| 1. |
- Lenninger, Sara
(författare)
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Introduction
- 2022
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Ingår i: Iconicity in cognition and across semiotic systems. - Amsterdam : John Benjamins Publishing Company. ; 18, s. 1-8
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Bokkapitel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)
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| 2. |
- Lenninger, Sara, et al.
(författare)
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Introduction
- 2022
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Ingår i: Iconicity in Cognition and across Semiotic Systems. - Amsterdam : John Benjamins Publishing Company. - 1873-5037. - 9789027257574 ; 18, s. 1-8
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 3. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(författare)
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When similarity qualifies as a sign : a study in picture understanding and semiotic development in young children
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The general goal of this thesis is to elucidate children’s early understandings of pictorial meanings, and how one can know anything about them. My central aim is to explore how picture comprehension develops during children’s first 3 years of life, through semiotic-theory-derived analyses of meaning relations. In so doing, I hope to contribute to the study of both semiotic theory’s psychological basis and the role of semiotic processes in cognitive development: specifically, in children’s experiences of pictorial meanings.In an experimental object retrieval test, including pictures, I show the importance of studying concrete instances of children’s experiences. Among its key results is that, for a group of children who are close to the threshold of being able to use the picture to solve the retrieval task, indexical cuing assists their understanding. One central claims is that the picture sign reflects a dual semiotic process: on the one hand, picture understanding relies on recognition of perceptual similarities; on the other, it draws on communicative processes that are intrinsic to all sign constructions. This duality is particularly interesting when it comes to looking at children’s development of picture understanding. Through similarity relations, children perceive accurate – but initially private, and semiotically premature – understanding of pictures. At the same time though, children are alert to communicative meanings from the start.
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| 4. |
- Sonesson, Göran, et al.
(författare)
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The psychological development of semiotic competence : from the window to the movie by way of the mirror
- 2015
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Ingår i: Cognitive development. - : Elsevier. - 0885-2014 .- 1879-226X. ; 36, s. 191-201
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Psychologists have been interested in the mirror image chiefly as a device permitting the subject to discover his/her self-representation, and semioticians have denied that the mirror image could be a kind of sign. In the present paper, our intention is to develop a framework for realising a detailed comparison between perceptual reality, as seen in a peephole, and mirror images, as well a streaming video and pre-recorded video. In the first section, we introduce the semiotic notion of sign, using precise criteria to assure that the mirror image, as used by adults, functions as a sign. In the second section, experimental studies comparing some constellations of perceptual reality, mirror images, and video strips are scrutinized, and we report briefly the results of a study which we ourselves set up to investigate the capacities of 2 year old children to understand an object choice task conveyed by means in those four kinds of media. The result suggests that continuity, which is the opposite of differentiation defining the sign, is still important for enabling the understanding of the task in children at this age.
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| 5. |
-
Iconicity in cognition and across semiotic systems
- 2022
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Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (refereegranskat)abstract
- This volume investigates iconicity as to both comprehension and production of meaning in language, gesture, pictures, art and literature. It highlights iconic processes in meaning-making and interpretation across different semiotic systems at structurally, historically and pragmatically different levels of iconicity, with special focus on Cognitive Semiotics. Exploring the ubiquity of iconicity in verbal, visual and gestural communication, these contributions discuss it from the point of view of human meaning-making, examined as a phenomenon that is experienced, embodied and often polysemiotic in nature.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Lenninger, Sara
(författare)
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Foreword
- 2024
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Ingår i: Cognitive Semiotics. - : De Gruyter Open Ltd.. - 2235-2066. ; 17:1, s. 1-5
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Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Lenninger, Sara
(författare)
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Iconic attitude and how similar is similarity
- 2019
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Pictures and other visio-spatial signs with iconicity diverge in expression, and in how they operate on meaning. Like all signs, pictures are polysemous (Groupe µ 1992) and have several layers of meaning - such as being perceptual objects and signs, having pragmatic and contextual meanings etc. (Medin et al 1993; Tversky 1977). Pictures also rely on iconic meaning (Sonesson 1989). Similarity is a predominant feature in iconic signs – however similarity is not a single kind of relationship. The relevance of similarities differs. Sometimes, but not always, perception of similarities is tightly coupled to the conception of a sign relation. Important in this presentation, is the point that via the sign relation one may gain insight into structurally different organizations of similarity relations. A concept of Iconic Attitude (Lenninger 2019) is presented and discussed as a Phenomenal outlook that responds to the qualities in the iconic ground and thus may “manifest” a visual generalization in a specific sign perception.Goodman, N. 1972. Seven strictures on similarity. In Problems and projects, 437–446. Indianapolis/New York: Bobbs-Merrill.Groupe µ (1992). Traité du signe visuel. Pour une rhétorique de l'image. Paris: Seuil.Medin, D. L, Goldstone, R. L., & Gentner, D. (1993). Respects for Similarity. Psychological Review, 100(2), 254-278.Lenninger, S. (2019). The metaphor and the iconic attitude. Cognitive Semiotics, 12(1).Sonesson, G. (1989). Pictorial Concepts: inquiries into the semiotic heritage and its relevance to the interpretation of the visual world. Lund University Press: Lund.Tversky. A. (1977). Features of similarity. Psychological Review, 84(4), 327-352.
