B4971 - Semiotics and Ecology of Meaning (1)

Learning outcomes

The course explores the emergence of meaning as it is structured through different linguistic games and their ways of reducing or exploiting indeterminacy in communicative processes. In this perspective, attention will be focused on an ecology of meaning, with a particular emphasis on the symbolic mediations that enable the elaboration of forms of subjectivity and the promotion of institutions of meaning, such as science, justice, or art. The course aims to provide concrete skills and tools for the comparative analysis of systems and processes through which individual and collective practices promote and negotiate values and representations, drawing on both philosophical reflections on semiotic mediations and semiotic production oriented, on one hand, toward an epistemology of meaning and relation, and, on the other hand, toward a pragmatics of interactions.

Course contents

The course explores the contribution of semiotics to the understanding of meaning-making processes, with a focus on the ecological organization of languages, the interpretive functions they embody, and the institutions that regulate their emergence and transmission.

Particular attention will be devoted to metalinguistic devices and symbolic forms that structure the relationship between subjects and environments, contributing to the formation of shared knowledge and socially oriented practices.

Following a general introduction to the foundations of a semiotic ecology of meaning, the course will offer a series of focused studies on key notions such as metalinguage, interpretation, and translation.

The competencies students are expected to acquire include:

(i) in-depth knowledge of contemporary semiotic epistemology and its metalinguistic framework;

(ii) the ability to identify and critically relate different circuits of signification;

(iii) comparative analytical skills for interpreting both individual and collective practices.

Readings/Bibliography

For the preparation of the examination, students must study either one volume from the list of core texts and three essays from the recommended readings, or two volumes from the list of core texts.

Core texts

Umberto Eco, Dire quasi la stessa cosa, Milan, Bompiani, 2003.

Algirdas Julien Greimas & Jacques Fontanille, Semiotica delle passioni, Milan, Bompiani (the epistemological section, together with one of the two monographic sections devoted to a specific passion: avarice or jealousy).

Pierluigi Basso Fossali, Greimas tra profondità e superficie. Figure di una tensione teorica inquieta, Pisa, ETS, 2026.

François Rastier, Arti e scienze del testo, Rome, Meltemi, 2003 (Chapters 1, 2, and 4).

Recommended readings

Paul Ricoeur, Algirdas Julien Greimas, Tra semiotica ed ermeneutica, Roma, Meltemi, 2000 (counts as two essays).

Bruno Latour e Paolo Fabbri, “La retorica della scienza”, in P. Fabbri e G. Marrone (a cura di), Semiotica in nuce, Vol. 1, Meltemi, Roma, 2000, pp. 260-79.

Bruno Latour, Piccola filosofia dell’enunciazione, Roma, Aracne, 2017.

Ernst Cassirer, Lo strutturalismo nella linguistica moderna, Roma, Sossella Editore, 2018 (counts as two essays when read together with Rastier’s introductory essay).

Jacques Fontanille, Rifare il sociale. Ripensare la sociosemiotica, Roma, Sossella Editore, 2023.

Pierluigi Basso Fossali, "La semiotica tra scienza e filosofia. Una duplicità epistemologica strategica", Estudos Semióticos, 19(3):99-121, 2023, DOI:10.11606/issn.1980-4016.esse.2023.214894

Claudio Paolucci, “Sistema e struttura. Per una semiotica enciclopedica della complessità”. E/C, November 2016, 1-13, available online: http://www.ec-aiss.it/index_d.php?recordID=7672.

Alessandro Zinna, “Il primato dell’immanenza nella semiotica strutturale”, E/C, available online: http://www.ec-aiss.it/pdf_contributi/zinna_16_7_08.pdf3.

Umberto Eco, “Segno e inferenza”, Torino, Einaudi, Piccola biblioteca online, available online: link [https://www.storiamedievale.net/pre-testi/Eco.pdf]4.

Paolo Fabbri, “Come Deleuze ci fa segno. Da Hjelmslev a Peirce”, in Il secolo Deleuziano, a cura di S. Vaccaro, Mimesi Ed., Milano, 1998, available online: link [https://www.paolofabbri.it/saggi/deleuze/]

Pierluigi Basso Fossali, “From paradigm to environment: The foreign rhythm and punctual catalysis of culture”, Sign System Studies, 2016, 44 (3), pp.415 – 431, available online: link [https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/sss/article/view/SSS.2016.44.3.06/10890]

Teaching methods

The teaching will include lectures, analysis workshops, and commented readings in class.

Students with Disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

 Students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders are entitled to appropriate accommodations, in accordance with their condition and upon evaluation by the University Service for Students with Disabilities and SLD. Students should not contact the professor directly, but book an appointment with the Service, which will determine the most suitable adjustments. More information is available at: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

Assessment methods

The examination consists of an oral interview with the instructor, based on the texts selected in accordance with the instructions provided in the examination syllabus.

Students may also be asked to prepare a written paper (between 12,500 and 25,000 characters, including spaces), which will then be discussed during the oral examination. The written paper must be submitted by email at least one week before the oral examination. It should be noted, however, that the written paper is an optional complement to the preparation for the examination and that the oral interview will in any case cover, at least in part, the course materials and any recommended readings.

The criteria used in the assessment of the oral examination concern both the level of disciplinary knowledge (40%) and the ability to place that knowledge in a critical perspective (40%), as well as the quality of the presentation, with particular attention to terminological precision and argumentative effectiveness (20%). If a written paper is submitted in accordance with the instructions specified above, the assessment of the written work will account for half of the overall grade, applying the same criteria outlined above for the oral examination. It should also be noted that the use of AI is permitted only for locating and translating sources, and not during the drafting stage, in which an original critical argument must emerge. This latter dimension must also be demonstrated during the oral examination.

During the 2026/2027 academic year, at least six examination sessions will be offered, open to all students, in the following months:

January, March, May, June, September, and December.

Teaching tools

Various multimedia materials will be used during the course. All resources will be made available on the Virtuale platform. Students intending to take the exam must register on the platform in order to access these materials, which are considered an integral part of the course syllabus.

Office hours

See the website of Pierluigi Basso