The formalization of elementary semiotic structures

Jean Petitot

pp. 33-54

in: Dario Compagno (ed), Quantitative semiotic analysis, Berlin, Springer, 2018

Abstract

Dynamical structuralism was a theoretical innovation in the 1970s, born of a synthesis between the mathematical works of René Thom that applied singularity theory to structuralism in biology and linguistics (Thom in Stabilité structurelle et Morphogenèse, New York, Benjamin, Paris, Ediscience, 1972), and the work of structuralists such as Roman Jakobson, Claude Lévi-Strauss and Algirdas Julien Greimas. At first, dynamic structuralism was misunderstood because such a multilevel non-algebraic modelling approach to the concept of structure was unusual. However, it can be considered as quite recognized today, given that even its ancient detractors now contribute to its promotion.

Cited authors

Jakobson Roman

Lévi-Strauss Claude

Thom René