B8834 - Semiotics of Psychopathologies (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to develop semiotic skills for understanding the perceptual, affective, and cognitive dimensions of psychopathologies, as well as the discourses built to describe and understand them. The course provides a dual focus: first, it offers an overview of psychopathological literature from a philosophical perspective, reinterpreted through semiotic theories. Second, it equips students with tools to analyze the relationship between patients' expressive forms (including narratives, poetry, speech, and artistic productions), their lived experiences, and the surrounding sociocultural context.

Course contents

The course of this year will begin with a general overview of the role of semiotics in understanding psychopathology, emphasizing how psychiatric and psychological knowledge is embedded within a broader cultural network. This network selects and organizes notions such as normality and abnormality, reason and madness, sense and nonsense, through biopolitical mechanisms and discursive practices. Special attention will be devoted to the cultural dimension in the construction of concepts related to mental illness and in the emergence of specific psychopathological conditions.

The theoretical frameworks introduced in the first part of the course will be applied to a range of diagnostic constructs, including Borderline Personality Disorder, depression, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, psychopathy, Dissociative Identity Disorder, and Autism Spectrum Disorder. These cases will serve to test the analytical potential of semiotic theory and its relevance for contemporary mental health discourse.

In the second part of the course, the focus will shift to schizophrenia, one of the most enigmatic and debated psychiatric conditions. This topic will be explored through a range of interdisciplinary perspectives that contribute to a richer understanding of psychopathology. Cognitive and phenomenological approaches will be examined for their capacity to illuminate the lived experience of mental illness, and will be critically integrated with semiotic analysis, as well as with insights from anthropology and the philosophy of mind. The aim is to develop comprehensive and context-sensitive frameworks for interpreting the symbolic, narrative, and experiential dimensions of schizophrenia.

Key topics in this section will include:

a) the cultural dimension of schizophrenia and its representations across different media;
b) the historical process of constructing and categorizing the disorder;
c) communicative and linguistic features associated with the condition;
d) narrative structures shaping patients’ experiences and the role of psychotherapy;
e) the disruption of experiential meaning and a semiotic account of delusion formation.

Readings/Bibliography

Below you can find some of the core readings we will discuss during the class, and additional recommendations will be provided during the course. Students must prepare the following texts that will be made available on Virtuale in the first week of class:

• Eco, U. (2012). “Anti-Porphyry.” In G. Vattimo & P. A. Rovatti (Eds.), Weak Thought, SUNY Press, pp. 75–100.

• Foucault, M. (1986). Mental Illness and Psychology (pp. 1–89). Berkeley: University of California Press.

• Greimas, A. J., & Ricoeur, P. (1989). “On Narrativity.” New Literary History, 20(3), 551–562.

• Lévi-Strauss, C. (1963). “The Sorcerer and His Magic” & “The Effectiveness of Symbols” (pp. 167–206). In Structural Anthropology. New York: Basic Books.

• Lobaccaro, L. (2022). Ai confini del senso. La schizofrenia tra semiotica, psicopatologia e scienze cognitive, [Dissertation thesis], DOI 10.48676/unibo/amsdottorato/10237.. An english translation of the text will be provided by the instructor via Virtuale.
  

Students are required to choose one of the following books, depending on their personal interests:

• De Haan, S. (2020). Enactive Psychiatry: A New Paradigm for Mental Health. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

• Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1983). AntiOedipus : Capitalism and Schizophrenia (R. Hurley, M. Seem, & H. R. Lane, Trans.). University of Minnesota Press

• Gallagher, S. (2024). The Self and Its Disorders. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

• Kirmayer, L. J. (2025). Healing and the Invention of Metaphor: Toward a Poetics of Illness Experience. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

• Hacking, I. (1995). Rewriting the Soul: Multiple Personality and the Sciences of Memory. Princeton University Press, Princeton (NJ).

• Sass, L. A. (1992). Madness and Modernism: Insanity in the Light of Modern Art, Literature, and Thought. Oxford University Press, New York.

• Stanghellini, G. (2004). Disembodied Spirits and Deanimated Bodies: The Psychopathology of Common Sense. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

• Stanghellini, G. (2016). Lost in Dialogue: Anthropology, Psychopathology, and Care. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

• Woods, A. (2011). The Sublime Object of Psychiatry: Schizophrenia in Clinical and Cultural Theory. Oxford University Press.

Teaching methods

Lectures will be complemented by in-class textual commentary and discussion.

Assessment methods

The assessment will be based on an oral exam, which aims to evaluate both knowledge and skills.

Students may optionally submit a written paper, to be discussed during the oral exam. The paper must be agreed in advance with the instructor, who will also provide guidance and alternative bibliography if necessary.
Papers may be written individually or in small groups, and must not exceed 10 pages per student (excluding bibliography). The final paper must be submitted via email to luigi.lobaccaro2@unibo.it in a word document in times new roman 12, spacing 1,15, standard margins at least 15 days before the chosen exam date. The object of the e-mail shall read: “Dissertation for Semiotics of Psychopathologies– Appeal of [month of the appeal]”

Attendance is not mandatory (but highly reccomended) and it does not affect the evaluation.

All students must register for the exam through the AlmaEsami platform.


Exam sessions:

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: January, March, June, September, December.

Evaluation criteria

Grades will be assigned according to the following scale:

• 30 cum laude: Excellent performance; in-depth knowledge and analytical competence; outstanding clarity, originality, and critical insight.

• 30: Very good; full and adequate knowledge, well-structured and correctly expressed, with relevant critical engagement.

• 29–27: Good; more than satisfactory knowledge and analytical skills, clear and correct expression.

• 26–24: Fair; essential knowledge and skills are present but not fully developed or articulated.

• 23–21: Sufficient; general but superficial understanding, expression often unclear or confused.

• 20–18: Barely sufficient; significant gaps in expression and conceptual articulation.

• <18: Not sufficient; lack of basic knowledge, incorrect or absent analytical reasoning, poor understanding of core concepts, serious issues in expression.
  

Students with disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders have the right to special adjustments according to their condition, following an assessment by the Service for Students with Disabilities and SLD. Please do not contact the instructor but get in touch with the Service directly to schedule an appointment. It will be the responsibility of the Service to determine the appropriate adjustments. For more information, visit the page: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students.

It is recommended that students contact the University office in advance. Any proposed adjustments must be submitted at least 15 days in advance for the instructor’s approval, who will evaluate their appropriateness in relation to the learning objectives of the course.

 

Teaching tools

Power Point; Handout.

Office hours

See the website of Luigi Lobaccaro