Postmodern Semiotics: Material Culture and the Forms of Postmodern Life.

Abstract

Part I: Theoretical Considerations: 1. Semiotics, Socio-Semiotics and Postmodernism: From Idealist to Materialist Theories of the Sign. 2. The System of Objects and the Commodification of Everyday Life: The Early Baudrillard. 3. The Substance of the Expression: The Role of Material Culture in Symbolic Interaction. Part II: The Substance of the Expression: Case Studies: 4. Recapturing the Center: A Socio-Semiotic Analysis of Shopping Malls5. Disneyland: A Utopian Urban Space. 6. Postmodern Architecture and the City. 7. The Political Economy of Postmodernism: The Signs of Growth - A Case Study. Part III: Cultural Studies and Socio-Semiotics: 8. Hegemony and Mass Culture: A Socio-Semiotic Approach. 9. Group Differentiation in a Metropolitan High School: The Influence of Race, Class, Gender and Culture. 10. Unisex Fashions and Gender Role-Change. 11. Recovering Lost Signifieds: Cultural Criticism in a Postmodern World.