46566 - Sociosemiotics (1) (2nd cycle)

Learning outcomes

The course has both cognitive and practical objectives. On the one hand, it aims to illustrate to all students the theoretical debate which has animated the semiotic research on social contexts and topics, on the other hand it aims at verifying a possible methodology for the semiotic analysis of social texts and practices also through practical exercises.

Course contents

After a brief introduction to the theoretical debate which has recently animated the socio-semiotic research, the course will focus on the semiotic strategies of representation and self-representation of contemporary conflict, with particular attention to the post-conflict phase. The course aims thus at investigating different forms of writing and representing collective violence in the light of recent theories on cultural trauma and on testimony. Starting from actual and diverse case-studies, it will hence examine not only different kinds of conflict but also the ways in which they have been recounted through different textual and media genres, from the press and the TV news to fiction, from literature to cinema and documentaries, form visual art to oral testimonies. Those examples will be ways to concentrate, from a semiotic point of view, not only on the strategies of selection of collective and social memories and on the constitution of community of remembrance, but also on how imagination and fiction intertwine with history and its “truth”.

Readings/Bibliography

Alexander, J., The Meanings of Social Life. A Cultural Sociology, Oxford & New York, Oxford University Press, 2003 (tr. it. La costruzione del male. Dall'Olocausto all'11 settembre, Bologna, il Mulino, 2006).

Alexander, J., Eyerman, R. et al., Cultural Trauma and Collective Identity, Berkeley & Los Angekes, University of California Press, 2004.

Caruth, C. (1995) (ed.), Trauma. Explorations in Memory, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 1995.

Demaria, C., “Ricordare il male, testimoniare la violenza: riflessioni ed esempi di analisi”, Versus, 106-107.

Demaria, C., Grandi, R. (a cura di), Marketing e rappresentazione dei conflitti, Bologna, Bononia University Press, 2008.

Landowski, E., La società riflessa. Saggi di sociosemiotica, Roma, Meltemi, 2003.

Marrone, G., Corpi sociali. Processi comunicativi e semiotica del testo, Torino, Einaudi, 2001.

Peters, J.D. “Witnessing”, Media, Culture & Society, 23, pp. 707-723, 2001.

Pezzini, I., Immagini quotidiane. Sociosemiotica del visuale, Bari, Laterza, 2008.

White, H., Forme di storia. Dalla realtà alla narrazione, Roma, Carocci, 2006.

Zelizer, B., “Finding aids to the past: bearing personal witness to traumatic public events”, Media, Culture & Society, 24, 2002, pp. 697-714.

Teaching methods

After the first introductory meetings, every class will be dedicated to a specific case-study whereby both theoretical and practical questions will be addressed.

All students will be asked to actively partecipate in the class. They will be initially asked to give short presentations on suggested readings that will be assigned by the lecturer and, eventually, they'll have to present to the class a first draft of the research work which will constitute the base of their final paper.

Assessment methods

All students will be asked to write a paper that will have to be handed in at least 15 days before the exams. The paper will be discussed during the oral exam.

Teaching tools

As an integration to the recommended reading, students will be provided with notes in power point format.

Depending on the case-study that will be analyzed, visual and audio-visual materials will be used.

Office hours

See the website of Cristina Demaria