Affective semiosis and perceptual semiosis: A semiotic psychoanalytic field theory grounded on Matte Blanco

Abstract

Starting from critical points of the research agenda on emotions, this paper aims to present and discuss a dynamic field model of the interaction between affective semiosis and perceptual semiosis. Conceptually, the model is grounded in the epistemological contribution of Ignacio Matte Blanco’s psychoanalytic theory, which formalizes two kinds of logic at the foundation of human experience: asymmetrical (the basis of the activity of conscious rational thought and functioning through distinction and separation processes) and symmetrical (the basis of unconscious processes, aimed at homogenization and generalization). Accordingly, affective semiosis is characterized by a predominance of symmetrizing and generalizing modalities, tending to homogenize differences and render all stimuli indistinct and undifferentiated according to a function of pertinentization (i.e. by the definition of a ground – à la Peirce). This ground offers a temporary stability to discretize the elements of experience. Conversely, perceptive semiosis focuses on discretization and identification, operating through the recognition of differences within the pertinentized field. Perceptual semiosis, which seeks to identify differences, can only function if a background serving as an element of continuity remains stable. Finally, the study explores specific dynamics that illustrate the necessary intertwining of affective and perceptual semiosis through the application of non-linear descriptive models, characterized by oscillatory and complementary trends.