By SERAPHIM PIETROFORTE*
Ten works to present the main currents of semiology and semiotics; and to show the heterogeneity of the discursive space formed by the theories of sign and signification
Continuing on the topic of the article “Brief introduction to semiotics” – recently posted on the website the earth is round – ten works are recommended, with a view to better understanding the theories of sign and meaning, for those interested in the subject and wishing to search for a basic bibliography.
These are not necessarily introductory books, but works whose teachings are available to everyone; to aid learning, the order in which the books are listed, if accepted by the reader, was designed with the purpose of gradually facilitating access to the main semiotic concepts.
(i) BLIKSTEIN, Izidoro (2020). Semiotics and totalitarianism. Sao Paulo: Context
In the second half of the 1938th century, Izidoro Blikstein (1940) and Cidmar Teodoro Pais (2009-XNUMX) introduced Saussurean-inspired semiology and semiotics to Brazilian universities; both formed a large part of the generation responsible for current researchers. Thus, in addition to the author's relevance to semiotics conducted in Brazil, Blikstein's book becomes the initial suggestion for didactic reasons, since there is, in the first half of the work, a detailed and richly exemplified introduction of the main concepts of theories of signification; in addition to this, theoretical applications in the analysis of totalitarian discourses, especially corporate discourse and Nazi discourse, are added. Ideologies are constituted by semiotic articulations; knowing the processes of signification certainly contributes to social and political awareness.
(ii) BARTHES, Roland (1984). The obvious and obtuse. Lisbon: Editions 70.
As a rule, learning a theory is more efficient when it is widely exemplified, which is why it is suggested to continue studying semiology and semiotics with the work of Roland Barthes (1915-1980); among so many essays written by the author, it is recommended The obvious and the obtuse due to the number of theoretical applications presented throughout the 23 essays that make up the volume.
Roland Barthes combines, as a writer, scientific discourse, essays and literature, placing himself, by presenting his ideas with erudition and clarity, among the great authors of the 20th century; the book is divided into two parts, the first on visual semiotics, including analyses of photography, painting, cinema, theatre, body and gestures, and the second part on musical semiotics, with texts on voice, singing and classical music. That said, since the various languages constitute objects of study for semiology and semiotics, Barthes' book demonstrates, with great fruitfulness, the scope of theories of signification.
(iii) CAGNIN, Antonio Luiz (2015). Comics – language and semiotics. Sao Paulo: Creative.
Continuing with the establishment of the fundamental concepts of the sciences of signification, we recommend the book by Antônio Luiz Cagnin (1930-2013) on comic books, a pioneering work in Brazil on the subject, with its first edition in 1975. Antônio Luiz Cagnin's study is composed of chapters on signification in visual images, the structure of text and narrative forms; the book is richly illustrated, with quotes from classic Brazilian and foreign comics.
The author writes clearly, carefully detailing each topic covered; in addition to semiotic and semiological methods, the reader is presented with the foundations of meaning in comics.
(iv) FIORIN, Jose Luiz (1989). Elements of discourse analysis. São Paulo: Context.
After studying the sign and meaning through predominantly semiological texts, whose emphasis is on determining the sign systems in each specific language, it is recommended, for a deeper understanding of the narrative and discursive semiotics proposed by Algirdas Julius Greimas (1917-1992), the introduction to the model of the generative path of meaning proposed by José Luiz Fiorin (1942).
The author is known for his perspicuous writing, using a variety of examples to present the theory; after a few words about the objectives of semiotics, each chapter of the book is dedicated to a level of the generative path of meaning, that is, the fundamental, narrative and discursive levels, formed by their own syntax and semantics. The book is among the best presentations of the model, if not the best, with several editions since its release in 1989.
(v) BERTRAND, Denis (2003). Paths of literary semiotics. Caxias do Sul: Edusc.
