is evident, for the type of course, that it is particularly recommended to attend the classes, to see concretely "how to do" a semiotic analysis using interpretative semiotics.

Readings/Bibliography

C. Paolucci, Strutturalismo e interpretazione, Milano, Bompiani, only chapter 1 and 3.

F. Casetti, Dentro lo sguardo, Milano, Bompiani.

- C. Paolucci, Persona. Soggettività nel linguaggio e semiotica dell'enunciazione, Milano, Bompiani, pp. 1-217 e 285-362.

- C. Paolucci, "Una percezione macchinica: realtà virtuale e realtà aumentata tra simulacri e protesi dell’enunciazione", in: Meaning–Making in Extended Reality. Senso e Virtualità, Roma, Aracne, 2020, pp. 43 - 62.

Teaching methods

Classes by the teacher and seminars together with the students

Assessment methods

Oral questions about the texts and the books listed above

Teaching tools

Digital and audio-visual supports

Office hours

See the website of Claudio Paolucci