The highly semic processes of asemic writing

Using so-called “asemic writing” as a starting point, this article examines three questions regarding the semiotic action found in graphical handwriting and typography. First, it examines the phenomenology experienced at the moment when an illegible text suddenly is recognized and read as words. The...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Skaggs, Steven
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:Brasil
Institución:Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP)
Repositorio:Cognitio (São Paulo. Online)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/52142
Acceso en línea:https://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/cognitiofilosofia/article/view/52142
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Asemic writing
Calligraphy
Charles Sanders Peirce
Graphic design
Handwriting
Typography
Visual gamut
Caligrafia
Design gráfico
Escrita assêmica
Manuscrita
Tipografia
Gamut visual
Descripción
Sumario:Using so-called “asemic writing” as a starting point, this article examines three questions regarding the semiotic action found in graphical handwriting and typography. First, it examines the phenomenology experienced at the moment when an illegible text suddenly is recognized and read as words. Then, turning to Peirce’s notion of a type/token distinction, the article argues that nonverbal or quasi-verbal writing shows that two kinds of type/token relations are happening simultaneously when we read a text, although Peirce conflates the two in his well-known passage. The term “archetype” is proposed as a way of distinguishing the graphical from the verbal type in type/token. The article concludes by pointing out that legibility comes at a cost, and that illegible graphic forms help us to become aware of what is lost — the hidden expression that is subconsciously functioning beneath the verbal even as we read a text that is seemingly transparent.