This Spring features a series of workshops pertaining to understanding, hosted by the Humanities division of the University of Bucharest’s Research Institute (ICUB-SSU).
10.00 AM (Bucharest Time), Alin Olteanu (RWTH Aachen University/KHK Cultures of Research), The semiotic contribution to the digital humanities: Media and modelling
Abstract. I explore the main avenues for developing semiotic theory as a philosophy for the digital humanities. The starting point consists in the shared scope of computers and semiotic theory: computers are modeling machines and semiotics, on most accounts, is a modeling theory. Thus, the analytical tools of the latter should lend themselves as to constitute a philosophical and underpinning theory of digital media and human-computer interaction. Thus, I propose grounding the digital humanities in biosemiotics, as a non-glottocentric theory of meaning, where modelling is equated with creating environments. More than an analytical framework for understanding the work of computers and how they shape human societies, this contributes to the biocentric view in the humanities in general, as an important step in removing ideological (Romantic) notions of culture as hierarchical and strictly human. Employing the notions of media affordance and semiotic competence, I argue that biosemiotics, by problematizing technology in relation to embodiment, offers a view of computers as a uniquely human technology which, in turn, urges for a reconsideration of notions such as human and culture, as inherited from a long tradition of empirically unfounded speculation in the humanities.
Meetings are held virtually via Zoom. Whenever possible, talks will be recorded and posted on the YouTube channel of the Department of Theoretical Philosophy at UB: https://www.youtube.com/
The workshops are part of the “Understanding: phenomenal and epistemic aspects” project. This is an UEFISCDI postdoctoral project granted to Andrei Mărășoiu (no. PN-III-P1-1.1-PD-2019-0535).
The meetings are part of an initiative to encourage early career researchers, to build research networks, develop new insights and collaborative projects, all the while exploring the significance of understanding in a variety of contexts of inquiry.
If you’d like to attend any of the workshops, please message andrei.marasoiu@filosofie.