B8833 - Semiotics of the Antropocene (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the class, the students will be able to navigate the main epistemological and societal challenges brought forth by the debate on the concept of the Anthropocene. More specifically, they will be able to effectively mobilize semiotic tools in order to analyze ecological crises as conflicts of meaning and overlapping sense-making processes. That will enhance their capability to intervene in public debate and policies, integrating ecology with a deep understanding of the cultural heritage that shapes collective visions and conduct towards the environment.

Course contents

The program will be carried out in four parts: (1) environmental humanities, (2) semiotics and ecological "crises", (3) case studies, and (4) discussion.

1. During the first week, a bibliographical overview will be provided on the concept of the Anthropocene, from geology to the environmental humanities. The central theme of this section is how discourses on the Anthropocene—as well as the ecological tensions and practices it designates—challenge the categories through which we relate to the environment (such as Nature/Culture, Subject/Object, Local/Global). This will allow us to: (a) show that ecological “crises” can and should also be understood as “crises of meaning” concerning the world-environment we inhabit; (b) argue that these semiotic crises are manifested in exemplary ways within “ecological controversies,” which are proposed here as a privileged object of a semiotics of the Anthropocene; (c) accordingly define the place and specific perspective of semiotics in relation to the themes addressed by the environmental humanities.

2. In the second part (second and third weeks), the course will introduce adequate semiotic tools for understanding ecological crises as meaning-related problems. That will include the concepts of “semiotic niche”, “sense-making” and “structural coupling” in cognitive semiotics; the concepts of “language” and “enunciative practice” in structural and tensive semiotics; and the concepts of “rhetoricity” and of “semiosphere” in semiotics of culture.

3. Practical examples will be given all through the course, but it’s in the third part, from fourth to fifth week, that will be presented more analysis of case-studies. The class will illustrate how to put into practice semiotic knowledge in order to disentangle and redefine the challenges brought forth by concrete ecological conflicts. It will draw on analyses inspired by the Actor-Network Theory framework, as well as on relevant case studies carried out within the semiotic field, also building on the results of the research project VAMP – Voices from the Anthropocene: Maps and Framework for Ecological Conflicts. Special attention will be given to controversial infrastructures (already built or in progress), such as the New Lyon-Turin Railroad or the Belo Monte Dam. However, a part of this session will be also dedicated to media narratives about extreme events.

4. Finally, during the last week, the students will be invited to discuss theoretical frameworks and case studies through brief presentations, helping them to choose a subject for their final dissertation.

Readings/Bibliography

For both attending and non-attending students, the course will be based on the following mandatory readings for all.

For the first part, dedicated to the discourses on the Anthropocene and the environmental humanities:

• Callon, Michel, “Some elements of a sociology of translation: domestication of the scallops and the fishermen of St Brieuc Bay”, The Sociological Review, Vol. 3, n. 1, 1984, pp. 196-233, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.1984.tb00113.x.

• Latour, Bruno, Politics of Nature. How to bring Sciences into Democracy, Harvard, Polity Press, 2004, chapters 1, 2, 3.

• Crutzen, Paul, Geology of Mankind, Nature, Vol. 415, n. 23, 2002, https://doi.org/10.1038/415023a .

• Latour, Bruno, Facing Gaia. Eight Lectures on the New Climatic Regime, Harvard, Polity Press 2017, chapter 4 (“The Anthropocene and The Destruction of the Image of the Globe”).

For the second part, dedicated to tools for a Semiotics of the Anthropocene:

• Hjelmslev, Louis, “The Basic Structure of Language” in: Ege, Niels; Fischer-Jorgensen, Eli; Togeby, Knud; Whitfield, Francis J. Essais linguistiques II par Louis Hjelmslev, Copenhague : Nordisk Sprog- og Kulturforlag, 1973, pp. 119–153.

• von Uexküll, Jakob, A Foray into the Worlds of Animals and Humans: With A Theory of Meaning, translated by Joseph D. O'Neil, Minneapolis/London: University of Minnesota Press, 2010, pp. 41-85

• Fontanille, Jacques, The Semiotics of Discourse, New York, Peter Lang, 2006, chapter 3 (“Discourse”) and 6 (“Enunciation”).

• Paolucci Claudio, Cognitive Semiotics, Cham, Springer, 2022, Chapter 1 and 2.

• Tamm, Marek, Torop, Peter, “The Companion to Juri Lotman. A semiotic Theory of Culture”, Bloomsbury, 2021, “Introduction” and Chapter 22.

