TY - JOUR

T1 - The legacy and future of Saussurean semiology in the study of art and visual communication

AU - Rudloff, Maja

AU - Kjærboe, Rasmus

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - The present study discusses how the emergence of semiology has outlined a new trajectory for visual and pictorial studies. First, we outline how Ferdinand de Saussure’s thoughts on the sign and its relation to visual communication has developed. Second, we interrogate its impact on art history, an already established science of visuality, throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Third, we briefly discuss whether art history’s answer to reading Saussure is a denial or a positive affirmation of political responsibility shared by visual studies in general. The study highlights some of the most pertinent parts of the Saussurean legacy for the study of visual communication as a system, and some of the challenges and opportunities this legacy has created.

AB - The present study discusses how the emergence of semiology has outlined a new trajectory for visual and pictorial studies. First, we outline how Ferdinand de Saussure’s thoughts on the sign and its relation to visual communication has developed. Second, we interrogate its impact on art history, an already established science of visuality, throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Third, we briefly discuss whether art history’s answer to reading Saussure is a denial or a positive affirmation of political responsibility shared by visual studies in general. The study highlights some of the most pertinent parts of the Saussurean legacy for the study of visual communication as a system, and some of the challenges and opportunities this legacy has created.

U2 - 10.1515/lass-2022-080113

DO - 10.1515/lass-2022-080113

M3 - Journal article

VL - 8

SP - 123

EP - 132

JO - Language and Semiotic Studies

JF - Language and Semiotic Studies

SN - 2751-7160

IS - 1

ER -