TY - GEN

T1 - Pragmatic and Structuralist Semiotics: A Comparative Analysis of their Utility in Knowledge Organization Systems

AU - Thellefsen, Martin Muderspach

N1 - Conference code: 18

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - This study explores the usefulness of the two dominant schools of semiotics, the pragmatic and the structuralist, in the context of knowledge organization. Semiotics is a theoretical and methodological framework that investigates the nature of representations and how signs represent or stand for something else. Both schools of semiotics share a focus on understanding the function and basic foundations of a sign, but they differ significantly in their approach and starting point. The paper argues that the pragmatic branch's open approach to signification and unlimited semiosis is particularly useful for investigating the contextual and discursive properties of information and knowledge, while the structuralist branch's focus on semantic units, conceptual differences, and structural relationships is better suited for exploring the semantic structure of knowledge organization systems. The study hypothesizes that the structuralist view of semiotics may be advantageous for providing guiding principles for knowledge organization systems, while the pragmatic semiotic view may prove useful for analyzing knowledge communities and elucidating the prevailing theories and epistemological viewpoints. The aim of the study is to showcase the various utilities of these two semiotic approaches and enrich our understanding of knowledge organization theory.

AB - This study explores the usefulness of the two dominant schools of semiotics, the pragmatic and the structuralist, in the context of knowledge organization. Semiotics is a theoretical and methodological framework that investigates the nature of representations and how signs represent or stand for something else. Both schools of semiotics share a focus on understanding the function and basic foundations of a sign, but they differ significantly in their approach and starting point. The paper argues that the pragmatic branch's open approach to signification and unlimited semiosis is particularly useful for investigating the contextual and discursive properties of information and knowledge, while the structuralist branch's focus on semantic units, conceptual differences, and structural relationships is better suited for exploring the semantic structure of knowledge organization systems. The study hypothesizes that the structuralist view of semiotics may be advantageous for providing guiding principles for knowledge organization systems, while the pragmatic semiotic view may prove useful for analyzing knowledge communities and elucidating the prevailing theories and epistemological viewpoints. The aim of the study is to showcase the various utilities of these two semiotic approaches and enrich our understanding of knowledge organization theory.

U2 - 10.5771/9783987400476

DO - 10.5771/9783987400476

M3 - Article in proceedings

SP - 233

EP - 245

BT - Eighteenth International Society for Knowledge Organization Conference (ISKO 2024). Wuhan, China and Online March 20-22, 2024

Y2 - 20 March 2024 through 22 March 2024

ER -