Semiotische Materialität

Zur medientheoretischen Aktualität von Peirces Zeichentheorie

Abstract

The paper examines the often neglected role of materiality within Peircean semiotics and demonstrates its relevance for research on mediality and multimodality. A discussion of the concepts of mode and modality first shows that theoretical approa­ches to capture the different material influences on processes of meaning generation require further clarification even in current multimodality research. This is followed by an introduction to Peirce’s triadic concept of signs and his typology of signs developed in 1903. Peirce’s assumption that communicative processes are bound to materiality is specified in two ways: On the one hand, sign materiality is constitutively involved in every act of generating meaning; on the other hand, however, the perception of mate­riality itself has always been a perception interpreted through signs, i.e. materiality can thus only be perceived as semiotic materiality. By referring to his concept of iconicity and his differentiation of the material sign via the triad of type-token-tones, it is illus-trated how Peircean semiotics can contribute to systematizing the impact of materia­lity on linguistic and multimodal communication processes.