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| 11. |
- Lenninger, Sara
(författare)
-
Iconic attitude and how similar is similarity
- 2019
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Pictures and other visio-spatial signs with iconicity diverge in expression, and in how they operate on meaning. Like all signs, pictures are polysemous (Groupe µ 1992) and have several layers of meaning - such as being perceptual objects and signs, having pragmatic and contextual meanings etc. (Medin et al 1993; Tversky 1977). Pictures also rely on iconic meaning (Sonesson 1989). Similarity is a predominant feature in iconic signs – however similarity is not a single kind of relationship. The relevance of similarities differs. Sometimes, but not always, perception of similarities is tightly coupled to the conception of a sign relation. Important in this presentation, is the point that via the sign relation one may gain insight into structurally different organizations of similarity relations. A concept of Iconic Attitude (Lenninger 2019) is presented and discussed as a Phenomenal outlook that responds to the qualities in the iconic ground and thus may “manifest” a visual generalization in a specific sign perception. Goodman, N. 1972. Seven strictures on similarity. In Problems and projects, 437–446. Indianapolis/New York: Bobbs-Merrill. Groupe µ (1992). Traité du signe visuel. Pour une rhétorique de l'image. Paris: Seuil. Medin, D. L, Goldstone, R. L., & Gentner, D. (1993). Respects for Similarity. Psychological Review, 100(2), 254-278. Lenninger, S. (2019). The metaphor and the iconic attitude. Cognitive Semiotics, 12(1). Sonesson, G. (1989). Pictorial Concepts: inquiries into the semiotic heritage and its relevance to the interpretation of the visual world. Lund University Press: Lund. Tversky. A. (1977). Features of similarity. Psychological Review, 84(4), 327-352.
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| 12. |
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| 13. |
- Lenninger, Sara, et al.
(författare)
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In search of differentiations in the development the picture sign
- 2009
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Ingår i: Communication: understanding/misunderstanding, vol2, proceedings of the 9th congress of the IASS/AIS 2007. - 9789525431223 ; 2, s. 893-903
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The differentiation between expression and content is fundamental in the concept of signs. Even if the notions of signs are often revised, due partly to the attraction of a semiotic approach from markedly disparate objects of study, a common apprehension of the distinctive character of meanings by sign is its dual nature. (Saussure 1968, Piaget 1951, 1966; Vygotsky 1999; Sigel 1978; DeLoache 2000) Signs can be understood as objects of meanings, to some one, which also extend their perceptual expressions or sensations. All signs imply sign processes; the sign function is due to a mental capability or inclination in the sign user. But meaning is not equivalent to sign function and it is an important issue in the study of semiotics to investigate the differences and conditions between meanings that are merited to sign relations and meanings that are not. (Sonesson) To study the development of a sign function in the child does not only tell us something about child development, but also about signs. To understand pictures involves to master sign relations. From my studies of the child becoming sign minded, and particularly learning to understand pictures, it has become clear that the differentiation between expression and content is a too broad an outline to be informative. In the perspective of child development the generic distinction between expression and content in the mature sign needs more specific distinctions to capture the emergence of such a delicate cognitive competence as the ability to master sign functions.
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| 14. |
- Lenninger, Sara
(författare)
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Inverted cultures in the pictorial ceremonial of the suicide bomber: The case of Reem Raiyshi
- 2016
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- On the 24th of January in 2004 a portrait of Reem Raiyshi and her son was published in the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. In a short notice the reader was informed that on the 14th of January Reem Raiyshi had killed herself in a terrorist attack at a border crossing between Israel and Gaza. The picture, a still frame from a video, was bought by Aftonbladet from AFP, but has also circulated on the Internet. Although the picture of Reem is her picture - its not unique, but forms part of a subculture: the ceremonial of the suicide bombers seems to require the pictorial rendering of the perpetrator/victim in his or her declaration of the action before completing the act. Published on Internet, and circulating in other mass media, the picture addresses not only the Ego culture of the perpetrator /victim, but also that of the attacked culture.At that time, after the September 11 attacks, Al-qaida and Hamas practised video recordings showing declarations of a readiness to carry out a suicidal attack. In this project the case of Reem Raiyshi is recognised from within this practice, however the pictorial story (or stories) of Raiyshi also stands out as different. As the mother of two children “her” about-to-die images that have circulated in media soon after, and years after, the attack differ from her contemporary suicide bombers (both female and male).In the project the case of Reem Raiyshi is discussed in comparison to the pictures of her associated suicide bombers but is also put in the complex relation between media and terrorism that has been recognised at least since the 1970ies. It is recognised that the seemingly simple images, albeit with elements of the threat of violence, is part of a more elaborated but also opportunistic media culture in which the “making of us and them” is polysemous and flexible.
