For a semiotics of culture as a critique of culture*

Abstract

The text aims at investigating the vitality of Lotman's thought, focusing on its theoretical specificities (compared to other methodological approaches), on its recurring themes, but above all on its analytical, somehow “operational” utility. In particular, the authors reflect on the critical scope of Lotman's thought and on how the traditional unveiling vocation of semiotics finds in Lotman an adequate renewal for the problems posed by the contemporary world (populisms, new media ecosystems, new forms of collective subjectivity…).