| 1. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(author)
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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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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)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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| 2. |
- Sonesson, Göran, et al.
(author)
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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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In: Cognitive development. - : Elsevier. - 0885-2014 .- 1879-226X. ; 36, s. 191-201
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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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| 3. |
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(author)
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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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In: The public journal of semiotics. - 1918-9907. ; 8:1, s. 67-76
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Review (peer-reviewed)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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| 6. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(author)
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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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In: The public journal of semiotics. - : Lund University, Centre for Languages and Literature. - 1918-9907. ; 8:1, s. 67-76
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Research review (peer-reviewed)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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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(author)
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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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In: Technologies & Human Development.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)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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| 9. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(author)
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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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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)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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| 10. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(author)
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Inverting cultures : the pictorial ceremonial of a suicide bomber and the“unhomeliness” of the photographic picture
- 2017
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In: 13th IASS-AIS World Congress of Semiotics ” / 10<sup>th</sup>conference for The Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS).
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)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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| 11. |
- Lenninger, Sara M., et al.
(author)
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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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In: Frontiers in Psychology. - 1664-1078. ; 11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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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| 12. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(author)
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Narratives and the semiotic freedom of children
- 2021
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In: Sign System Studies. - 1406-4243 .- 1736-7409. ; 49:1, s. 216-234
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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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| 13. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(author)
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Narratives and the semiotic freedom of children
- 2021
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In: Sign System Studies. - 1406-4243. ; 49:1-2, s. 216-234
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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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| 14. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(author)
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Om visuella yttranden med bild och andra meningsskapande ytor med likhet
- 2021
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In: Estetikens möjligheter. - Lund : Studentlitteratur AB. - 9789144142265 ; , s. 49-73
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Book chapter (pop. science, debate, etc.)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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| 15. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(author)
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Om visuella yttranden med bild och andra meningsskapande ytor med likhet
- 2021
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In: Estetikens möjligheter. - Lund : Studentlitteratur AB. ; , s. 49-73
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)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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| 16. |
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| 17. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(author)
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Pictures : perceptions of realism in the service of communication
- 2016
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In: Human lifeworlds. - Frankfurt am Main : Peter Lang Publishing Group. - 9783631693957 ; , s. 97-112
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)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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| 18. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(author)
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Pictures : perceptions of realism in the service of communication
- 2016
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In: Human lifeworlds. - Frankfurt am Main : Peter Lang Publishing Group. ; , s. 97-112
-
Book chapter (other academic/artistic)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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| 19. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(author)
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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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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)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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| 20. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(author)
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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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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)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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| 22. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(author)
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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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In: Semiotic (un)predictability.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)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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| 23. |
- Lenninger, Sara M.
(author)
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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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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)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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