This course will introduce the main theoretical and methodological models used in semiotics today, from Saussure and Peirce to Eco and Greimas. Among the topics to be covered are the definition of sign, signification, representation, code, text, structuralism, post-structuralism, opposition and markedness. The focus will be on the capacity for creating and using signs for thinking, communicating, reflecting, transmitting, and preserving knowledge, as well as for creative textuality. Special attention is paid to the work of Italian semioticians, especially Rossi-Landi, Eco, and others. The course will also show how semiotic theory can be applied productively to the study of conceptual and material culture. The two specific areas chosen for application are narrativity (the creation of texts in literature and cinema, given that many of the other courses on the campus involve these two areas) and advertising in Italy, which is developing new forms of representation and transmission to keep up with changes in cultural realities and technology.

Required Texts: U. Eco, Trattato di semiotica generale. Milano: Bompiani, 1975.
P. Schulz, Letture di semiotica. Perugia: Guerra Editore, 2000.
M. Danesi, Brands. Il mondo delle marche. Roma: Carocci, 2009.