Basics of Semiotics

John Deeley - Basics of Semiotics. Fifth Edition. Tartu University Press, 2009. 314 lk

Kohustuslik kirjandus. Plaanisin nagunii selleni varem või hiljem jõuda, aga kuna see on üks kolmest teosest, mida üheks semiootika aineks on vaja lugeda, valisin varem. Avaldatud Tartus, toimetajateks Silvi Salupere ja Kalevi Kull. Eelnev selgitab, miks raamat sisaldab palju viiteid zoo- ja biosemiootikale. Raamatu sissejuhatuses räägitakse Tartu koolkonnast ning tutvustatakse lühidalt Deeley seisukohta: tema jaoks pole semiootika mitte teooria märkidest, vaid märkide doktriin (umbes nagu filosoofia), mis ületab looduse-kultuuri eristuse ja uurib märke nii kunstis kui ka eluslooduses (ning kõiges, mis jääb vahepeale).
Minu jaoks oli lugemine raske. Tundus olevat liiga palju, et praegu veel midagi korralikult hoomata. Rohkesti oli võõraid termineid - mitte ainult ladina ja saksa keeles, vaid ka inglise keeles (neile otsin definitsioone allpool). Suurem huvi tekkis transendentaalsete ja ontoloogiliste suhete erinevuse ja Humpty Dumpty fallacy vastu. Viimane tähendab seda, et "võimul" on õigus defineerida sõnu nii, kuidas iganes peetakse vajalikuks ("When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less." ja "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master -- that's all."). Loogikas on sama nähtuse nimi equivocation - kasutatakse sama sõna samas argumendis kahes erinevas tähenduses, luues sellega segadust.
Raamatu sisu näitlustamiseks esitan kaks väljavõtet: (1) Üks liialt filosoofiline lause, millest ma ei saa mitte midagi veel aru ja (2) lõik inimese postmodernistlikust definitsioonist, mida enam-vähem mõistan.

(1) For while the question of signs perforce concerns a "mode of being" (the being proper to signs), that mode of being involves the singularity whereby relation alone among the modes of ens reale remains unaffected in its positive structure as objectively terminating suprasubjectivity regardless of changes of circumstances which make a relation as terminating one moment to have a terminus that exercises also a mind-independent existence and at another moment (often, needless to say, to the suprise of the knower) to have that same terminus but now posessed of existence only mind-dependently.

(2) THE POSTMODERN DEFINITION OF HUMAN BEING
This is a turning point, however, to be not merely celebrated but unmistakably marked. Just as Descartes had marked the turning point to modern philosophy by replacing the ancient definition of the human as animal rationale with the modern definition of res cognitas, so it becomes possible at the turn to postmodernity to mark the passage with a new definition of the human as animal semeioticum, the semiotic animal, the only animal that not only uses signs but knows that there are signs. If, therefore, semiotics is that knowledge that arises from observation and reflection upon the action of signs, as biology is that knowledge that arises from observation and reflection upon the activity of organisms; and if semiotics has as its principal upshot the realization that, together with the animal experience upon which human knowledge depends, all of human knowledge in whatever field develops through this action which semiotics thematizes, then we can also see that this definition of human nature that semiotics calls for is precisely in terms of genus and difference - a true definition, not merely a description. Since semiotics is the name that corresponds to the knowledge consequent upon the recognition of the being of signs, and since this being, as ontologically relative, transcends sense-perception in what is proper to call it, calling homo sapiens sapiens the "semiotic animal" noy only restores to the res cognitas its bodily and animal components but does so by recognizing that cogitation takes place in and develops throughout upon a wider context of the action of signs. This wider context makes imaginary the solipsism with which modern philosophy struggled to the death - its own - in the denial of the animal realism which makes physical reality always a part even though never the whole of objectivity, the objective world, the Umwelt.

Sõnad:
fulcrum - võll
renvoi - In Conflict of Laws, renvoi (from the French, meaning "send back" or "to return unopened") is a subset of the choice of law rules and it may be applied whenever a forum court is directed to consider the law of another state.
gainsay - eitama, vastu vaidlema, vaidlustama, vastustama
bluejay - The Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is a passerine bird, and a member of the family Corvidae native to North America
accrue - juurde kasvama, lisanduma, omandusse minema
risible - naeru-, naerualdis, naermaajav, naerutav, naerev
diamante - adornment consisting of a small piece of shiny material used to decorate clothing
bifurcate - kahveljas ; kaheks hargnema
portend - ette kuulutama, märku andma
exaptation - The use of a biological structure or function for a purpose other than that for which it initially evolved
stipulate - tingimuseks seadma, sätestama, ette nägema
admixture - the state of impairing the quality or reducing the value of something
panoply - täisrelvastus, täisvarustus, uhke rivi ; varustama
febrile - palaviku-, palavikuline
maim - vigastama, sandistama
nascent - tärkav, äsjasündinud, vastne, uus
obtuse - nüri, tömp, tuim, ümar

Üsna pea loen läbi ka sama raamatu eestikeelse tõlke ja kunagi tõenäoliselt pöördun selle teose poole tagasi. Siin on palju mida oleks vaja teada, aga mida mul praegu veel pole võimalik mõista.