Semiotics of Religion

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the main research lines developed in the 2000s in Italy in the field of the semiotics of religion, with a focus on the studies car­ried out at the University of Turin, where religious cultures have provided fertile ground for semiotic reflection in the last few decades. This contribution therefore takes into con­sideration the texts, signs, and practices that have been the subject of analysis (sacred texts, artworks, material culture, communication strategies, interpretative styles, and rit­uals) and the related methodologies, as well as the concepts and categories most fre­quently discussed and utilised, such as the notions of transcendence, mediation, and secularization.