Sphere of Understanding: Tartu Dialogues with Semioticians

The book presents dialogues with fourteen highly influential semioticians: Juri Lotman, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Boris Uspenskij, Umberto Eco, Paolo Fabbri, Myrdene Anderson, Winfried Nöth, Gunther Kress, Roland Posner, Stuart Kauffman, Jesper Hoffmeyer, Terrence Deacon, Paul Cobley, and Jaan Valsiner. They have all made a remarkable impact on contemporary research in the Tartu centre of semiotics. As well as these remarkable dialogues, the first part of the volume features an illuminating sequence of chapters on topics including the importance of dialogues, the historical roots and context of semiotics in Tartu since the 19th century, plus the main principles formulated in Jakob von Uexküll’s and Juri Lotman’s works.

CONTENTS

Contexts

• The importance of dialogues
• The aim of this book
• On the genre of interviews with semioticians
• Tartu as a point of departure
• The beginnings of semiotics in Estonia
• Uexküll’s legacy
• Lotman’s legacy
• The interviewees

Dialogues

• Juri Lotman
• Vyacheslav Ivanov
• Boris Uspenskij
• Umberto Eco
• Paolo Fabbri
• Myrdene Anderson
• Winfried Nöth
• Gunther Kress
• Roland Posner
• Stuart Kauffman
• Jesper Hoffmeyer
• Terrence Deacon
• Paul Cobley
• Jaan Valsiner

Κατανόηση

For a detailed table of contents, please see here.

Kalevi Kull, University of Tartu; Ekaterina Velmezova, University of Lausanne and University of Tartu.