B4951 - Semiotics of the Arts (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course will seek to account for artistic meaning as an experience of perceptual and linguistic mediations, providing skills both to account for embodied practices of aesthetic production or interpretation and to objectify the forms of textual organization of works. Indeed, (i) comparative aesthetics will be taken up on the basis of the correlations between intersemiotic translations and intersensory transductions; (ii) the philosophy of symbolic forms will be the frame in which to inscribe the study of the continuous systemic reformulation of the relations between works of art and the spaces in which they stand for public appreciation.

Course contents

This class is nominally assigned to the coordinator of the MA in Semiotics until the arrival of a newly appointed lecturer, at the end of 2024. The program content given here has been agreed with the new lecturer and therefore will remain unchanged for the A. Y. 24-25.

On a theoretical level, the course explores the intersections between the semiotic tradition and aesthetics understood both as the philosophy of art and as the philosophy of sensory experience. In this sense, the semiotic perspective intends to offer a complementary view concerning two relevant philosophical projects: (i) the program of a comparative aesthetics will be revisited based on correlations between intersemiotic translations and intersensory transductions; (ii) the philosophy of symbolic forms will serve as the framework for studying the continuous systemic reformulation of the relationships between artworks and the spaces where they are presented for public appreciation. On a methodological level, the course aims to problematize the relationships between artistic projects and their manifestations, providing skills to account for the embodied practices of aesthetic production and interpretation, as well as to objectify the textual organization forms of artworks. The intersection of these analytical perspectives must consider dialectics, such as those underlying creativity and normative frameworks, or between aesthetic discourse and the semiotic environment. These linguistic game fields unfold the artistic sense as an experience of necessary perceptual and linguistic mediations to access values that would otherwise not have the possibility of being constituted. From this perspective, the vulnerability of the arts—considering the numerous devices they need to be implemented and protected—must be related to their necessity, with a bringing of meaning that is realized only through the experience mediated by their expressive organization. The corpora examined will mainly concern visual arts, without neglecting, in intersemiotic translations and syncretic manifestations, other expressive forms.

Readings/Bibliography

Attending students can choose two texts from the basic readings and one from the recommended readings, according to a prospective combination matching their scientific interests. The readings of the articles commented on during the course will be mandatory. Students whose native language is not Italian can use texts in their language, if available.

Basic Readings

1. Nelson Goodman, Arte in teoria, arte in azione (a cura di Paolo Fabbri), Milano, et al./Edizioni, 2008.
2. Maria Giulia Dondero, I linguaggi dell’immagine: Dalla pittura ai Big Visual Data, Roma, Meltemi, 2020.
3. Pierluigi Basso Fossali, Il Trittico 1976 di Francis Bacon. Con Note sulla semiotica della pittura, Pisa, ETS, 2013.

Additional readings of articles will be provided during the course.

Optional Recommended Readings

1. Lucia Corrain (ed.), Semiotiche della pittura. I classici, le ricerche, Meltemi, Roma 2004 (available online: link [http://www.ec-aiss.it/biblioteca/15_semiotiche_della_pittura.php] )
2. Louis Marin, Della rappresentazione, Roma, Meltemi, available online: link [http://www.ec-aiss.it/biblioteca/30_marin_della_rappresentazione.php]
3. Gruppo µ, Trattato del segno visivo, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2007, available online: link [http://www.ec-aiss.it/biblioteca/31_gruppomi_trattato.php]
4. Jacques Fontanille, Forme del corpo. Per una semiotica dell’impronta, Roma, Meltemi, 2004.
5. Astrid Guillaume e Lia Kurts-Wöste (eds.), Making Sense, Making Science, ISTE-Wiley (also available in French: introduction, chapters 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8).
6. Pierluigi Basso Fossali, Interpretazione tra mondi. Il pensiero figurale di David Lynch, Pisa, ETS, 2nd ed., 2008.
7. Pierluigi Basso Fossali e Maria Giulia Dondero, Semiotica della fotografia, Rimini, Guaraldi, 2006 (or later editions, including the extensively revised Sémiotique de la photographie, Limoges, PULIM, 2011).

Non-Attending Students

Non-attending students are required to additionally read Lucia Corrain and Mario Valenti (eds.), Leggere l’opera d’arte, Bologna, Esculapio, 1991 (particularly A.J. Greimas’ contribution, “Semiotica figurativa e semiotica plastica”).

Teaching methods

The introductory nature of the course will be implemented through lectures, analysis workshops, and commented readings in class.

 

Course Schedule

The module includes 30 hours of teaching, with 6 hours per week for 5 weeks.

Assessment methods

The exam consists of a conversation with the professor based on the texts chosen from the exam program. The coherence of the text choices and their critical correlation will be part of the evaluation. Optionally, the student can choose to write a paper, which will then be discussed during the oral exam.

Students with Disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders

Students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders are entitled to special adjustments according to their condition, subject to assessment by the University Service for Students with Disabilities and SLD. Please do not contact teachers or Department staff but make an appointment with the Service. The Service will then determine what adjustments are specifically appropriate and get in touch with the teacher. For more information, please visit the page:
https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

Teaching tools

Various multimedia supports will be used during the course. All materials used throughout the course will be available on the e-learning platform Virtuale. In this regard, students intending to attend this course are required to register on the platform to access the teaching supports that will be an integral part of the teaching programme.

Office hours

See the website of Pierluigi Basso