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| 15. |
- Lenninger, Sara
(författare)
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Inverting cultures; the pictorial ceremonial of a suicide bomber and the ”unhomeliness” off the photographic picture
- 2017
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- On the 14th of January in 2004, Reem Raiyshi killed herself and four Israeli soldiers in a terrorist attack at the border between Israel and Gaza. Soon after the deed pictures on Reem, and her young son, were sent to media agencies in Europe - and to circulate on the Internet. Although the picture of Reem is her picture it is not unique, but forms part of a subculture: the ceremonial of the suicide bombers seemed at that time to require the pictorial rendering of the perpetrator/victim in his or her declaration of the action before completing the act. Published on Internet, and circulating in mass media, the picture addresses not only the Ego culture of the perpetrator /victim, but also that of the attacked culture. To come into speaking terms with the external culture - or to alter between being "alien" or to be "one of ones own” – one must submit to a meaning already known by the other culture (Lotman 2009). To insert “alien” elements, integrated with the meaning taken for granted, can be understood as a strategy in pictorial rhetoric in order to evade norm grounded predictability and invert cultural hierarchies.This case study adds to the complication of when the same picture confirming both to the status of Ego culture and as the “threat” of an intruding other-culture in the dynamics of regulating the perception of “us and them”.
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| 16. |
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| 17. |
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| 18. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(författare)
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Culture in the layers of contemporary discourses and historical archives : a review of Anna Maria Larusso's Cultural Semiotics
- 2017
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Ingår i: The public journal of semiotics. - 1918-9907. ; 8:1, s. 67-76
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Recension (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Anna Maria Lorusso’s book Cultural semiotics: For a cultural perspective in semiotics (Lorusso, 2015) the reader is offered an initiated review of key representatives of 20th century structuralism in semiotics and its entries into poststructuralism, with focus on method of analysis. Related to the theoretical discussions on semiotics and culture, Lorusso offers a series of case studies in semiotic analysis of cultural texts. In this review article, I discuss and evaluate the four strands in cultural semiotics suggested by Lorusso. Further, I draw implications for deciding on the themes and objects of studies in a semiotic realm that focuses on text.
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| 19. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(författare)
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Culture in the layers of contemporary discourses and historical archives : a review of Anna Maria Larusso's Cultural Semiotics
- 2017
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Ingår i: The public journal of semiotics. - : Lund University, Centre for Languages and Literature. - 1918-9907. ; 8:1, s. 67-76
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Anna Maria Lorusso’s book Cultural semiotics: For a cultural perspective in semiotics (Lorusso, 2015) the reader is offered an initiated review of key representatives of 20th century structuralism in semiotics and its entries into poststructuralism, with focus on method of analysis. Related to the theoretical discussions on semiotics and culture, Lorusso offers a series of case studies in semiotic analysis of cultural texts. In this review article, I discuss and evaluate the four strands in cultural semiotics suggested by Lorusso. Further, I draw implications for deciding on the themes and objects of studies in a semiotic realm that focuses on text.
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| 20. |
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| 21. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(författare)
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Informing about states in the actual world by means of pictures : the role of contiguity in children’s perception of reference in iconic signs
- 2017
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Ingår i: Technologies & Human Development.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In preschool, and at home, pictures and movie are often used to communicate with children about states in the lived world. They are all media with perceptual similarity in relation to their references. In this presentation it is suggested, however, that indexicality, in the sense of a contiguity connecting visual events so as to form meaningful sequences in time and space, is the important factor rather than variations of iconicity, for the younger children's understanding of visually communicated information as information about the actual world.
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| 22. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(författare)
-
Informing about states in the actual world by means of pictures : the role of contiguity in children’s perception of reference in iconic signs
- 2017
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In preschool, and at home, pictures and movie are often used to communicate with children about states in the lived world. They are all media with perceptual similarity in relation to their references. In this presentation it is suggested, however, that indexicality, in the sense of a contiguity connecting visual events so as to form meaningful sequences in time and space, is the important factor rather than variations of iconicity, for the younger children's understanding of visually communicated information as information about the actual world.
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| 23. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(författare)
-
Inverting cultures : the pictorial ceremonial of a suicide bomber and the“unhomeliness” of the photographic picture
- 2017
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Ingår i: 13th IASS-AIS World Congress of Semiotics ” / 10<sup>th</sup>conference for The Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS).
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- On the 14th of January in 2004, Reem Raiyshi killed herself and four Israeli soldiers in a terrorist attack at a border crossing between Israel and Gaza. Soon after the deed, pictures on Reem and her young son were sent to media agencies in Europe - and to circulate on the Internet. Although the picture of Reem is her picture, it is not unique but forms part of a subculture: the ceremonial of the suicide bombers seemed, at that time, to require the pictorial rendering of the perpetrator/victim in his or her declaration of the action before completing the act. Published on Internet, and circulating in mass media, the picture addresses not only the Ego culture of the perpetrator /victim, but also that of the attacked culture. To come into speaking terms with the external culture - or to alter between being "alien" or to be "one of ones own” for teh other – one must submit to a meaning already known by the other culture (Lotman 2009). To insert “alien” elements, integrated with the meaning taken for granted, can be understood as a strategy in pictorial rhetoric in order to evade norm grounded predictability and invert cultural hierarchies.This case study adds to the complication of when the same picture confirming both to the status of Ego culture and as the “threat” of an intruding other-culture in the dynamics of regulating the perception of “us and them”.
