Culture and Explosion (Semiotics, Communication and Cognition [SCC], 1)

In the sphere of reality, explosions cannot disappear and the only real issue under discussion is how to overcome the fatal choice between stagnation and catastrophe. -Juri Lotman Culture and Explosion captures the final words of legendary semiotician Juri Lotman, delving deep into the connection between the human existence and the culture it exists within. Lotman dredges dozens of questions to the surface and subsequently answers them with remarkable precision. In every chapter Lotman discusses and demonstrates how culture influences the way that humans experience "reality," utilizing real life examples. Lotman's renowned erudition is showcased in a host of well-chosen illustrations from history, literature, art and right across the humanities. Now, translated by Wilma Clark and appearing in English for the very first time, Culture and Explosion has been made accessible to students, researchers in semiotics, cultural/literary studies and Russian studies worldwide, and anyone with an interest in understanding Juri Lotman’s view on contemporary intellectual life.

Politics & Social Sciences

Juri Lotman

Social Sciences

De Gruyter Mouton

<p>The Unpredictable Workings of Culture belongs to Juri Lotman's late period. Previously published in Italian and Russian, this work is appearing now for the first time in English translation. The book's general thematics link it to Lotman's two other final monographs, Universe of the Mind and Culture and Explosion, already well-known to Anglophone readers. All three of these books are dedicated to questions that occupied this scholar and thinker during the last years of his life: first, the need for a common approach to natural, social, and spiritual phenomena; second, the problem of evolutionary and explosive processes in the history of culture; and, third, the question, closely linked to the previous two, of art as a workshop of unpredictability. Lotman's friends and colleagues brilliant representatives of the Tartu-Moscow Semiotic School point out the special style and tone of this work: While I was reading the book, I had the sensation I was speaking with Lotman. I could hear his intonations; I could see his face turned toward me. I used to have the same feeling when I listened to his lectures. It seemed that he wasn't speaking to us all at the same time but rather to each one of us individually (Boris Uspensky). This book is an outstanding example of Lotman's style. Here Lotman expresses his most cherished thoughts with a clarity and in a form that make them accessible to a wide audience, offering rare and fascinating examples to illustrate his points (Vyacheslav Ivanov).</p>

The Unpredictable Workings of Culture

Tallinn University Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Juri Lotman. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Juri Lotman

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Juri Lotman. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Culture and Explosion (Semiotics, Communication and Cognition [SCC], 1)

The Unpredictable Workings of Culture