On the beginnings of the semiotics of culture in the light of the Theses of the Tartu–Moscow School
On the beginnings of the semiotics of culture in the light of the Theses of the Tartu–Moscow School

Summary/Abstract: A systematic history of semiotics of culture is yet to be written, which is why broaching the subject makes it is necessary to delineate its historical development. The publication of the Theses on the semiotic study of cultures (Ivanov et al. 1973; Uspenskij et al. 1973) marked both the emergence of the Tartu–Moscow School (TMS) on the international scene and the birth of semiotics of culture as a discipline. International handbooks use alternately three terms: the Moscow– Tartu, the Tartu–Moscow, and the Tartu School. The first one is correct chronologically: the first conference in semiotics in the Soviet Union took place in Moscow in 1962, to be followed by a Summer School near Tartu in 1964. The second term is correct from an organizational point of view: the School, forming a kind of invisible college, was led by Professor Juri Lotman of the University of Tartu, and the department of Russian literature at the same university became central to the School.

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