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| 24. |
- Lenninger, Sara M., et al.
(författare)
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Mirror, peephole and video : the role of contiguity in children’s perception of reference in iconic signs
- 2020
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Psychology. - 1664-1078. ; 11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The present study looked at the extent to which 2-year-old children benefited from information conveyed by viewing a hiding event through an opening in a cardboard screen, seeing it as live video, as pre-recorded video, or by way of a mirror. Being encouraged to find the hidden object by selecting one out of two cups, the children successfully picked the baited cup significantly more often when they had viewed the hiding through the opening, or in live video, than when they viewed it in pre-recorded video, or by way of a mirror. All conditions rely on the perception of similarity. The study suggests, however, that contiguity – i.e., the perception of temporal and physical closeness between events – rather than similarity is the principal factor accounting for the results.
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| 25. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(författare)
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Narratives and the semiotic freedom of children
- 2021
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Ingår i: Sign System Studies. - 1406-4243 .- 1736-7409. ; 49:1, s. 216-234
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Both adults’ habits-of-thought and their understanding of children’s stories shape how adults interpret children’s participation in conversations. In the light of the requests on children’s rights that follow from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) this paper stresses the relevance of authorities having semiotically informed knowledge on children’s meaning-making within conversations with adults. In Article 12, the CRC stipulates the right of children to participate in and to be heard about decisions that affect their everyday lives. According to the same Article, however, these rights can be restrained, based on the authority’s judgements of the child’s age and maturity. Sociological studies have highlighted the importance of adopting the child’s perspective in judging matters that concern her. The present paper further suggests that narrow conceptualization of the sign can help one to observe different levels of meaning in adults’ and children’s conversations better. Although Paul Ricoeur did not investigate children’s narratives per se, his theory of narratives and narrativity offers a phenomenological approach to development that allows for better theoretical discriminations of narrative as a semiotic resource, and can thus assist adults in truly listening to children.
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| 26. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(författare)
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Narratives and the semiotic freedom of children
- 2021
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Ingår i: Sign System Studies. - 1406-4243. ; 49:1-2, s. 216-234
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Both adults’ habits-of-thought and their understanding of children’s stories shape how adults interpret children’s participation in conversations. In the light of the requests on children’s rights that follow from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) this paper stresses the relevance of authorities having semiotically informed knowledge on children’s meaning-making within conversations with adults. In Article 12, the CRC stipulates the right of children to participate in and to be heard about decisions that affect their everyday lives. According to the same Article, however, these rights can be restrained, based on the authority’s judgements of the child’s age and maturity. Sociological studies have highlighted the importance of adopting the child’s perspective in judging matters that concern her. The present paper further suggests that narrow conceptualization of the sign can help one to observe different levels of meaning in adults’ and children’s conversations better. Although Paul Ricoeur did not investigate children’s narratives per se, his theory of narratives and narrativity offers a phenomenological approach to development that allows for better theoretical discriminations of narrative as a semiotic resource, and can thus assist adults in truly listening to children.
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| 27. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(författare)
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Om visuella yttranden med bild och andra meningsskapande ytor med likhet
- 2021
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Ingår i: Estetikens möjligheter. - Lund : Studentlitteratur AB. - 9789144142265 ; , s. 49-73
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Bokkapitel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Att utforska med flera sinnen är ett naturligt sätt att närma sig sin omvärld och små barn som är förspråkliga uttrycker sig gärna via estetiska symboler. Estetik, människans utforskande av sinnliga och konstnärliga erfarenheter, marginaliseras ofta när det snarare är en central del i ett barns uppväxt. Att åter skapa utrymme för att lyfta estetikens många möjligheter kräver kunskap. Författarnas förhoppning är att pedagoger inom olika områden kommer att bli motiverade att på olika sätt lyfta fram det så berikande konstnärliga utforskandet; genom bild, form, dans och musik. Det handlar om att skapa möjligheter för alla att hitta och använda sina egna estetiska röster. Boken belyser estetikens många möjligheter, men även begränsningar inom utbildning och undervisning. Genom författarnas samlade erfarenheter inom estetisk, teoretiskt såväl som praktiskt, får läsaren ta del av en bred kunskap. Estetiska ämnen har befriande få begränsningar, som i ett exempel ur denna bok där dinosauriedans blir en spännande arena för nya kunskaper.
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| 28. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(författare)
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Om visuella yttranden med bild och andra meningsskapande ytor med likhet
- 2021
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Ingår i: Estetikens möjligheter. - Lund : Studentlitteratur AB. ; , s. 49-73
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Att utforska med flera sinnen är ett naturligt sätt att närma sig sin omvärld och små barn som är förspråkliga uttrycker sig gärna via estetiska symboler. Estetik, människans utforskande av sinnliga och konstnärliga erfarenheter, marginaliseras ofta när det snarare är en central del i ett barns uppväxt. Att åter skapa utrymme för att lyfta estetikens många möjligheter kräver kunskap. Författarnas förhoppning är att pedagoger inom olika områden kommer att bli motiverade att på olika sätt lyfta fram det så berikande konstnärliga utforskandet; genom bild, form, dans och musik. Det handlar om att skapa möjligheter för alla att hitta och använda sina egna estetiska röster. Boken belyser estetikens många möjligheter, men även begränsningar inom utbildning och undervisning. Genom författarnas samlade erfarenheter inom estetisk, teoretiskt såväl som praktiskt, får läsaren ta del av en bred kunskap. Estetiska ämnen har befriande få begränsningar, som i ett exempel ur denna bok där dinosauriedans blir en spännande arena för nya kunskaper.
