Signs in Society

RICHARD J. PARMENTIER, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Brandeis University, is the author of The Sacred Remains: Myth, History, and Polity in Belau and articles on Pacific ethnography, anthropological linguistics, and semiotic theory.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I Foundations of Peircean Semiotics1Peirce Divested for NonintimatesSign, Object, and InterpretantSymbols and LegisignsLanguage and LogicThe TrichotomiesScientific Knowledge and Cultural Belief2Peirce's Concept of Semiotic MediationThe Fundamental Model of Semiotic MediationSemiotic Mediation and the Correlates of the SignThirdness as MediationSign as Medium of CommunicationPart II Signs in Ethnographic Context3Transactional Symbolism in Belauan Mortuary RitesResponses to DeathInitial Funeral TransactionsBurial PracticesFinal TransactionsConclusion4The Political Function of Reported SpeechAuthoritative SpeechEthnographic ContextNgiraklang's Speech to the CouncilMetapragmatic Elements in the SpeechTextual PragmaticsPart III Comparative Perspectives on Complex Semiotic Processes5Tropical SemioticsLevels of SemiosisCollectivizing and Differentiating SybolizationConvention and InnatenessObviational ExchangeTropes and NarrativeFoi Cultural Semiotics6The Semiotic Regimentation of Social LifeSocial Action and Semiotic TextContent and Type in Ritual PerformativityInstitutional Regimentation of Touristic ExperienceIdeological Regimentation in AdvertisingPart IV Social Theory and Social Action7Comparison, Pragmatic, and InterpretationModels and Strategies of ComparisonComparative Philosophy of Religion as a DisciplineComparison and Interpretation as Practical ReasonDirections for Future Research8Naturalization of ConventionArbitrariness and MotivationNaturalization in Social TheoryNaturalization and Conventionalization in Social RealityConclusionNotesReferencesIndex