Finno-Ugric semiotics: Cultures and metacultures
Finno-Ugric semiotics: Cultures and metacultures

Summary/Abstract: In the framework of the Finno-Ugric Congress held in Tartu in 2000 there took place, under the Hungarian initiative, also foundation of the Finno-Ugric Semiotic Association to unite different Finno-Ugric peoples and cultures, from the semiotic viewpoint, in at least two major aspects. The first aspect is concerned with unified semiotic analysis of these cultures, whereas the second one should be concerned with organizational matters in terms of forming stabile network between the Finno-Ugric semioticians and the relevant national institutions. Since this type of organization (cf. organizations founded on the basis of so-to-speak universal objects, e.g. visual semiotics, spatial semiotics, etc.) is not common yet in the international structure of semiotics (probably with some exceptions like the Balkan region), it is probably worth introducing both from the formal viewpoint and with respect to a closer look at the semiotic activity in the three Finno-Ugric cultures having the state structure to support it (Estonia, Finland and Hungary). Within the domain of Finno-Ugric studies, semiotics appeared only during the last decades as a special field of research. Important works were published in linguistics, literary studies, musicology, art history, cultural analysis, psychology, folklore and sociology etc. from semiotic points of view. Detection of signs in different Finno-Ugric cultures became a fashionable topic. International acceptance of Finnish, Hungarian and Estonian semiotics has been overwhelming. Still, we know relatively little about semiotics among other Finno-Ugric peoples. Historic surveys are relatively frequent, but until recently there was no at¬tempt to summarize the scope and prospects of 'Finno-Ugric semiotics'.

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