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| 29. |
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| 30. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(författare)
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Pictures : perceptions of realism in the service of communication
- 2016
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Ingår i: Human lifeworlds. - Frankfurt am Main : Peter Lang Publishing Group. - 9783631693957 ; , s. 97-112
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Pictures have not evolved as isolated phenomena in human culture, but occupy theirplace and contribute to changes in the complex and intricate processes we in this bookdesignate as cultural evolution. In this chapter, pictures are discussed as semioticresources from a perspective of human cultural evolution. The material picture (thepicture-thing) is examined both as a perceptual object, and as a communicativeresource. An assumption in this chapter is that the discrimination of the picture as acommunicative resource had (and may still have) a vital, but also distinct, role in thehuman endeavour to explore sign relationships. Its distinctiveness does not consist inbeing the original or the prior semiotic resource in relation to other semiotic resourcesdeveloped in human communication. Rather, its specific role derives from thecombination of visual and communicative meanings employed in pictures, havingrecourse to the inherent qualities of “natural meaning”, but at the same time not beingmere “natural experience”.
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| 31. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(författare)
-
Pictures : perceptions of realism in the service of communication
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Human lifeworlds. - Frankfurt am Main : Peter Lang Publishing Group. ; , s. 97-112
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Pictures have not evolved as isolated phenomena in human culture, but occupy their place and contribute to changes in the complex and intricate processes we in this book designate as cultural evolution. In this chapter, pictures are discussed as semiotic resources from a perspective of human cultural evolution. The material picture (the picture-thing) is examined both as a perceptual object, and as a communicative resource. An assumption in this chapter is that the discrimination of the picture as a communicative resource had (and may still have) a vital, but also distinct, role in the human endeavour to explore sign relationships. Its distinctiveness does not consist in being the original or the prior semiotic resource in relation to other semiotic resources developed in human communication. Rather, its specific role derives from the combination of visual and communicative meanings employed in pictures, having recourse to the inherent qualities of “natural meaning”, but at the same time not being mere “natural experience”.
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| 32. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(författare)
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Studies in children’s understanding of visual metaphor : a literature review from a cognitive semiotic perspective
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Studies in children’s understanding of visual metaphor. A literature review from a cognitive semiotic perspective Sara Lenninger, Kristianstad UniversityThe use of metaphor is pervasive in human communication (Stites & Özçaliskan, 2012). However, in the literature there are many ways to define metaphors (e.g. Black 1954; Kirby 1997; Gibbs 2008). In this paper, the metaphor will be considered to be a sign, and in addition, as an instance of iconic sign use. This means, firstly, that metaphor is studied as a meaning construction based in a sign relation. In this context, a sign relation consists of something perceived as an expression for something else, which also is conceived as its corresponding meaning or “content” (Sonesson 2008). As a consequence, a sign relation always involves an interpreting subject. Secondly, it means that iconic relations are crucial to the definition of what the metaphor is. Consequently, the concept of iconic signs has to be explored. This is why developmental studies on metaphor use (and understanding) link to cognitive theories on metaphor thinking (Billow, 1975; Lakoff & Johnson, 1980; Kogan et al., 1980) and to semiotic theories of meaning relations and sign use. Children’s understanding of pictorial metaphor is a field of research which has received less study than, notably, verbal metaphors. Nevertheless, the present paper will review studies on children’s development of metaphor use departing from different approaches on what metaphor is, and with particular attention to pictorial metaphors. Black, M. (1954). Metaphor. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, New Series.55 (1954-1955), 273-294.Billow, R. (1975). A Cognitive Developmental Study of Metaphor Comprehension. Developmental psychology, 11(4), 415-423.Gibbs, R. W. (red.) (2008). The Cambridge handbook of metaphor and thought. New York: Cambridge University PressKirby, J. (1997). Aristotle on Metaphor. The American Journal of Philology, 118(4), 517-554.Kogan, N., Connor, K., Gross, A., & Fava, F. (1980). Understanding visual metaphor: Developmental and individual differences. Monographs of the society for research in child developmental serial, No. 183, Vol. 45 (1).Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Sonesson, G. (2008). Prolegomena to a general theory of iconicity. Considerations on language, gesture, and pictures. In K. Willems & L. De Cuypere (eds.) Naturalness and iconicity in language (pp.47-72). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Stites, L., j., & Özçaliskan, S. (2012). On Learning to Draw the Distinction between Physical and Metaphorical Motion: Is Metaphor an Early Emerging Cognitive and Linguistic Capacity? Journal of Child Language, 32, 291–318.
