Mental Spaces, Blending und komplexe Semioseprozesse in der multimodalen Interaktion

zeichenbasierte und ontologiebasierte Mental Spaces

Abstract

This paper deals with two basic questions: Firstly, to what extent is Mental Space and Conceptual Integration Theory (MSCI) an adequate tool for describing com­plex semiotic processes involved in multimodal interaction and how can this tool be further developed? Our focus lies on the concept of representation and the fundamen­tal distinction between ontologically and semiotically defined mental spaces, and we hypothesize that sign-based mental spaces are of primary relevance. Secondly, to what extent can co-speech gestures contribute to an empirical foundation of the mental-space networks assigned to communication partners by an external observer? Gesture studies show that aspects of mental spaces are embodied by the speaker and are thus accessible for intersubjective observation. The necessity of the distinction between ontologically and semiotically differentiated mental spaces, and the primary status of the lat­ter, are substantiated by analyses of video recordings that reveal processes of interactive, multimodal space construction in the domains of deixis and negation. Hence, our findings also challenge the common distinction between ‘fictive’ and ‘real’ spaces