Tracing the Semiotic Boundaries of Politics

413 Pages·1993·9.764 MB·English

by  Pertti Ahonen (editor)

Tracing the Semiotic Boundaries of Politics
Approaches to Semiotics
III
Editorial Committee
Thomas A. Sebeok
Roland Posner
Alain Rey
Mouton de Gruyter
Berlin • New York
Tracing the
Semiotic Boundaries of Politics
Edited by
Pertti Ahonen
Mouton de Gruyter
Berlin • New York 1993
Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague)
is a Division of Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin.
@ Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines of the
ANSI to ensure permanence and durability.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Tracing the Semiotic Boundaries of Politics / edited by Pertti
Ahonen.
p. cm. — (Approaches to semiotics : III)
Some articles were originally presented at the Workshop
on Semiotics of the Colloquium on Language and Politics,
University of Helsinki. Dec. 12-15, 1988.
Includes bibliographical references ( p.) and index.
ISBN 3-11-013533-7 (acid-free paper)
1. Semiotics. 2. Language and languages — Political
aspects. 3. Discourse analysis. I. Ahonen Pertti. II. Series.
P99.T734 1993
302.2-dc20 93-25329
CIP
Die Deutsche Bibliothek — Cataloging in Publication Data
Tracing the Semiotic Boundaries of Politics : / ed. by Pertti
Ahonen. — Berlin ; New York : Mouton de Gruyter, 1993
(Approaches to semiotics ; III)
ISBN 3-11-013533-7
NE: Ahonen, Pertii [Hrsg.]; GT
© Copyright 1993 by Walter de Gruyter & Co., D-10785 Berlin.
All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this
book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any Information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Disk conversion and printing: Arthur Collignon GmbH, Berlin.
Binding: Lüderitz & Bauer GmbH, Berlin.
Printed in Germany.
Preface
The first versions of some of the articles in this book were originally
presented at the Workshop on Semiotics of the Colloquium on Language
and Politics, University in Helsinki, December 12 — 15, 1988, but most
of the articles were begun only after the Workshop. The articles are
intended to be representative of the current multiplicity of perspectives
in the field of language and politics in general, and of the boundaries of
semiotic studies on language and politics in particular. Here, both "se-
miotics" and "politics" are used in their broadest sense.
As any editorial work, also the present one has necessitated choices,
sometimes hard ones. I was not able to obtain every essay I tried to, I
had to omit a few essays that did not reach the Standard I considered
indispensable, and many complications with delays occurred before the
work came to its finish. The sole responsibility for the editorial and
related decisions is mine. All the authors have deserved my deepest
gratitude; they should receive all recognition where true achievements are
recorded in the following pages. My gratitude extends no less to those
who provided the final Version of their essay early and showed admirable
patience during the prolonged process of preparing the complete manu-
script than to those who were responsive to my requests for revisions of
any kind.
Peter Goodrich, Rebecca Kaufmann, Thomas A. Sebeok, Roberta
Kevelson and Pekka Tirronen receive my special appreciation for their
collaboration and suggestions during the editorial stage. I am also obli-
gated to the Academy of Finland for their fmancial support kindly made
available through the Finnish Association of Semiotics, the support and
encouragement of Thomas A. Sebeok and Eero Tarasti, and, last but not
least, to Mouton de Gruyter publishers for the opportunity of having the
book come out.
livantiira, Finland, Midsummer's Day, 1993 Pertti Ahonen

Contents
A Copernican revolution in political research: Reflections on the
rainbow of essays in this book
Pertti Ahonen 1
Part I:
A rainbow of perspectives: Whence they came and where they are
now 29
Political semiotics and the zero signifier
Charles Lemert 31
Textuality, social science, and society
Richard Harvey Brown 43
In re-search of plenitude: Some epistemological remarks in the
postmodern era
Philippe Daudi 61
Textual strategies or strategies with texts: Tel Quel and the social
conditions of production of an avant-garde
Niilo Kauppi 87
Part II:
Stretching the rainbow: Colors fading and reappearing 101
Answering back: Power struggles in story and speech
Peter Corrigan 103
Semantic strategies as a means of pohtics: Linguistic approaches to
the analysis of "semantic struggles"
Dietrich Busse 121
Rationahty and adlinguisticity in Foucault's poHtical action
Pompeu Casanovas 129
viii Contents
Part III:
Re-establishing links between political and legal discourse 157
Public opinion, rights, revolutions: Transformations in laws and
values
Roberto Kevelson 159
Habeas Corpus: A semiotic analysis of common law cartographies
Peter Goodrich and Yifat Hachamovitch 175
The monopoly of legal discourse
Paula Tiihonen 203
Part IV:
Semioticizing management and organizations 217
The rhetorics of bureaucracy
Hilkka Summa 219
Reconstructing cultural analysis in organizations: Alternatives to
the modernist tale
Majken Schultz 233
Identity, recursiveness and change: Semiotics and beyond
Jannis Kallinikos 257
Technologies of representation
Robert Cooper 279
Part V:
The study of communication as a contemporary breeding ground 313
City marketing: A semiotic analysis
Rebecca Kaufmann 315
Who's afraid of the big bad tube? American prime time tv, Finnish
audiences: meanings, pleasures, and the rule of aberrations
Dan Steinbock 331
Contents ix
Benefit of the nation and self-interest: Some story/ies of a Finnish
political debate
Tom Maring 353
Center and periphery in international communication
Solomon Marcus 371
Index 393