Article

Pretesa sistematica e tensioni teoriche del Trattato di semiotica generale / Systematic claims and theoretical ambitions into the Trattato di semiotica generale

in Versus n. 121, Rileggere un classico: il Trattato di semiotica generale 40 anni dopo / Rereading a classic: Trattato di semiotica generale 40 years later, pp.27-37

Abstract (english)

Eco’s Trattato di semiotica generale was written with the ambition to constitute the philosophical foundation of the semiotic theory. In fact it was the central text of Italian semiotics, and has characterized its developments in the decades since its publication. Although its model is highly systematic, in the Trattato one must distinguish several theoretical influences in tension between them, from the structuralism to the mathematical information theory until the Peircean heritage. The Trattato seeks a balance between these different theoretical positions, but it is an unstable equilibrium, which Eco will have to reprocess deeply in the continuation of its theoretical work. This paper proposes to highlight the internal pretension of the text and the tensions that pass through it.