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| 33. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(författare)
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Studies in children’s understanding of visual metaphor : a literature review from a cognitive semiotic perspective
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Studies in children’s understanding of visual metaphor. A literature review from a cognitive semiotic perspective Sara Lenninger, Kristianstad University The use of metaphor is pervasive in human communication (Stites & Özçaliskan, 2012). However, in the literature there are many ways to define metaphors (e.g. Black 1954; Kirby 1997; Gibbs 2008). In this paper, the metaphor will be considered to be a sign, and in addition, as an instance of iconic sign use. This means, firstly, that metaphor is studied as a meaning construction based in a sign relation. In this context, a sign relation consists of something perceived as an expression for something else, which also is conceived as its corresponding meaning or “content” (Sonesson 2008). As a consequence, a sign relation always involves an interpreting subject. Secondly, it means that iconic relations are crucial to the definition of what the metaphor is. Consequently, the concept of iconic signs has to be explored. This is why developmental studies on metaphor use (and understanding) link to cognitive theories on metaphor thinking (Billow, 1975; Lakoff & Johnson, 1980; Kogan et al., 1980) and to semiotic theories of meaning relations and sign use. Children’s understanding of pictorial metaphor is a field of research which has received less study than, notably, verbal metaphors. Nevertheless, the present paper will review studies on children’s development of metaphor use departing from different approaches on what metaphor is, and with particular attention to pictorial metaphors. Black, M. (1954). Metaphor. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, New Series.55 (1954-1955), 273-294. Billow, R. (1975). A Cognitive Developmental Study of Metaphor Comprehension. Developmental psychology, 11(4), 415-423. Gibbs, R. W. (red.) (2008). The Cambridge handbook of metaphor and thought. New York: Cambridge University Press Kirby, J. (1997). Aristotle on Metaphor. The American Journal of Philology, 118(4), 517-554. Kogan, N., Connor, K., Gross, A., & Fava, F. (1980). Understanding visual metaphor: Developmental and individual differences. Monographs of the society for research in child developmental serial, No. 183, Vol. 45 (1). Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Sonesson, G. (2008). Prolegomena to a general theory of iconicity. Considerations on language, gesture, and pictures. In K. Willems & L. De Cuypere (eds.) Naturalness and iconicity in language (pp.47-72). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Stites, L., j., & Özçaliskan, S. (2012). On Learning to Draw the Distinction between Physical and Metaphorical Motion: Is Metaphor an Early Emerging Cognitive and Linguistic Capacity? Journal of Child Language, 32, 291–318.
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| 34. |
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| 35. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(författare)
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When the other's responses are unpredictable; why does the baby still pay attention to the interaction?
- 2015
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Ingår i: Semiotic (un)predictability.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In a study on young infants’ susceptibility to synchronic behaviours in dyadic interactions with others the children’s responses indicated tolerance in their interpretation of the situation. When 6 months old infants encountered a communicative other who did not match to the infants’ communicative behaviours the young infants nevertheless remained focused on the interaction. Moreover, the infants made efforts to intervene and take action in the communicative event.An increasing number of studies support the assumption that dyadic, dynamic and mutual interactions can be traced in communicative and affective relations between caregivers and infants from early infancy (Beebe et al 1985, Bråthen 2009, Stern 1985, Rochat 2009, Trevarthen & Murray 1985). According to Murray and Trevarthen (1985) already 6 -12 weeks old infants detect and respond to structural features in the caretaker’s behaviour in such a way that the caretaker, in its turn, is evoked to respond with a matching behaviour. When the infants are between 2-4 months old stable sequences characterize parent-infant face-to-face dyads (Levelli & Fogel 2002). Together, the studies indicate that at the age of 6 months children can be expected to have expectations on the behaviour of the other in communication games. Further, these expectations influence the child’s participation and understanding of the event.When studying semiotic development in young children not only developmental aspects of growing children should be examined but also the means by which children encounter meaning and communication. In my presentation, the dyadic interaction in our study will be analysed in respect of the dynamic potentialities that are framed in communication games with young infants.
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| 36. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(författare)
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When the other's responses are unpredictable; why does the baby still pay attention to the interaction?
- 2015
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In a study on young infants’ susceptibility to synchronic behaviours in dyadic interactions with others the children’s responses indicated tolerance in their interpretation of the situation. When 6 months old infants encountered a communicative other who did not match to the infants’ communicative behaviours the young infants nevertheless remained focused on the interaction. Moreover, the infants made efforts to intervene and take action in the communicative event. An increasing number of studies support the assumption that dyadic, dynamic and mutual interactions can be traced in communicative and affective relations between caregivers and infants from early infancy (Beebe et al 1985, Bråthen 2009, Stern 1985, Rochat 2009, Trevarthen & Murray 1985). According to Murray and Trevarthen (1985) already 6 -12 weeks old infants detect and respond to structural features in the caretaker’s behaviour in such a way that the caretaker, in its turn, is evoked to respond with a matching behaviour. When the infants are between 2-4 months old stable sequences characterize parent-infant face-to-face dyads (Levelli & Fogel 2002). Together, the studies indicate that at the age of 6 months children can be expected to have expectations on the behaviour of the other in communication games. Further, these expectations influence the child’s participation and understanding of the event. When studying semiotic development in young children not only developmental aspects of growing children should be examined but also the means by which children encounter meaning and communication. In my presentation, the dyadic interaction in our study will be analysed in respect of the dynamic potentialities that are framed in communication games with young infants.
