Of Cigarettes, High Heels, and Other Interesting Things: An Introduction to Semiotics (Semaphores and Signs) [Paperback]

Marcel Danesi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0312214502 | ISBN-13: 978-0312214500 | Edition: 1st

Why is it that certain members of the human species routinely put their survival at risk by smoking cigarettes? Why is it that some females make walking a struggle for themselves by donning high heel footwear? This book attempts to answer such questions. Such risky behaviors are obviously shaped by forces other than the instincts. Indeed, for no manifest genetic reason, humanity is constantly searching for a purpose to its existence; this search has led it to invent myths, art, rituals, languages, mathematics, science, and other truly remarkable things that set it apart from all other species. In this volume author Marcello Danesi shows us that the discipline that endeavors to understand the human meaning quest is known as semiotics. Danesi demonstrates how semiotics unravels the meanings of signs that make up the system of everyday life that we call a culture or a society. This book will engender in the reader the same kind of questioning and inquisitive frame of mind with which a semiotician approaches the subject matter of meaning. Basic semiotic ideas and analytical techniques are introduced via a seemingly fictional yet very telling scene, one which reveals a lot about the human need for meaning. The scene is a fashionable modern-day restaurant, and the fictional actions that occur allow Danesi to provide the semiotic version of the human drama in concrete terms. As Danesi argues, perhaps the greatest skill possessed by Homo Sapiens, literally the knowing animal, is the ability to know itself. This book reveals how semiotics helps to sharpen that ability considerably.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Danesi, director of the Program in Semiotics and Communication Theory at the University of Toronto, uses the interaction between a man and a woman on a date in a fashionable restaurant to provide a concrete example of how human beings create and seek meaning in many kinds of "texts": language, narrative, gesture, clothing, make-up, physical setting, art, and media. This basic introduction to semioticsAthe study of meaningAis clear and interesting and would be useful as an introductory textbook; it is free of dense jargon but introduces the key terms of the discipline. Other titles by Danesi include Cool: The Signs and Meanings of Adolescence and Sign, Thought, and Culture: A Basic Course in Semiotics, 2d ed. Recommended for academic libraries.APaula Dempsey, DePaul Univ. Lib., Chicago
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Marcel Danesi is Professor and Director of the Program in Semiotics and Communication Theory at the University of Toronto. He is the author of many books, including Increase Your Puzzle and Cool: The Signs and Meanings of Adolescence.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; 1st edition (April 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312214502
• ISBN-13: 978-0312214500
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,296,454 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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8 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, July 15, 2004

By 

M. Ross (Teaneck, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Of Cigarettes, High Heels, and Other Interesting Things: An Introduction to Semiotics (Semaphores and Signs) (Paperback)

The book offered little more than a rehash of The Naked Ape. There was some attempt to formalize the study by introducing a nomenclature and catagories, but there was nothing really added to the original.