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BestsellerE-book
Author Pelkey, Jamin R., 1974- author.

Title The Semiotics of X : chiasmus, cognition and extreme body memory / Jamin Pelkey.

Publication Info. London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, [2017]

Item Status

Description 1 online resource.
Physical Medium polychrome
Description text file
Series Bloomsbury advances in semiotics
Bloomsbury advances in semiotics.
Note Includes index.
Contents Paleo-gesture and the Vitruvian man -- Spread-eagle in sports and torture -- Spread-eagle brand marks -- Through the hourglass -- Semiotic squares and double-binds -- Foot fingers and arm thighs -- XXX: All alone in the solipsistic crowd -- XOXOXO: Figure meets ground.
Summary The X figure is ubiquitous in contemporary culture, but attempts to explain our fixation with X are rare. This book argues that the origins and meanings of X go far beyond alphabets and archetypes to remembered feelings of body movements - movements best typified in the performance of "spread-eagle" as a posture or gesture. These body memories are then projected onto other patterns and dynamics to help us make sense of the world. The argument is accomplished using a blend of insights from linguistic anthropology, cognitive linguistics, rhetoric culture and process semiotics to bring together revealing clues from languages, cultures and thinkers around the world. Chief among the uses and experiences of X are its tendencies to involve us in surprising reversals and blends. In ancient times the X-pattern was discussed as "chiasmus", a figure which, according to Maurice Merleau-Ponty, informs the most basic elements of our bodily experience, calling into question polarized dichotomies such as subject versus object. Pushed to extremes, presumed opposites like these tend to reverse suddenly. Likewise, blended experiences of our bodily extremities - arms and legs, toes and fingers, hands and feet - provide a plausible source of grounding for unique human abilities like analogy and double-scope conceptual integration.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject Semiotics -- Social aspects.
Semiotics -- Social aspects.
Visual communication -- Social aspects.
Visual communication -- Social aspects.
Visual communication.
Nonverbal communication -- Social aspects.
Nonverbal communication.
Social aspects.
Signs and symbols -- Social aspects.
Signs and symbols -- Social aspects.
Signs and symbols.
Language and culture.
Language and culture.
Anthropological linguistics.
Anthropological linguistics.
Genre/Form Electronic books.
Electronic books.
Other Form: Print version: Pelkey, Jamin R., 1974- Semiotics of X. London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, [2017] 9781474273824 (DLC) 2016038823 (OCoLC)954270949
ISBN 9781474273855 (electronic book)
1474273858 (electronic book)
9781474273824
1474273823
9781474273831 (ePub)
9781474273862 (online)
1474273866
1474273831 (electronic book)
9781474273831