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| 37. |
- Lenninger, Sara, et al.
(författare)
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Mirror, peephole and video - The role of contiguity in children's perception of reference in iconic signs
- 2020
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Psychology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-1078. ; 11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The present study looked at the extent to which 2-year-old children benefited from information conveyed by viewing a hiding event through an opening in a cardboard screen, seeing it as live video, as pre-recorded video, or by way of a mirror. Being encouraged to find the hidden object by selecting one out of two cups, the children successfully picked the baited cup significantly more often when they had viewed the hiding through the opening, or in live video, than when they viewed it in pre-recorded video, or by way of a mirror. All conditions rely on the perception of similarity. The study suggests, however, that contiguity – i.e., the perception of temporal and physical closeness between events – rather than similarity is the principal factor accounting for the results.
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| 38. |
- Lenninger, Sara, 1962-
(författare)
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On children's semiotic freedom and the right to be heard
- 2019
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Ingår i: Anticipation and Change. - Stavanger.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding what others mean in a communicative situation, and to be self-understood, are key factors to be able to participate in and have influence on decisions that concern oneself. This is especially important in contexts where the person who is actually affected by a decision does not have the decisive power. Such a decision situation is many times relevant in relation to decisions concerning children, children's health, education and living conditions. According to Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) children have the right to be heard in connection with decisions concerning them. The article also expresses a reservation for this right due to age and maturity of the child.In this presentation, children’s right to be heard in connection with decisions concerning them is noted. It is claimed that knowledge of children's semiotics (cf. children’s meaning making and understanding of meanings) is required in order for such rights to be met in, for example, children's conversations with adults. A starting point for the discussions is that stories and narrative descriptions are semiotic recourses which meanings partly depend on the interpreter’s perception and habit of what “story telling” is in the first place. This condition applies to both those who tell and to those who listen to someone's story.Interestingly, even if a story is perceived by both a child and an adult in a conversational situation (and thus can be expected to be effective in a communication), such beliefs - from the point of view of the adult - can also be a barrier to the fact that the adult actually understands the conversation and the situation from the child's point of view (James & Prout 1997). The adult's habit and understanding of the narrative affect his or her interpretation in the conversation. Research on children's semiotic interactions has shown that even though children from early years participate in adult communication with pictures or stories, it takes many years of meaning making and communication for children to perceive these meanings in a manner similar to adults. Studies in children’s semiotic development suggest that a decisive factor for this gap in communication is related to differences in the use of sign relations (DeLoache 2004, Lenninger 2012, Piaget 1930, 1945, Vygotsky 2001).Moreover, in this presentation this difference is also discussed in terms of differences in semiotic freedom (cf. Hoffmeyer 2010). Semiotic freedom is about the ability to perceive and use different types of meanings in different contexts. Semiotic freedom follows the ability to navigate in, and affect, one’s social and communicative environment in a communicative situation.If we take the CRC seriously, the commitment lies with the authorities and itsrepresentatives to understand the child's perspective in meaning creation - not in children to understand the nuances of adult communication saturated with sign relations.
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| 39. |
- Lenninger, Sara
(författare)
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On children's semiotic freedom and the right to be heard
- 2019
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Understanding what others mean in a communicative situation, and to be self-understood, are key factors to be able to participate in and have influence on decisions that concern oneself. This is especially important in contexts where the person who is actually affected by a decision does not have the decisive power. Such a decision situation is many times relevant in relation to decisions concerning children, children's health, education and living conditions. According to Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) children have the right to be heard in connection with decisions concerning them. The article also expresses a reservation for this right due to age and maturity of the child.In this presentation, children’s right to be heard in connection with decisions concerning them is noted. It is claimed that knowledge of children's semiotics (cf. children’s meaning making and understanding of meanings) is required in order for such rights to be met in, for example, children's conversationswith adults. A starting point for the discussions is that stories and narrative descriptions are semiotic recourses which meanings partly depend on the interpreter’s perception and habit of what “story telling” is in the first place. This condition applies to both those who tell and to those who listen to someone's story.Interestingly, even if a story is perceived by both a child and an adult in a conversational situation (and thus can be expected to be effective in a communication), such beliefs - from the point of view of the adult - can also be a barrier to the fact that the adult actually understands the conversation and the situation from the child's point of view (James & Prout 1997). The adult's habit and understanding of the narrative affect his or her interpretation in the conversation. Research on children's semiotic interactions has shown that even though children from early years participate in adult communication with pictures or stories, it takes many years of meaning making and communication for children to perceive these meanings in a manner similar to adults. Studies in children’s semiotic development suggest that a decisive factor for this gap in communication is related to differences in the use of sign relations (DeLoache 2004, Lenninger 2012, Piaget 1930, 1945, Vygotsky 2001).Moreover, in this presentation this difference is also discussed in terms of differences in semiotic freedom (cf. Hoffmeyer 2010). Semiotic freedom is about the ability to perceive and use different types of meanings in different contexts. Semiotic freedom follows the ability to navigate in, and affect, one’s social and communicative environment in a communicative situation.If we take the CRC seriously, the commitment lies with the authorities and itsrepresentatives to understand the child's perspective in meaning creation - not in children to understand the nuances of adult communication saturated with sign relations.
