Universe of the Mind: A Semiotic Theory of Culture

by Yuri M. Lotman

Paperback in very good condition. Introduction by Umberto Eco. HCW

Genres: Semiotics, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Russian Literature, Language, Linguistics, Psychology

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Yuri Mikhailovich Lotman (Russian: Юрий Михайлович Лотман, Estonian: Juri Lotman) – a prominent Soviet formalist critic, semiotician, and culturologist. Member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. He was the founder of structural semiotics in culturology and is considered as the first Soviet structuralist by writing his book On the Delimitation of Linguistic and Philological Concepts of Structure (1963). The number of his printed works exceeds 800 titles and the archive of his letters, now kept in the scientific library of the University of Tartu, and which includes his correspondence with a number of Russian intellectuals, is immense.

Reviews

[Sachin · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most astonishing books I have ever read. It is probably one of the most ambitious attempts at theorizing culture. Lotman's insights regarding parallels between human intelligence, text and culture is remarkable. A must read for anyone who cares about human culture and civilization.

[Ira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating, refreshingly uninvolved in fashionable diatribes of the time, Lotman does not do without structuralism to make sense of cultural change. Yes, a seemingly impossible task, but his attempt is well worth reading, if only because in the process he invented the concept of semiosphere, currently quite à la mode due to Bifo's proselytisation, and positions it skilfully at the centre of where language meets history. His involvement with Russian formalism is palpable. His examples not exclusive to literature and often drawn from everyday languages and mores, his democratic sensibilities and original attitude to the subjects he handles are refreshing to read. The introduction by Umberto Eco, too, concise, beautiful, essential.

[Boen Mada]

like the term!