Przestrzeń semiotyczna miasta: problemy i propozycje badawcze

Abstract

Researching the local space equals the preferences of the holistic attitude in the anthropology of the city. A strongly urbanized local space is marked by condensation of social and cultural phenomena which are reflected in various symbolic actions. Forms of graffiti, based on mythical structures of image or memory places constitute the semiotic space of the city. The semiotic space of the local area is not alike the space of the city as an urbanist whole although it is directly and indirectly connected with it. On the one hand, it is a collection of objectivised products of symbolic actions and on the other hand, the means of establishing social relations and articulating defined cultural phenomena. The phenomena taking place in the semiotic space of the city can be grouped into two main fields. The first one includes material objects of the sign type and objectivisd representations of particular value and idea, typical of sensori-motor perception. The second one would involve imaginative-notional objects, fulfilling the mythical function and referring to models of the world appearing in a given culture. Due to the diversity of the phenomena taking place in a semiotic space the research examining it should base on the application of various methods, paying special attention to the structural-semiotic method.