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| 40. |
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| 41. |
- Lenninger, Sara
(författare)
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Piaget and Vygotsky on the child becoming sign-minded
- 2006
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Ingår i: Heterogénesis: Revista de Artes Visuales. - 1103-1832.
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- As the child grows up it becomes more and more a part of the adult world of communication and understanding. Semiotic studies of the development of signs in children are remarkably few, as if the mere existence of signs were taken for granted. The studies in the child’s cognitive development conducted by Piaget and Vygotsky in the last century still have the capacity to influence theoretical claims and the designs of concrete studies. When the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky are discussed the disunity of their theoretical implications is often in focus, such as the regression or the emergence of egocentrism and inner speech. Although Vygotsky is critical of the early works of Piaget, he is also highly influenced by it, and there are essential similarities between them.In this article, I will point out some similarities and dissimilarities that elucidate interesting questions about the development of cognition and of what Piaget refers to as the semiotic function. Eventually, I will also discuss some implications of Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s cognitive developmental theories on clinical studies of picture comprehension in the child.
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| 42. |
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| 43. |
- Lenninger, Sara, et al.
(författare)
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Pictoriality in early picture comprehension
- 2012
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 10th world congress of semiotics (AISS-AIS), A Coruna, 2009.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Studies on the emergence of the picture sign in small children Pictures take part in every day life for as well adults as for children. In interaction with children, pictures are often used to facilitate communication, but the child does not understand pictures as adults do; that is as signs. In my studies I try to approach an understanding of the child’s emergence of the picture sign. Empirical studies on picture understanding in the child are primarily carried on within cognitive science and developmental psychology but in these studies the principal questions concerns different aspects of child cognitive development not the picture sign. Thus considering the learning from these studies I elaborate my empirical work within a semiotic perspective focusing on the picture as a semiotic resource and the child becoming sign-minded. In my talk at IASS/IAS X Conference some of my studies conducted on preschool children (18-36 months old) in Sweden will be discussed.
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| 44. |
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| 45. |
- Lenninger, Sara
(författare)
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Psychologism in the study of children's semiotic development
- 2024
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Ingår i: Cognitive Semiotics. - : De Gruyter Open Ltd.. - 2235-2066. ; 17:1, s. 157-171
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This essay discusses the notion of 'semiotic development in child development' and highlights potential concerns for 'psychologism' when semiotics turns into cognitive semiotics. The notion of 'semiotic development in child development' indicates a transdisciplinary approach involving both semiotics, the general study of meaning and signs, and child psychology. This, however, invites the criticism of committing the fallacy of psychologism. Piaget was aware of this dilemma when developing his theory of the semiotic function as a united capacity in children's cognitive development. Sonesson's proposal of a general definition of signs in meaning-making is suggested to, at some points, meet the dilemma with psychologism in studies of children's semiotic development. Starting from a phenomenological point of view in semiotics and integrating Piaget's theory on cognitive development and meaning-making meet the study of subjectivity in intersubjectivity. On the one hand, the sign as a theoretical object is not reducible to any given psychological process or processes; on the other hand, sign meaning can only exist if there are beings (consciousnesses) capable of grasping and using signs.
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| 46. |
- Lenninger, Sara, et al.
(författare)
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Semiotics in Picture and Image Studies
- 2022
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Ingår i: Bloomsbury semiotics Volume 3 : Semiotics in the arts and social sciences - Semiotics in the arts and social sciences. - 9781350139367 ; , s. 149-168
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)
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| 47. |
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| 48. |
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| 49. |
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| 50. |
- Lenninger, Sara
(författare)
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The metaphor and the iconic attitude
- 2019
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Ingår i: Cognitive semiotics. - : Mouton de Gruyter. - 2235-2066. ; 12:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper discusses visual metaphors and aspects of similarity in relation to metaphors. The concept of metaphor should here be understood as a semiotic unit that is also a sign (cf. Ricœur, P. 1986. The Rule of Metaphor: Multi-Disciplinary Studies of the Creation of Meaning in Language. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.). This implies that not all semiotic units are signs, but also that not all signs are typical metaphors. The metaphor is a particular kind of sign because of its making use of the openness present in similarity relations. Metaphorical meaning making is related to a quality of vagueness in iconic sign relations. Furthermore, a notion of iconic attitude is proposed as a designation of subjective and intersubjective perspectives that might be taken on meanings founded on similarity. The iconic attitude mirrors the flexibility of thought and responds to the potentiality of vagueness in iconic sign relations; but, at the same time, the iconic attitude works as a stabilizing factor for meaning. Moreover, this attitude is crucial for the specification of the similarity relation in an actual sign experience with an iconic ground.
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