Poliitikasemiootika kultuurisemiootiline alus: teooriast praktikani
A cultural semiotic foundation for political semiotics: From theory to practice

Summary/Abstract: The article relies on the cultural semiotics of Lotman, which we bring to bear on political theory to develop a methodological framework of political semiotics. We synthesise the core categories of the Essex school (Laclau, Mouffe, and others) of political analysis and the Tartu–Moscow school of cultural semiotics. The synthesis puts forth a concrete methodological framework for analysing social/political reality by relating theories of power, governance, and democracy to the Jakobsonian model of communication. We call this method “political form analysis” – it is not the content (i.e., substance) of communication, but rather the form (hierarchical relations of the aspects of communication) that is the crucial focus of political analysis. We illustrate our approach by explaining the constitution of the COVID-19 crisis and its governance in Taiwan.

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