• Pierluigi Basso-Fossali, “Écologie sémiotique. De quelles épistémologies avons-nous besoin?”, Cahiers de sémiotique des cultures, vol. 1, n. 3, 2025, pp. 159-172.

For the third part, dedicated to infrastructures and ecological controversies analysis:

• Tassinari, Carlo Andrea, The Anthropocene-effect, Controversies, collective identities, and some notes on the Turin-Lyon High-Speed Train, «E/C», 2024, 17, 2024, pp. 34 – 49.

• Tassinari Carlo Andrea, Au bout du tunnel. Vers un protocole d’analyse sémiotique des controverses écologiques : le cas du projet Lyon-Turin en France, Actes sémiotiques, n. 132, 2025, 196-215.

• Tassinari, “Burning Passions. An ecology of meaning for Anthropocene applied to 2024 Brazilian’s wildfire coverage”, in press.

In addition, attending students shall choose one among the following reading suggestions:

• Haraway, Donna, “Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Plantationocene, Chthulucene: Making Kin”, Environmental Humanities, 1 May 2015; 6 (1): 159–165. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/22011919-3615934

• Moore, Jason, “Capitalocene or Anthropocene? Nature, History, and the Crisis of Capitalism”, in J. Moore (ed.), Anthropocene or Capitalocene? Nature, History, and the Crisis of Capitalism, PM Press, 2016, pp. 1-11.

• Tsing, L. Anna; Mathews S. Andrews; Budandt, Nils, Patchy Anthropocene: Landscape Structure, Multispecies History, and the Retooling of Anthropology, Current Anthropology Volume 60, Supplement 20, August 2019, pp. 186-197, DOI: 10.1086/703391.

• Stengers, Isabelle, “The Cosmopolitical Proposal.” In Making Things Public: Atmospheres of Democracy, ed. Bruno Latour and Peter Weibel, 994–1003. Karlsruhe: ZKM Center for Art and Media, 2005

• Marrone, G., “Introduction: Towards Zoosemiotics 2.0”, in Marrone, G., Mangano, D. (eds) Semiotics of Animals in Culture. Biosemiotics, vol 17. Springer, Cham, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72992-3_1

For non-attending students, all previous readings are required.

Teaching methods

The course will mainly be delivered through in-present frontal lessons, discussion of case studies, and brief presentations during the final weeks.

Assessment methods

To all students:

• Students can choose to be evaluated based on an oral exam on the topic of the course, or a final dissertation on a specific topic followed by a brief discussion of the work. The chosen topic of the dissertation will be discussed with the teacher during the last lessons.

• Attending lessons is not mandatory, but highly recommended. While it will be possible to obtain an excellent grade without necessarly attending the course, active and continous participation will be appreciated for the final evaluation.

• The final dissertation and the interview will be evaluated based on the mastery of knowledge and skills acquired during the course, and on effort, originality and clarity of exposition.

• Both oral exams and brief discussion over the final dissertation will be scheduled during the exam appeals, that will take place in the following months during a.y. 2025/2026:
  1. April: for all students
  2. May: for all students
  3. June: for all students
  4. July: for all students
  5. September: for all students

To students submitting a final dissertation:

• Writing skills are taken into account in the evaluation. That is why use of text generative AI is allowed for editing only. Allowed prompting of AI for editing purposes include: better structuring a paragraph for clarity, fluidity, incisiveness; suggestions for word count reduction; suggestions on how to improve the argumentation. These uses shall always be duly highlited through appropriate footnotes added to the paragraph concerned. There, students shall describe how and why the software have been prompted to obtain the given result. Any other use of AI during the exam will be considered a fraud and result in failure.

• The final paper shall be sent to carlo.tassinari3@unibo.it in a word document of 10 pages max, in times new roman 12, spacing 1,5, standard margins, at least two weeks before the chosen appeal. The object of the e-mail shall read: “Dissertation for Semiotics of the Anthropocene – Appeal of [month of the appeal]”

Persons with disabilities and DSAs

Persons with disabilities or specific learning disorders are entitled to special adaptations in relation to their condition, subject to assessment by the University Service for Students with Disabilities and DSA. Please do not contact the teacher(s), but contact the Service for an appointment. It will be up to the Service to determine what adjustments are appropriate. More information on the page:

https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it/per-studenti .

Teaching tools

Frontal lessons will be supported by powerpoint that will be published in the “Useful contents” section of the professor’s website: Carlo Andrea Tassinari — University of Bologna — Useful contents [https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/carlo.tassinari3/useful-contents]

Office hours

See the website of Carlo Andrea Tassinari