The semiosphere is the semiotic space in which people are immersed.
The idea of semiosphere , also mentioned as semiosphere , refers to the semiotic space in which human beings are immersed. Inside this abstract zone are all cultural phenomena and natural languages .
Space of signs
The Russian semiologist and linguist Yuri Lotman (1922-1993) was the one who coined the concept, based on the notion of biosphere developed by Vladimir Vernadsky (1863-1945). For Lotman , the semiosphere is where semiotic systems are built from interactions, in addition to being the only place where semiosis (the processes that involve signs) can exist.
It is important to highlight that people are an inseparable part of the semiotic space given by the semiosphere. Lotman , in this sense, emphasizes that man cannot separate himself from the space of symbols, signs and languages .
The semiosphere is closed at the point where it cannot establish links with those texts that are foreign to it according to semiotics . Nor can it be related to non-texts. Therefore, a text can only acquire reality within the semiosphere by being translated into a language that is found in said space. Non-semiotic facts, meanwhile, must be semiotized.
It can be said that the semiosphere is equivalent to the totality of the symbols of a culture and the interactions that individuals forge with them, reflected in their communicative acts . If a subject wants to communicate with someone who is outside his or her semiosphere, he or she must find shared signs, since otherwise communication cannot take place. And this relates to the boundaries that Lotman recognizes as part of the semiosphere, as there is a clear distinction between the outside and the inside, with an obligatory middle layer needed for translation.
Semiology
One of the fundamental concepts to understand the semiosphere is semiology , which is also known by the name semiotics . In short, it is the discipline dedicated to studying signs and symbols, as well as the way in which they are created by our species. We understand the concept of a sign as anything that allows us to communicate, transmit a message that whoever receives it must interpret. A symbol , on the other hand, is something material or abstract that represents an idea or an entity, among other possibilities, for all individuals who know it, who are part of the same culture or understand it in depth. While the letters of the alphabet are signs, a dove can symbolize peace.
To communicate we use signs and symbols.
Yuri Lotman
His full name was Yuri Mikhailovich Lotman and he lived between 1922 and 1993. He was an important Russian semiologist and linguist, author of culturology , a discipline belonging to cultural anthropology that focuses on the study and interpretation of culture, that series of phenomena that distinguish the various groups of people on the planet. His work and contributions place him at the center of cultural semiotics , which studies the systems that each culture has to communicate through meaning, and he was also a prestigious literary author, with a strong interest in the history of his country.
His academic training was enviable: in addition to studying language and literature, he became interested in folklore, poetic language and history, through different courses. In part, he accessed all these opportunities because he was born into a wealthy family, which opened the doors to an unusual student path. Some of his best-known works, published between 1978 and 1999, are the following: Structure of the artistic text , Semiotics of culture , About the semiosphere , Culture and explosion: the predictable and the unpredictable in the processes of social change .