Overview

Dating back to antiquity, semiotics is both a ""technique"" and a ""science"" that aims to understand the nature of meaning. An academic discipline in its own right, semiotics uses signs, such as words and symbols, to think, communicate, reflect, transmit, and preserve knowledge. Since the initial publication of The Quest for Meaning in 2007, the world has changed dramatically with the advent of online culture, new technologies, and new ways of making signs and symbols. Updated to reflect these many changes, the second edition includes a comprehensive chapter on the use of semiotics in the Internet age. Written in a student-friendly style, featuring examples from everyday life, the book explains what semiotics is all about and why it is so important for gaining insights into our elusive and mysterious human nature.

Full Product Details

Author:   Marcel Danesi
Publisher:   University of Toronto Press
Imprint:   University of Toronto Press
Edition:   2nd edition
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.10cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.300kg
ISBN:  

9781487523510

ISBN 10:   1487523513
Pages:   216
Publication Date:   09 September 2020
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable  
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Table of Contents

Preface 1. What Is Semiotics? 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Historical Sketch 1.3 The Science of Meaning 1.4 Two Fundamental Models of the Sign 1.5 The Current Practice of Semiotics 1.6 Semiotics in the Global Village 1.7 Further Reading 2. Signs 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Defining the Sign 2.3 Symptoms and Signals 2.4 Icons 2.5 Indexes 2.6 Symbols 2.7 Names 2.8 Body, Mind, and Culture 2.9 Further Reading 3. Structure 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Structure 3.3 Associative Structure 3.4 Structural Economy 3.5 Post-Structuralism 3.6 Modeling 3.7 Further Reading 4. Codes 4.1 Introduction 4.2 What Is a Code? 4.3 Opposition and Markedness 4.4 Types of Codes 4.5 Codes and Perception 4.6 Further Reading 5. Texts 5.1 Introduction 5.2 What Is a Text? 5.3 Narrative Texts 5.4 Visual Texts 5.5 Digital Texts 5.7 Texts, Mind, and Culture 5.8 Further Reading 6. Representation 6.1 Introduction 6.2 What Is Representation? 6.3 Representation and Myth 6.4 Online Knowledge Representation 6.5 Representation and Reality 6.5 Further Reading 7. Semiotics in the Internet Era 7.1 Introduction 7.2 The Simulacrum 7.3 Memes 7.4 Emojis 7.5 The Global Brain 7.6 Posthumanism 7.7 Further Reading 8. Applications 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Clothing 8.3 Food 8.4 Visual Rhetoric 8.5 The Quest for Meaning 8.6 Further Reading Glossary of Technical Terms Index

Reviews

The role of semiotics in digital humanities is a major contribution to the second edition. The Quest for Meaning aptly implements semiotic theory and practice to areas of artificial intelligence, modeling structure, and digital text. - Jelena Jovicic, Department of Languages and World Literatures, The University of British Columbia, Okanagan The second edition of The Quest for Meaning is remarkably accessible without sacrificing the necessary challenge posed by questions of knowledge-making and meaning. The book establishes a sound and ample historical foundation that deftly navigates around rabbit holes. - Peter Vandenberg, Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse, DePaul University

"""The second edition of The Quest for Meaning is remarkably accessible without sacrificing the necessary challenge posed by questions of knowledge-making and meaning. The book establishes a sound and ample historical foundation that deftly navigates around rabbit holes.""--Peter Vandenberg, Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse, DePaul University ""The role of semiotics in digital humanities is a major contribution to the second edition. The Quest for Meaning aptly implements semiotic theory and practice to areas of artificial intelligence, modeling structure, and digital text.""--Jelena Jovicic, Department of Languages and World Literatures, The University of British Columbia, Okanagan"

"""The second edition of The Quest for Meaning is remarkably accessible without sacrificing the necessary challenge posed by questions of knowledge-making and meaning. The book establishes a sound and ample historical foundation that deftly navigates around rabbit holes."" --Peter Vandenberg, Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse, DePaul University ""The role of semiotics in digital humanities is a major contribution to the second edition. The Quest for Meaning aptly implements semiotic theory and practice to areas of artificial intelligence, modeling structure, and digital text."" --Jelena Jovicic, Department of Languages and World Literatures, The University of British Columbia, Okanagan"

Author Information

Marcel Danesi is a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto.

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