Since the first publications of Greimas' ideas in the 1960s regarding structural semantics, the model of the generative path of meaning has been developed; not only Greimas, but other linguists, anthropologists, psychoanalysts and philosophers of language have organized themselves to propose advances in theories about the fundamental structures of meaning, narrative schemes, the semiotics of passions, the dynamics of enunciation and the correlations between semantic categories and categories of the plane of expression.
In view of this, if the book by José Luiz Fiorin, mentioned above, proves to be an excellent introduction, the extensive work by Denis Bertrand (1949), with over 400 pages, sets out in detail the generative path of meaning. In the book, in every chapter, in addition to explaining the topic presented, the author shows the evolution of the concepts studied, enlightening readers about the origins of each one of them; the examples, which are numerous, were taken from literature; however, although the title suggests a literary theory thought through semiotics, it is a work about the exposition of semiotics through literary texts.
(vi) PIGNATARI, Decio (2010). Semiotics and literature. Sao Paulo; Studio.
If the first reading suggestions refer to the ideas developed from the proposals of Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913), whether semiological or semiotic, with an emphasis on sign systems or on processes of signification, the next recommendations converge on the thought of Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914).
In these circumstances, the concrete poets of the Noigandres group, in particular the writer Décio Pignatari (1927-2012), are among those mainly responsible for the dissemination of Peirce's semiotics in Brazil, evidencing the author's choice to introduce such knowledge.
In the first chapters of the book, Décio Pignatari, who taught semiotics at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at USP, didactically explains Peirce's sign and its developments and then presents applications of the theory to the works of Machado de Assis (1839-1908) and Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), among other authors.
(vii) PIGNATARI, Decio (2009). Semiotics of art and architecture. Sao Paulo; Studio.
Similar to the book indication The obvious and obtuse, by Roland Barthes, with a view to disseminating the various possibilities of applying semiology and semiotics in the analysis of objects collected in different languages, this book by Décio Pignatari is recommended. The semiotics proposed by Peirce, as it is the science of signs and meaning, applies to any signifying systems; once the principles have been mastered, knowing its approaches certainly contributes to learning.
In dialogue with Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), Karl Marx (1818-1883), Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and Peirce, among other thinkers, each in their own way dedicated to the study of meaning and significance, Pignatari weaves semiotic reflections on Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), Gerrit Rietveld (1888-1964), Oscar Niemeyer (1907-2012), analyzing painting, design and architecture.
(viii) SANTAELLA, Lucia (2002). Applied semiotics. São Paulo: Pioneer Thomson Learning.
Along with Décio Pignatari, Lucia Santaella (1944) undoubtedly ranks among the disseminators of Peircean semiotics in Brazil, if not the most productive university professor in this field of knowledge among Brazilians. Author of a vast bibliography, much of it dedicated to the exposition and clarification of Peirce's ideas, Lucia Santaella, in the book indicated, in addition to numerous applications of the theory to aesthetic and ideological issues, after a detailed introduction, analyzes:
(1) advertising texts, with an emphasis on verbal and visual semiotics articulated in packaging; (2) works by Henri Matisse (1869-1954); (3) the significance of public figures, for example, politicians and pop artists; (4) the semiotic approach to emotions. Also in the book, the author carefully inserts Peirce's thought not only into the framework of theories of sign and significance, but also into other currents of philosophy, distinguishing one of the great thinkers of humanity, capable of dialoguing, shoulder to shoulder, with names from scholasticism, humanism, the Enlightenment and modern philosophy, specifically, phenomenology.
(ix) DEELY, John (1990). Basic semiotics. Sao Paulo; Attica.
To continue the introduction to the studies of Peirce's semiotics, we suggest, after indicating the works of Pignatari and Santaella, the book by John Deely (1942-2017), published in Brazil in 1990. It is not an introduction to Peircean semiotics, as in the books Semiotics and literature e Applied semiotics indicated above; in his reflections, right in the first chapters, John Deely leads interesting discussions about the action of signs, that is, semiosis.
