From Interaction to Symbol
A systems view of the evolution of signs and communication
1st Edition
Published on 23. September 2009
XXI, 300 pages
978-90-272-8890-5 (ISBN)
Description
Against the background of jargon-ridden and often obscure semiotic literature Sadowski's book offers a reader-friendly yet rigorous account of human communication and its evolution from animal and primate behaviour. What is specifically human about the way we exchange information with other people, and to what extent are our facial expressions, body language, and even emotive elements of speech still indebted to our pre-human ancestors? Why can the chimpanzees, smart as they are, not interpret animal tracks in the ground; why did religions often ban representational art; why is photography perceptually more powerful than painting; how have human syntactic speech and combinatorial grammar enabled the "explosion" of culture; and why do otherwise rational humans often strongly believe in the objective existence of unempirical, virtual entities such as religious and philosophic concepts? These and many other fascinating questions are addressed in the book within the methodological framework of systems theory and evolutionary psychology.
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Book
09/2009
John Benjamins Publishing Co
€111.30
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Content
List of figures
Acknowledgements
Preface
Chapter 1. Systems theory: Between philosophy and science, but more science than philosophy
Chapter 2. Towards a systems model of communication
Chapter 3. Needs as motivators of behaviour
Chapter 4. From emotive vocalizations to bodily adornments: The origins of referentiality
Chapter 5. Photography, or the magic of iconic indexicality
Chapter 6. Photography plus movement, or even more magic
Chapter 7. From mimicry to metaphor: The origins of art
Chapter 9. The thrills of visual realism
Chapter 10. Linguistic iconicity and the limits of arbitrariness
Chapter 11. The origins of language and the advantages of arbitrariness
Chapter 12. Language and the symbolic compulsion
References
Index
Acknowledgements
Preface
Chapter 1. Systems theory: Between philosophy and science, but more science than philosophy
Chapter 2. Towards a systems model of communication
Chapter 3. Needs as motivators of behaviour
Chapter 4. From emotive vocalizations to bodily adornments: The origins of referentiality
Chapter 5. Photography, or the magic of iconic indexicality
Chapter 6. Photography plus movement, or even more magic
Chapter 7. From mimicry to metaphor: The origins of art
Chapter 9. The thrills of visual realism
Chapter 10. Linguistic iconicity and the limits of arbitrariness
Chapter 11. The origins of language and the advantages of arbitrariness
Chapter 12. Language and the symbolic compulsion
References
Index
