28460 - Semiotics of Social Sciences (1) (LM)

Academic Year 2018/2019

  • Docente: Maria Patrizia Violi
  • Credits: 6
  • SSD: M-FIL/05
  • Language: Italian
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Semiotics (cod. 8886)

Learning outcomes

The course aims to develop both theoretical and applied skills. On the one hand recent semiotic theories  will be discussed, on the other hand methodological and analytical tools will be provided, especially in relation to the analysis of space.

Course contents

During the first part of the course we will approach theoretical themes of central concern for a contemporary approach to a semiotic of culture, analysing in particular the current debate in the field.

Then  the topic of cultural memory will be discussed, in all its aspects of construction, trnsmission and conservation, and in the relationships between  collective and individual memory.

In particular the concept of trauma and traumatic memory in a semiotic perspective will be considered. Several different texts related to trauma will be analysed. A special attention will be dedicated to post memory and trans generational transmission and to the use of visual devices in family memories. 

Finally, in the last part of the course, places of memory, memorials and museums will be analysed, with concrete case studies of different kinds.  

Readings/Bibliography

Mandatory texts for both Semiotica delle Scienze Sociali and Semiotica della Cultura.

- Lévi-Strauss, C., Antropologia strutturale, Milano, il Saggiatore, 1990 (cap. II, XI, XV)

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

- Lotman, J. e Uspenskij, B., Tipologia della cultura, Milano, Bompiani, 1975.

- Lotman, J., La semiosfera. L'asimmetria e il dialogo nelle strutture pensanti,Venezia, Marsilio, 1985 (pagg. 1-145)

- Lotman, J., Tesi per una semiotica delle culture, Roma, Meltemi, 2006 (seconda parte + “Il decabrista nella vita”)

- Violi, P. , Paesaggi della memoria, Milano, Bompiani, 2014

 

Morever, students are rquest to choose at least one book among the following list, depending on the topic of their papers. Other texts can be also discussed with the professors. 

 

- Del Marco, Vincenza, Pezzini Isabella(ed), Passioni collettive. Cultura, politica e società, Roma, Edizioni Nuova Cultura [http://www.nuovacultura.it/] , 2012

- Demaria, C., Semiotica e memoria, Roma, Carocci, 2006

- Demaria C., Il trauma, l'archivio, il testimone, Bologna, Bononia University Press, 2012

- Demuru, P., Essere in gioco, Bologna, BUP, 2014

- Geertz, C., Antropologia interpretativa, Bologna, il Mulino, 1988 (cap. 1, cap. 3 e cap. 4)

- 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.

- Marrone. G. Figure di città. Spazi urbani e discorsi sociali, Mimesis, 2013

- Marrone, G. Buono da pensare. Cultura e comunicazione del gusto, Carocci, 2014

- Marrone, G. Semiotica del gusto. Linguaggi del cibo, della cucina, della tavola, Mimesis "Insegne", 2016

- 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

- Pezzini, I. Spaziante, L. (eds) Corpi mediali. Semiotica e contemporaneità, ETS, 2014

- 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 is designed to stimulate active participation on the part of students. They will be asked to read and present in class a selection of reading materials. Active participation in collective discussion  of these presentations will be considered an essential component of the course evaluation.

Assessment methods

The  final test for both Semiotica delle Scienze Sociali e Semiotica della Culura is one paper whose topic  has to be discussed with the professors.

The  written paper has to be of 40.000 characters (20 pages of 2000 characters for page) to be presented at least 10 days before the date of the exam.

Office hours

See the website of Maria Patrizia Violi