Then, in the fifth and sixth chapters, the author presents zoosemiotics, phytosemiotics and physiosemiotics, dedicated, respectively, to the study of semiosis in the animal kingdom beyond man, in the plant world and in the physical universe, thus expanding the domains of semiotics, in general, restricted to human meaning, which would be, in John Deely's terms, anthroposemiotics.
Finally, in the seventh and final chapter, the author broadly discusses the study of meaning in history, engaging in dialogue with Saint Augustine, John Locke (1632-1704), Saussure, Peirce and Jakob von Uexküll (1864-1944), among other thinkers. The mention of Uexküll deserves attention, as he is an Estonian biologist dedicated to studying communication between animals; for those interested in the subject, his work is recommended. A foray into the worlds of animals and humans (2010)
(x) ECO, Umberto (1991). Semiotics and philosophy of language. São Paulo: Attica.
It is clear, in the course of semiotic studies, that the questions of meaning are initially treated by religion and philosophy; only in the 1896th century, meaning became a human science based on Saussure's ideas and the developments carried out by structuralist theorists, such as Roman Jacobson (1982-1908), Claude Lévi-Strauss (2009-1901), Jacques Lacan (1981-XNUMX), Barthes and Greimas; even so, semiotics was never separated from philosophy, as seen in Peirce's semiotics.
The semiologist and semiotician are therefore expected to be able to dialogue with other reflections on language and meaning; for this purpose, the work of Umberto Eco (1932-2016) is recommended, who, with his unique erudition, has always contributed to expanding the horizons of semiotics. From his work, we have chosen Semiotics and philosophy of language because it develops in detail the concepts of sign, metaphor, symbol and code.
Other recommendations
Among so many possible works, these ten works were chosen to learn about semiotics with at least two objectives: (1) to present the main currents of semiology and semiotics, especially the theories derived from the ideas of Saussure and Peirce; and (2) to show the heterogeneity of the discursive space formed by the theories of sign and signification. To conclude, suggestions are made for continuing beyond the initial readings, precisely for readers motivated to advance with semiotics.
First of all, the authors mentioned in the previous item wrote other works, sometimes introducing and sometimes applying semiotics. Barthes has a vast bibliography, his writings have become fundamental works for semiotic thought; among them, we recommend the camera lucida (1984) mythologies (1987) the sound of the tongue (2004) and Sade, Fourier, Loyola (1979). Eco, similarly, reveals himself to be a prolific writer; his works include: open work (2015) and The limits of interpretation (2010)
To continue, there are other important names in semiotics and related sciences that deserve attention; among them, the following are recommended: (1) by Tzvetan Todorov (1939-2017), Symbol theories (1979) and Narrative structures (2013); (2) by Christian Metz (1931-1993), Significance in cinema (2014); (3) by Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007), The object system (2015); (4) by Eric Landowski (1946), The society reflected (1992) and Presence of the other (2002)
As for the collections of articles, there are three essential readings: (1) Russian semiotics (1979), edited by Boris Schnaiderman (1917-2016) and dedicated to the leading language theorists in Eastern Europe; (2) Semiology of theater (2012), organized by Jacó Guinsburg (1921-2018); and (3) Essays on poetic semiotics (1975), organized by Greimas.
Returning to the authors indicated in the previous item, the following are recommended: (1) by Fiorin, Language and ideology (1997) and Introduction to Bakhtin's Thought (2016); (2) by Pignatari, Information, language and communication (2008) and What is poetic communication (2011); (3) from Santaella, Introduction to semiotics (2017) and Image – cognition, semiotics, media (2020), both written with Winfried Nöth (1944).
