Just a side note -- while I don't, in any way, want to diminish Augustine's role in the development of semiotics, he was hardly the first to link a theory of signs to theories about language. The realism/nominalism debate had been around for quite some time, and in a sense, Augustine was constructing a Christian contextualization of the (neo-)Platonist position -- that there's a universe of "true form" that signs *in principle* could refer to entities in, that the actual sound used for the sign can be arbitrary, and that humans don't perceive "true form" directly and can therefore mess things up royally. If I'm remembering the historiographic material I've read correctly (sorry, as an academic, I'm required by law to hedge at least once per email, or at least, that's what I've been given to understand), pretty much all medieval approaches to semiotics used Augustine as a starting point until Aquinas, though, so he's certainly central to the field. Bill Spruiell Dept. of English Central Michigan University -----Original Message----- From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of diane skinner Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2008 3:04 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Semiotics The field of semiotics is fascinating. These studies have become such an intricate part of so many disciplines since St Augustine in On Christian Doctrine (ca. 395 ) linked the theory of signs to a theory of language for the practice of unraveling and interpreting the figurative language in the Scriptures. Augustine' s principles, the basic elements of signification, were transmitted to the modern linguist Ferdinand De Saussure, who coined the term "semiology." Roland Barthes explored the semiology of fashion, advertising, and travel. Claude Levi-Strauss studied myths and kinship systems within different cultures as a system of signs to be interpreted. Jacques Lacan used Saussure to reformulate Freud in linguistic terms. And figurative signs "commuted" (to use Jacques Derrida's term) things into signs in a process that may be, for modern theorists, interminable--this process of commutation, however, undermines the stable referentiality that Augustine sought. Ah, full circle--can the world and words really be commensurate? Diane To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/