Semiotics, Semiosis, and Becoming

This chapter discusses the relationships among semiotics as a field; semiosis, the processes of experience-centered perception, affect, thought, and communication; and becoming, the processes by which people and environments change over time. After reviewing the semiotic theories of Saussure, Peirce, and Voloshinov, it takes up two key issues: whether semiotics should take texts/artifacts or practices as its object of study and whether semiosis should be understood as rule-governed systems or dialogic histories. The chapter then explores varied approaches to text- and practice-centered semiotics in English studies, including work on multimodality, translanguaging, mediated discourse analysis, and literacies.