What is the main challenge for contemporary semiotics?
What is the main challenge for contemporary semiotics?

Summary/Abstract: Once again, something important is going on in semiotics.Within the framework of preparing the final talk “Semiotics taking form: Through the eyes of leading semioticians” at the 12th World Congress of Semiotics in Sofia in September 2014, we asked several leading semioticians to give brief answers to the question: “What is the main challenge for contemporary semiotics?” We received 35+3 responses which are published below. Some years ago, Peer Bundgaard and Frederik Stjernfelt posed a similar question to 28 semioticians formulated as “What are the most important open problems in this field and what are the prospects of progress?” Th e responses were published in a book (Bundgaard, Stjernfelt 2009). Indeed, a regular (re)formulation of the main tasks and unsolved problems can be seen as a form of self-description of semiotic inquiry, which is important for the identity and development of the field. Understanding what is going on in semiotics, a broad field with much variety in it, would help us to provide a better focus for our research today.

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