Semiology

Integration and coherence within a city’s physical structure have become an issue for towns and cities as they rapidly expand, incorporate new elements, and undergo incessant changes. At present, we are facing an extensive accumulation of signs and traits in modern urban patterns; many unaccustomed to and incongruous are affecting the socio-cultural and physical characters of cities. Here, we will be discussing whether it would be feasible to create a system of domestic signs which would reflect domestic social values and mental images held and entertained by citizens, and thus to re-create the sign system of cities. We will also discuss factors involved in interpretation of signs and symbols within a city structure. To prevent emergence or exacerbation of contradiction and disunity within syntagmatic urban structures which have been formed through centuries, we must acquire the knowledge and skill necessary to contain the newly adopted elements and assimilate them into a meaningful and coherent whole. In line with this goal, we have conducted a study of changes of physical structures of the city of Yazd through time (a diachronic analysis) with the aim of identifying sustainable parts of the city’s sign system and with an emphasis on the extent in which it has been formed. The questions which were the motivations behind this work and which we will be trying to answer are: Can the sign system within a city be used as a means for creating an alternative structure within the city’s physicality? Is the sign system (as a tool) characterized by specific patterns on whose identification the coherence of the physical structure of a city depends? How can we achieve an appropriate paradigm within an urban sign system? Here we will try to identify processes of integration of modern urban structures into a city structure, and we will do it through combining views held by semiologists with the ideas of urban incongruity and contradiction, which arise as a result of introduction of modern structures into old cities. To transform the medley into a coherent entity, we need to be aware that cities possess markedness. To this end, we have employed the structuralist analytical method with an emphasis on identification of syntagmatic structures (identifying the structural elements and their relative positions within a city) and of paradigmatic patterns (the ways in which elements substitute for or replace one another). Our main aim here is to extend the scope of studies of urban semiology and introduce analytical tools including the use of structuralism theory in the analysis of urban patterns. We have conducted an in-depth analysis of subjective and objective causes of appearance of signs within cities. We have then conducted case discussions as well as discussions about backgrounds and have tried to establish past and current trends of these signs and symbols in Yazd. Extended data were analyzed based on theoretical notions, paradigms and principles governing systems of signs and symbols have been sought.

City is the most complicated and tangible creature of man. There is a critical mutual communication between human and city; and the effect of one’ living environment is beyond question. Graffiti is a new urban phenomenon, which has drawn attention in light of its connection with protestation culture and street art. Thanks to symbolism of graffiti, the artists have added mysterious aspects to their work and distinguished themselves from formal culture. Social protestation is the most notable feature of the graffiti found in Iranian cities. However, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no notable research work in Iran on the relationship of human, society, and existence from of graffiti symbolism viewpoint in particular. The present study is an attempt to survey and evaluate common symbols used on urban graffiti through documentary research. Technique and content analysis in stratified semiology based on Iranian-Islamic culture were taken into account.

Sperber, trained in the Durkheimian sociological tradition, has pursued his intellectual project inspired by Lévi-Strauss’s structural anthropology. However, he has not confined his studies to Durkheim’s semiological and Lévi-Strauss’s linguistic views. Instead, he has provided innovative explanations of how symbolic systems and symbolic propositions function. Sperber initially extracted principles from logical positivism to demonstrate how semantic and encyclopedic knowledge shape our understanding of propositions. Nevertheless, he discovered that symbolic propositions do not adhere to these principles. Their verifiability hinges on a distinction between the objective and mythological levels, allowing the primitive mind to simultaneously experience reality and myth without conflating them. This study aims to trace the sources of Sperber’s intellectual trajectory and analyze his arguments. It reveals that symbolic propositions cannot be defined as merely mental but not rational, as proposed by Frazer or Lévy-Bruhl. Sperber’s theory posits that symbolism is an autonomous field of cognition, independent of any semiological framework, and is more credible than the dominant theories of his time. Ultimately, the author contends that Sperber’s propositions, despite his claims, lack the universality required to explain the mechanism of symbolic propositions. This is because implicit knowledge, along with the specific experiences of individuals or societies, plays a unique role in understanding symbolic propositions.