B8864 - SEMIOTICA DELLE SCIENZE SOCIALI (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the module, students will have acquired methods of analysis appropriate to the investigation of various fields of social communication, from politics to the news.

Course contents

The first part of the course (first two weeks) will take up and develop some of the themes and theoretical frames already introduced in the Semiotics of Culture module, investigating particular aspects of the cultural  and social dynamics at the center of contemporary semiotic debate. In dialogue with social sciences and memory studies, we will focus on some key concepts, such as that of cultural memory, trauma, archive and the (digital) archives, spaces of memory and forms of testimonies.

The topic of cultural memory will be particularly explored, focusing the analysis on the processes of construction, preservation and transmission of cultural and social memory and the relationship between collective memory and individual memory. In particular, the concept of trauma from a socio-semiotic perspective will be explored, and various types of texts related to traumatic memory will be analyzed.

In the more specifically monographic part of the course (third-fifth weeks), certain “genres” of testimony will be analyzed in more detail, along with their role in memorial dynamics, dwelling mainly on examples and analysis of spaces of memory, such as museums, memorials, monuments and counter-monuments.

A detailed schedule of lectures will be provided at the beginning of the course.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is suggested that they get in touch as soon as possible with the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) and with the lecturer in order to seek together the most effective strategies for following the lessons and/or preparing for the examination.

Readings/Bibliography

Mandatory texts for attending and non attending students

- Demaria, C., Semiotica e memoria, Roma, Carocci, 2006 (Prima parte: “Riflessioni sulla memoria)

- Demaria C., Il trauma, l'archivio, il testimone, Bologna, Bononia University Press, 2012 (the introduction and the first part)

- Lotman, J. e Uspenskij, B., Tipologia della cultura, Milano, Bompiani, 1975 (first part).

-Lorusso, A.M. “Pensando al futuro: memoria e posterità” inVersus-Quaderni di studi semiotici, n. 131, 2020

-Violi, P. , Paesaggi della memoria, Milano, Bompiani, 2014 (parte I. “Ricordare il trauma: dalla coazione al patrimonio traumatico”)

For students taking only this module—without also taking the “Semiotics of Culture” module taught by Prof. Lorusso—the following text is also mandatory:

- Lorusso, A.M., Semiotica della cultura , Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2010

Further readings and research material

-Demaria, C.; Violi, P., “The Act of Documenting: Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing”, Media, War & Conflict, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635219871910

Demaria, C., Panico, M., Violi, P., Il genere del male, Meltemi, Roma, 2026.

-Demaria, C. Piluso, F., “Immaginari premediati. Futuro e consumo del presente nelle narrazioni seriali”, VS - Quaderni di studi semiotici, n. 131, 2020.

- Hammad M., “Il Museo della Centrale Montemarini a Roma”, in I. Pezzini, P. Cervelli eds. Scene del consumo: dallo shopping al museo, Meltemi, Roma, 2006, pp.203- 279.

- Mazzucchelli F., Urbicidio. Il senso dei luoghi tra distruzioni e ricostruzioni nella Ex Jugoslavia, BUP, Bologna, 2010

- Panosetti D., Pozzato M.P. (ed) Passione vintage. Il gusto per il passato nei consumi, nei film e nelle serie televisive, Roma, Carocci, 2013

- Pezzini, I. Semiotica dei nuovi musei, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2011

- Pozzato M.P. (ed), Testi e memoria. Semiotica e costruzione politica dei fatti, Bologna, il Mulino, 2010

- Pozzato, MP, Visual and Linguistic Representations of Places of Origins. An Interdisciplinary Analysis, Cham, Switzerland, Springer International Publishing, 2018

- Salerno, D. Terrorismo, sicurezza, post-conflitto, Libreria Universitaria, 2012

Teaching methods

The course will alternate between traditional lectures and more seminar-style sessions, based on the discussion of scientific articles assigned in class and the presentation of research projects and analysis.

Presentations will therefore be organized, and the schedule for these will be determined at the beginning of the course.

Attendance and active participation are strongly recommended, so that students can progressively acquire the tools of a cultural and socio-semiotic analysis.

Assessment methods

There will be six exam sessions, in the months of: June, July, September, November, January, and March.

For the students who have enrolled only in the "Semiotics and social sciences module", the exam will be oral and will focus on assessing knowledge of the required reading, the ability to apply the theories learned to the concrete analysis of case studies, and the ability to argue and present ideas clearly.

Attending students with a particular interest in the subject may arrange with the instructor to submit a written paper. In such cases, limited, declared, and non-substantial use of AI for support activities (summarization, rephrasing) would be permitted.

For the students who have enrolled for the integrated course, and will have attended both modules there will be a single exam at the end of the two modules. It will be divided in two separate exam tests.

1. A one-hour, computer-based, in-class written exam in which the student is asked to comment on/analyze a theoretical object (an image, a video, a symbol, etc.) with reference to the theories and concepts discussed in the first module of the course. The aim of this exam is to test the student's ability to apply the concepts studied to practical observation.
2. A written test that the student will prepare at home and deliver by the day of the chosen session. The test will consist in identifying and setting up a concrete case of analysis, by distinguishing:

-the area of investigation

-the question that will be investigated and the research hypothesis

-the corpus and body of work on which the analysis will be based

-methodological categories deemed useful for that corpus

This exercise can be carried out in a schematic way, in the form of a ppt, or with a discursive text of a maximum of 10,000 characters.

In any case, maximum precision, detail, and concreteness of a case study are recommended.

For this part of the exam, the use of AI is prohibited. Any use of AI constitutes a violation of academic integrity.

The final mark will be the average of the marks of the two tests (50% and 50%).

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) with ample time in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.

 

Teaching tools

Lectures will be supported by the multimedia tools available in the classes of the Department of Philosophy and Communication Studies.

Office hours

See the website of Cristina Demaria