Still in Brazilian semiotics, both by Diana Luz Pessoa de Barros (1947), are indicated Semiotic theory of text (1999), an excellent introduction to the subject, and Discourse theory – semiotic foundations (2002), with a detailed description of formal topics of semiotics, such as modal syntax and the formal apparatus of enunciation. For those interested in the semiotics of music and song, reading The songwriter: song compositions in Brazil (1996), by Luiz Tatit (1951), is important; for those looking for relationships between semiotics and psychoanalysis, we recommend Waldir Beividas (1950), Unconscious and meaning – essays on the interface between psychoanalysis, linguistics and semiotics (2009)
From our own authorship, we modestly suggest: (1) Visual semiotics – the paths of the gaze (2004); (2) Analysis of visual text – the construction of the image (2007); (3) Semiotics Topics – Theoretical Models and Applications (2008); (4) Textual analysis of comics – a semiotic approach to the work of Luiz Gê (2009); (5) Enunciation and tensivity – semiotics in the samba beat (2010); (6) The discourse of concrete poetry – a semiotic approach (2011); (7) The meaning in classical instrumental music (2015); (8) Meaning in painting (2016); and (9) Meaning in photography (2016) – the last five books can be found in full on the website seraphimpietroforte.com.br –.
As for the founders of modern linguistics and semiotics, that is, Saussure, Louis Hjelmslev (1899-1965), Peirce and Greimas, after some knowledge of the discursive field of the sciences of sign and language, it is recommended to read directly the original works. In this way, in the readings of General linguistics course (2012) and General linguistic writings (2012), by Saussure, and Prolegomena to a theory of language (1975), by Hjelmslev, we find the conceptual bases carried forward by semiologists and semioticians; the texts in which Peirce proposes his theory are part of the Brazilian edition called Semiotics (1977); by Greimas, after knowing the main concepts of narrative and discursive semiotics, that is, the model of the generative path of meaning, the following are suggested: (1) Semiotics and social sciences (1981); (2) About meaning II – semiotic essays (2014); (3) Semiotics of passions (1993), written with Jacques Fontanille (1948); and (4) Of imperfection (2002)
Finally, some warnings are in order for those who intend to delve deeper into the sciences of signs and meaning. As theories about meaning, semiological and semiotic sciences are comprehensive, seeking to describe both types of discourses – be they poetic, political, religious, etc. – and semiotic systems – be they verbal, visual, musical, etc. –.
In this scope, however, the semiotician should not, by overestimating his general and abstract models, underestimate either the specific sciences of each discursive domain or the history and techniques of any signifying systems. In other words, it is not enough to know semiotics to analyze social discourses, since one must know, at the very least, the main demands of each specific type of discourse; in the same way, to do semiotics of poetry, visual arts or music, one needs to look for the histories and theories characteristic of the literary, visual and musical arts.
Having mentioned the role of knowledge of different languages for the success of any semiotic project, it is worth concluding this introduction to the sciences of signification by discussing, even briefly, the historical circumstances of semiotics.
As for semiotics derived from linguistics and Saussure's ideas, it is essential to consider its insertion in structuralist thought, formulated mainly by French theorists or those living in France in the second half of the 20th century; for such study, the two volumes of history of structuralism (2018), by François Dosse (1950), in which the works of Barthes and Greimas are problematized alongside other structuralists, from other domains of knowledge, such as Jacobson, Lévi-Strauss, Lacan, Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961), Michel Foucault (1926-1984), Louis Althusser (1918-1990); to complement the task, we suggest the counterpoint of Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) to Jacobson and other Russian formalists, formulated in the fifth chapter of the book Literature and revolution (2007)
Since structuralism was influenced by the ideals of Russian formalism, especially and directly by the presence of Jacobson, it is believed that Trotsky's criticisms, of a Marxist nature, allow us to question the scope of structuralism, mainly in its political biases, and, consequently, the scope of semiology and semiotics formulated based on it.
*Seraphim Pietroforte is a full professor of semiotics at the University of São Paulo (USP). Author of, among other books, Visual semiotics: the paths of the gaze (Context). [https://amzn.to/4g05uWM]
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