INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL
FOR SEMIOTIC AND STRUCTURAL STUDIES
to be held in Imatra, Finland, June 10 - 15, 2006
General:
We are pleased to announce the research seminars and International Summer School for Semiotic and Structural Studies of the Finnish Network University of Semiotics. The seminars will be organized by the Finnish Network University of Semiotics and International Semiotics Institute (ISI) at Imatra and open to any semiotician interested in the topics given below. The director of the Summer School, the Finnish Network University of Semiotics, and the ISI is Professor Eero Tarasti, and the summer school is funded by the European Social Fund and State Provincial Office of Southern Finland.
Dates and Locations of the Seminars:
June 10 - 15, 2006, Hotel Valtionhotelli, an art nouveau castle in Imatra, Eastern Finland (near the border of Russia and well-known for its historical, natural, and cultural attractions)
Seminars (by topic):
1) Existential Semiotics
Director: Eero Tarasti
Forum for papers and commentaries on this new theory, as well as its parallel and further developments (see E. Tarasti: Existential Semiotics, Bloomington: IU Press 2000 and Degrés 116 [hiver 2003]: "Sémiotique existentielle")
2) Greimas retrouvé / Greimas rediscovered
Director: Eero Tarasti (Helsinki)
Invited speakers: Jacques Fontanille (Limoges), Gianfranco Marrone (Bologna/Palermo), Anna Hénault (Paris), Eric Landowski (Paris), Isabella Pezzini (Rome), Dalia Satkauskyte (Vilnius), Peter Stockinger (Paris), Vilmos Voigt (Budapest), Ivaylo Znepolski (Sofia)
3) The Current State of Literary SemioticsDirector: Harri Veivo (Helsinki), invited speakers: Jörgen Dines Johansen (Odense), Christina Ljungberg (Zurich),
Louis Armand (Prague)
During the past 10 years, literary semiotics has entered into a new phase of development. The pragmatic theory of semiotics is increasingly applied to the analysis of literary texts, thus giving shape to new forms of research. At the same time, interdisciplinary approaches such as research on iconicity, queer studies, and cognitive studies focus on questions of signification and sign. There is also continuity, however, since a great many of the analytical concepts currently in use are derived from (post)structural research. The time is thus ripe for a reflection on the current state of literary semiotics. Are we witnessing the emergence of a new paradigm? Is it time to transcend divisions and to look for a synthesis in literary semiotics? Which elements in (post)structural research are still valuable? We invite all scholars interested in literary semiotics to reflect on the current state of the art according to the lines of inquiry proposed by these and related questions. The issues can be addressed from a theoretical or a methodological point of view. Readings of individual texts that exemplify different paradigms are also welcome.
4) Semiotics of Music and MediationDirectors: Erkki Pekkilä (Helsinki), Rick Littlefield (Michigan), Susana Gonzáles Aktories (Mexico), and Heloísa de Araújo Duarte Valente (Santos)
Invited speaker: David Neumeyer (University of Texas-Austin, USA)
The mediation of music has become a major issue and challenge to music research. Music has become a global phenomenon in that musical pieces and styles either "travel" from one country to another or appear everywhere at once. This happens via radio, television, cinema, the Internet, and other means of transmission. Mediation is here defined as the act that transfers something from one place to another. Mediation is closely connected to issues such as representation, connotative meanings, and ideology of myths. On a more cultural level, musical mediation is unavoidably connected to mass media – a universal phenomenon of our time, of which all music has inevitably become a part.
The purpose of the seminar is to shed light on the following and similar phenomena: (1) mediation in film and television, (2) mediation and the Internet, (3) mediation and musical migration in a global context, and (4) theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of musical mediation.
5) Diversity, Asymmetry, Resistance
Directors: Merja Bauters (Helsinki), Dario Martinelli (Helsinki), Kaie Kotov (Tartu), Kalevi Kull (Tartu)
Invited speakers: Franco Fabbri (Torino), Jaan Valsiner (Worcester, MA)
6) 25th Annual Meeting of the Semiotic Society of Finland, June 9 - 10Papers by Finnish scholars, seminar in Finnish
Each seminar consists of papers presented by both invited lecturers and participants. The aim of the summer school is to offer the participants both up-to-date research and an opportunity to discuss thoroughly their projects with leading specialists in the various fields. The seminar corresponds to two and a half (2.5) credit units for university students, according to criteria set by Helsinki University and the Network University of Semiotics.
Duration of papers: 30 min. The working languages of the seminars and congresses are English, French, German
Preliminary program:
June 9 -10 25th Annual Meeting of the Semiotic Society of Finland
June 10 Opening celebration: Cultural Centre of the International Summer School of the Network University of Finland
June 11 - 15 09.00-18.00 Seminar lectures and papers
Categories of Participation and Conditions of Admission:There are two categories of participation:
1) Active: the participant will present a paper.
2) Passive: the participant will audit the summer school without presenting a paper.
An active participant must send a short curriculum vitae and a one-page abstract of his/her paper together with the registration form to the address given at the bottom of this letter. These materials should reach the organizers no later than March 31, 2006. The abstracts will be published as a booklet for the congresses, and should be sent both as a word-processing file (email attachment or saved to diskette) and in hard copy to the address given at the bottom of this letter.
A passive participant must send the registration form by April 30, 2006.
Participation Fee: 125 EUR (The fee covers lunch and two coffees a day from 11. -15.6. and an elegant evening reception and buffet on June 10th.)
Payment of fees must be made before April 30 by bank transfer to the ISI bank account with Sampo Bank. The bank identifier code is: PSPBFIHH. The international bank account number is: FI8780001802071697. In Finland, the bank account number is Sampo 800018-2071697.
Social Programs:
Social activities will include various cultural events such as art exhibitions, concerts, plays, and cinema.
For further information and / or to register, please contact:
International Semiotics Institute, Virastokatu 1, 55100 Imatra, Finland
tel. +358-5-681 6639, fax +358-5-681 6696
e-mail: Maija.Rossi[at]isisemiotics.fi , Anna.Mennola[at]isisemiotics.fi
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