Sign Systems Studies

Front Matter

Editors — 2026-08-25

Editors’ preface. Learning in transformation

Maarja Ojamaa — 2026-08-25

Editors’ preface. Learning in transformation

When the undecipherable acquires a special value: Code of communication in the correspondence between Juri Lotman and Boris Egorov

Ewelina Pilarczyk — 2026-08-25

A distinctive creative atmosphere, dialogue, and the application of ‘language for oneself’ (in Juri Lotman’s terms), along with other features, characterize the intellectual environment of the Tartu–Moscow School of Semiotics. These elements are vividly reflected in the 1960s correspondence between Juri Lotman and Boris Egorov – two prominent members of the school, who developed a unique code of communication through creative devices. The publication of their letters brings to light the paradox discussed by Lotman in his article entitled “The text and the structure of its audience”: a text gains value through its undecipherability for a new audience. The study aims to identify the main techniques that act as carriers of creative memory, drawing on Lotman’s concept of ‘language for oneself’ and his theory of cultural memory. A semiotic approach is used to decipher the code of communication and reconstruct the underlying contexts, revealing the layered meanings within the correspondence. The analysis delivers a deeper insight into the intellectual discourse of both authors, in which the code of communication accumulates indirect information about the past, and the creative devices employed in it serve not only as a form of intellectual play but also reveal a subtle “draft of the past”, including what was impossible or undesirable in the USSR. Thus, the research highlights the role of epistolary practices in sustaining the intellectual tradition of the Tartu–Moscow School of Semiotics and in developing a poetics of memory that ensures the continuity, cohesion, and subtle transmission of its cultural and creative legacy.

Edusemiotics: From theoretical foundations to emerging learning applications

Seyedeh Maede Mirsonbol — 2026-08-25

This article explores the evolution of ‘edusemiotics’ in the literature on philosophy of education and semiotics and leads to a research proposal for constructive and dynamic learning inspired by this notion. The study aims to synthesize current literature on edusemiotics, highlighting its foundational concepts and their implications for pedagogical practices. It is structured into three main sections. In the section on the theoretical background, key principles of edusemiotics are examined, providing a transdisciplinary view for understanding the interplay between signs and learning processes. The second section is concerned with the current state of edusemiotics and evaluates contemporary models for pedagogy, providing examples that are designed to offer applications of edusemiotics, assessing its integration into various educational contexts and its impact on teaching and learning methodologies. In the final section, the paper discusses the potential of semiosis activities in shaping the future of learning, emphasizing how learning-as-semiosis can foster student-centred approaches in constructive learning. The paper clarifies the role of edusemiotics in advancing educational approaches and enhancing teaching and learning outcomes.

Looking for ‘the common’ in the process of learning: Charles S. Peirce’s community of enquiry and Fernand Deligny’s ‘Arachnean’

Marta Kucza — 2026-08-25

This article is an attempt to articulate Charles S. Peirce’s ‘community of enquiry’ and the philosophy developed by Fernand Deligny through his longterm work with autistic people. Following Peirce, knowledge is an indefinite, never accomplished, process, increasing with a plurality of voices. Deligny’s perspective allows us to expand the Peircean notion of the community of enquiry and include modes of enquiry beyond the symbolic order. Through notions such as ‘wander lines’, which make visible shared territory without language, and ‘Arachnean’, a network without subjects, Deligny provides a radical conceptual framework for understanding modes of existence and bodily practices beyond the symbolic realm. He proposes the possibility of non-symbolic thought based on indexicality: it is neither speech nor gaze that makes up the common, but shared territory. These two complementary lines of thought provide the philosophical foundation for more-than-human participatory research.

Understanding irreducibility in semiosis via the image

J. Augustus Bacigalupi — 2026-08-25

This paper will start by explaining both the nature and importance of irreducibility in the process of semiosis. Specifically, it will demonstrate how this concept is necessary to Peirce’s triadic approach to semiosis, Uexküll’s ‘functional circle’ and Lotman’s ‘creative function’ in human meaning making. These models will then be further elucidated through the non-semiotic lens of Bergson’s concept of ‘image’. All of these interrelated concepts of semiosis, including image, will then be explained via a novel, buildable and testable technology, which will ground semiosis in a physical process involving self-biasing circuits immersed in their own shared milieu of noise. Based on these arguments, the paper will conclude that semiosis can be understood as an irreducible image. This novel approach to semiosis can transform how the process of learning is understood and taught.

