Tullio De Mauro and the Semiotics research programme

Authors

  • Stefano Gensini "Sapienza", University of Rome

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4454/blityri.12.648

Keywords:

Tullio De Mauro, Semiotics, Italian culture in the 1960-1970s, Code, Animal communication

Abstract

Tullio De Mauro played a significant but often underestimated role in the development of semiology (or semiotics) in Italian culture in the 1960s-1970s. Drawing on the lesson of Ferdinand de Saussure, he elaborated a theoretical apparatus not limited to verbal language, but applicable, through the application of certain design features, to the entirety of semiotic codes. Of particular interest is the attention De Mauro paid to the world of animal communication, which other authors (such as Eco) placed below the so-called semiotic threshold.

Published

2023-12-12

Issue

Section

Essays