Semiotics and Postmodernity

The project "Semiotics and Postmodernity" examines the conceptual as well as historical connections between semiotics and postmodernity such as semiotic approaches to postmodernity or the idea of a postmodern branch of semiotics. Since the late 1980s, these connections have been studied increasingly with respect to their theoretical implications and practical consequences in such disciplines as literary criticism, linguistics, philosophy, architecture, urban studies, geography, jurisprudence, film studies, media studies, sociology, psychology, and theology. My project contributes to this international research to which some Austrian scholars have contributed as well (e.g., Peter V. Zima, Martin Stegu). I provide the first comprehensive account of "Semiotics and Postmodernity" as an independent topic, analyze the subject conceptually and historically, clarify semiotically some of the central definitions of postmodernity, propose an additional definition of postmodernity based on irony, and apply the theoretical analyses to concrete case studies. The topic will be divided into three subtopics: "Semiotics of Postmodernity," "Postmodern Semiotics," and "Postmodern Semiotics of Postmodernity." Informed by analytical methodology and general semiotics, the semiotic framework of my project includes the distinction between two perspectives (synchrony, diachrony) as well as between three ideologies (communicationism, poststructuralism, structuralism). The project will yield a book-length monograph, several articles, and an anthology. I also intend to collaborate with scholars working on the topic "Semiotics and Postmodernity."