From the nursery to the desk: Models and modes of foreign language learning in Russia as reflected in literary texts

Kapitolina Fedorova — 2026-08-25

This article examines different models of foreign language learning, both with and without formal instruction, as they are depicted in Russian literature across various historical periods. It explores the underlying ideas about language acquisition and the attitudes towards different foreign languages reflected in these literary representations, and observes how these ideas correlate with changes in language use over time. Four general models of language learning are identified: the “aristocratic” model, which conveys a natural multilingualism and hierarchy of languages; the “school” model, which highlights pedagogical violence and inefficiency; the “bookish” model, representing self-teaching; and the “everyday acquisition” model, which portrays non-prestigious multilingualism. The data for this study were collected and analysed using the Russian National Corpus, with subcorpuses created for different time periods and genres. A focus was placed on searching for collocations of key lexical terms, including various derivatives of the verb ‘uchit’’ (‘to learn’ or ‘to teach’) and the noun ‘uchitel’’ (‘teacher’), alongside the word ‘yazyk’ (‘language’). This approach allows for a comprehensive exploration of the changing perspectives on language learning and multilingualism in Russian cultural and literary contexts.

Semiotics and teaching

Ivar Kull — 2026-08-25

Proceeding from the subject and the aim of teaching, it is possible to distinguish the following levels or aspects: object language, metalanguage, syntax and semantics. The interrelations and the structure of these levels are studied here. Several examples of mathematical subjects (arithmetic, ALGOL-60) and other topics are presented from the semiotic aspect. The semiotic approach is expedient in cases when mathematical methods are to be applied in the optimizing of the teaching process. It is especially essential in programmed learning.

This article by Ivar Kull (1928–1989) was originally published as “Семиотика и обучение” (1965) in Sign Systems Studies 2: 11–21.

Ivar Kull, a logician in Tartu semiotics (and on the mathematical side in Tartu semiotics of the 1960s)

Kalevi Kull — 2026-08-25

In the early 1960s, literary scholars, linguists, and mathematicians shared an interest in semiotics as a field based on structural methods. This article highlights the role of mathematician Ivar Kull (1928–1989) in Tartu semiotics in the 1960s, and also serves as a commentary on the translation of Kull’s paper “Semiotics and teaching” that appears in this issue. Kull’s paper was first presented at the First Semiotics Summer School at Kääriku in 1964 and published as the opening article of the journal Sign Systems Studies in 1965.

On learning and education as discussed around the Tartu semiotics

Ekaterina Velmezova — 2026-08-25

At first glance, there does not seem to be much explicit interest in the semiotics of learning and education as regards the Tartu–Moscow School of Semiotics in the 20th century, yet at the same time the field of learning and teaching emerges as extremely important from the point of view of general semiotics. The article presents some reflections on problems of learning and education as published in the journal Sign Systems Studies and discussed in the Tartu School of Semiotics in various epochs, as well as in the academic context surrounding it. It takes a particular interest in how the issues related to education were approached by the School’s leading figures Juri Lotman, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Boris Uspenskij. It also appears that several scholars who have closely collaborated with Tartu semioticians (Paul Cobley, Myrdene Anderson, etc.), have also displayed an interest in learning and education. The rise of interest in this field can be explained by the influence of cognitive semiotics which has been advancing considerably in the 21st century.

Conversation with Boris Gasparov about semiotics and its history

Silvi Salupere — 2026-08-25

In this interview Boris Gasparov talks about the history of the Tartu– Moscow School of Semiotics and about his own works on linguistics and musicology. Particular attention is paid to the understanding of the notion of sign as it relates to semiotics and structuralism.

Ferdinand de Saussure, reread in 2025

Ekaterina Velmezova — 2026-08-25

Review of The Bloomsbury Handbook of Saussure. (Joseph, John E., ed.), 2025. London, New York, Oxford, New Delhi, Sydney: Bloomsbury Academic, 370 pp.

Semiotic interludes II at Duke University

Tiit Remm — 2026-08-25

Semiotic interludes II at Duke University