An outline for a semiotic theory of hegemony

Abstract

There are basically three main problems that this article tries to address. First, it aims to elaborate and take to a more general level the main principles of the semiotic theory of hegemony that has been proposed recently. It takes as a starting point the discourse-theoretical approach to political analysis developed most notably by Ernesto Laclau and the Essex School, and tries to complement this with the insights provided by the semiotics of culture of Yuri Lotman and the Tartu-Moscow School. Second, it tries to develop a second-range model of hegemony that could be of service for designing empirical studies of concrete hegemonic formations and their different modalities. Third, it strives to provide a preliminary sketch of a concrete analysis of a hegemonic formation that has produced a dominating signifier “Singing Revolution” for identifying very heterogeneous set of events in Estonia's recent history.