Cultural studies constitutes one of the most multi-perspectival research fields. Amidst a polyvocal theoretical landscape that spans different disciplines semiotics is of foundational value. In an attempt to effectively address the conceptual richness of the semiotic discipline, a wide roster of perspectives is evoked in this book against the background of a diverse set of cultural phenomena, including structuralist and post-structuralist semiotics, semiotically informed psychoanalysis, cultural semiotics, film semiotics, sociosemiotics, but also, to a lesser extent, music semiotics and more niche, but certainly promising perspectives, such as postmodern semiotics, ethnosemiotics, phenomenological semiotics and rhetorical semiotics. The recruitment of semiotic frameworks and concepts is enacted against the background of advances in cultural studies (thus reinstating the dialogue with a discipline that took form by drawing on semiotics in the first place) and the various research streams that have become consolidated within the wider cultural studies territory, such as memory studies, celebrity studies, death studies, cultural geography, visual studies. At the same time, the offered readings engage dialogically with Consumer Culture Theory.

Media Literacy and Semiotics provides helpful tools to help readers think critically about the meaning of the media images they are exposed to on a daily basis. In this comprehensive book, a basic model of semiotic logic is applied to a variety of media studies to promote critical thinking and media literacy. Elliot Gaines systematically analyzes the hidden meanings in mass-mediated products and texts, and shows how basic meaning structures underlie everything from The Daily Show to television documentaries to infotainment.

The first comprehensive study in English of Umberto Eco's theories and fictions.

Through a reevaluation of the work of some of the most important thinkers of the twentieth century, this book details how semiotics, social sense, and social communication can function together to analyze how culture works in the contemporary era.

How and when did the kiss become a vital sign of romance and love? In this wide-ranging book, pop culture expert Marcel Danesi takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the history of the kiss, from poetry and painting to movies and popular songs, and argues that its romantic incarnation signaled the birth of popular culture.

The Semiotics of Consumption: Interpreting Symbolic Consumer Behavior in Popular Culture and Works of Art (Approaches to Semiotics).

Popular Culture: Introductory Perspectives seeks to define pop culture by exploring the ways that it fulfills our human desire for meaning.The second edition investigates current contexts for popular culture, including the rise of the digital global village through new technology and offers up-to-date examples that connect with today's students."

Arthur Asa Berger's unique ability to translate difficult theories into accessible language makes this book an ideal introduction to cultural criticism. Berger covers the key theorists, concepts, and subject areas, from literary, sociological and psychoanalytical theories to semiotics and Marxism. Cultural Criticism breathes new life into the discipline by making these theories relevant to students' lives. The author illustrates his explanations with excerpts from classic works giving readers a sense of the important thinkers' styles and helping place them in their context. Berger also provides a comprehensive bibliography on cultural criticism for those who wish to explore the topics at greater length. Cultural Criticism is the perfect undergraduate supplemental text for such courses as media studies, literary criticism, and popular culture.

In this introduction to the semiotic theory of one of the most innovative theorists of the twentieth century, the Russian literary scholar and semiotician Yuri Lotman, offers a new look at Lotman's profound legacy by conceptualizing his ideas in modern context and presenting them as a useful tool of cultural analysis.