In the science fiction novel titled The Planet of the Apes （1963）, Pierre Boulle tells a story about a completely reversed world where the apes dominate the humans. Coming from the normal world that is ours, a small...In the science fiction novel titled The Planet of the Apes （1963）, Pierre Boulle tells a story about a completely reversed world where the apes dominate the humans. Coming from the normal world that is ours, a small group of people is totally embarrassed and confused by observing this strange world. On the planet of the apes that they have discovered, it is the apes that are more intelligent than the humans. On the earth, it was the other way around. That observation results in their perplexity. The two communities, human and simian, bear with one another the relationship that corresponds to what Lotman calls ＂enantiomorphic pairings＂. In this context, a series of questions deserves to be raised： Is a ＂common language＂ possible between the two communities in the enantiomorphic pairings？ If the answer is yes, under what conditions could they succeed in opening up a space where they can have something in common？ In rereading The Planet of the Apes with reference to Lotman＇s semiotics of culture, we would like to formulate a response to those questions. Our claim is that the experience of finitude of one＇s own language can make possible an access to the new form of universality requisite for the cross-cultural communication： commonality without common points.展开更多
Taking the lead from a tale by French writer Prosper Mérimée,narrating the terrifying story of a statue of Venus that suddenly—and tragically—becomes alive,the paper will dwell on the several versions of t...Taking the lead from a tale by French writer Prosper Mérimée,narrating the terrifying story of a statue of Venus that suddenly—and tragically—becomes alive,the paper will dwell on the several versions of this narrative topos(William of Malmesbury in the 12th Century,Gautier de Coincy in the 13th,Hermann Kroner in the 15th,up to Richard Burton in the 17th,Joseph von Eichendorff in the 19th,Gabriele D’Annunzio in the 20th)in order to semiotically refl ect on two streams of the human imaginary:on the one hand,the statue that becomes alive;on the other hand,the human being that becomes a statue.Following such historical,anthropological,and semiotic excursus,the paper will conclude with an in-depth analysis of a very common present-day urban performance:living statues.Also with reference to contemporary British novel Observatory Mansions,by Edward Carey,the paper will seek to answer the following questions:why is the spectacle of the human body that becomes like stone so fascinating?Why are spectators attracted by immobility and yet offer their coins in order to see it turn into movement and life again?展开更多
文摘In the science fiction novel titled The Planet of the Apes （1963）, Pierre Boulle tells a story about a completely reversed world where the apes dominate the humans. Coming from the normal world that is ours, a small group of people is totally embarrassed and confused by observing this strange world. On the planet of the apes that they have discovered, it is the apes that are more intelligent than the humans. On the earth, it was the other way around. That observation results in their perplexity. The two communities, human and simian, bear with one another the relationship that corresponds to what Lotman calls ＂enantiomorphic pairings＂. In this context, a series of questions deserves to be raised： Is a ＂common language＂ possible between the two communities in the enantiomorphic pairings？ If the answer is yes, under what conditions could they succeed in opening up a space where they can have something in common？ In rereading The Planet of the Apes with reference to Lotman＇s semiotics of culture, we would like to formulate a response to those questions. Our claim is that the experience of finitude of one＇s own language can make possible an access to the new form of universality requisite for the cross-cultural communication： commonality without common points.
文摘Taking the lead from a tale by French writer Prosper Mérimée,narrating the terrifying story of a statue of Venus that suddenly—and tragically—becomes alive,the paper will dwell on the several versions of this narrative topos(William of Malmesbury in the 12th Century,Gautier de Coincy in the 13th,Hermann Kroner in the 15th,up to Richard Burton in the 17th,Joseph von Eichendorff in the 19th,Gabriele D’Annunzio in the 20th)in order to semiotically refl ect on two streams of the human imaginary:on the one hand,the statue that becomes alive;on the other hand,the human being that becomes a statue.Following such historical,anthropological,and semiotic excursus,the paper will conclude with an in-depth analysis of a very common present-day urban performance:living statues.Also with reference to contemporary British novel Observatory Mansions,by Edward Carey,the paper will seek to answer the following questions:why is the spectacle of the human body that becomes like stone so fascinating?Why are spectators attracted by immobility and yet offer their coins in order to see it turn into movement and life again?
