Chapter 1: Universals in connection with the interpretation of magic in Juri Lotman’s semiotics
Chapter 1: Universals in connection with the interpretation of magic in Juri Lotman’s semiotics

Summary/Abstract: 1.1. Points of departure for the interpretation of universals As an introduction, some light needs to be shed on those points of departure that provided the bases for the first phase of Juri Lotman’s universals-quest. A narrower goal is to assess the implementation of these points of departure using the example of the interpretation of magic. This task is particularly interesting for three reasons. Firstly, Juri Lotman has two conceptual schemata for magic, one of which was completed in 1967 (referred to as Mg 1; see Appendix, Lecture IV), and the other (Mg 2) was published fourteen years later (Lotman 1993a [1981]), and the interpretation of magic in Mg 2 is notably different to Mg 1. Secondly, Mg 1 is one of the first attempts in the universalistic interpretation of culture in Juri Lotman’s semiotics, and, thirdly, Mg 1 has never been published.

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