Symbolic Communication Research Articles

Symbolism of Compass Roses on Early Modern Nautical Charts of the Adriatic Sea

This qualitative analysis of symbolic elements in nautical cartography aims to provide an interdisciplinary insight into some aspects of early modern cartographic representations of the Adriatic Sea. The nautical charts were supplemented with compass roses, a graphic structure that facilitates orientation and correlates with rhumb lines. The research objective focusses primarily on the variety of signs for the cardinal directions north and east, additionally considering some rare but innovative and avant-garde pragmatic uses of compass roses to indicate magnetic declination. On the majority of the selected nautical charts, most of which were created in Mediterranean and Western European cultural centres, decorative elements such as the fleur-de-lis and the cross were used in compass roses to determine the cardinal points. The compass roses of these nautical charts often served as symbolic evidence of the social and economic belonging of the Adriatic to the European part of the Mediterranean geographical system, as well as to the Christian sphere of tradition and influence. The study has thus proved the existence of significant symbolic communication capacity of a compass rose, which was not only a utilitarian but also an artistic element.

SEMIOTIC BROADENING OF SIGN: A SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF THE BLACK COLOR-SIGN

The purpose of writing this article is to show the symmetrical function of linguistics semantics and semiotics. This article explores how semantic broadening in natural languages can be generalized to semiotics, the study of signs and symbolic communication. This study demonstrates that signs, whether members of verbal or non-verbal systems, can be studied similarly to semantic broadening. After introducing the process of semantic broadening, the discussion of the function of this process in semiotics is narrowed down to a case study of the black color-sign. The research method of this analysis is based on qualitative methodology and by collecting data based on a simple assumption which shows that semiotic broadening is a superordinate term that can have explanatory adequacy and can be expanded to verbal and non-verbal signs.

Music Therapy in Global Aphasia: A Case Report

Patients affected by global aphasia are no longer able to understand, produce, name objects, write and read. It occurs as a result of functional damage of ischemic or hemorrhagic origin affecting the entire peri-silvan region and frontal operculum. Rehabilitation training aims to promote an early intervention in the acute phase. We described a case of a 57-year-old female patient with left intraparenchymal fronto-temporo-parietal cerebral hemorrhage and right hemiplegia. After admission to clinical rehabilitative center, the patient was not able to perform simple orders and she presented a severe impairment of auditory and written comprehension. Eloquence was characterized by stereotypical emission of monosyllabic sounds and showed compromised praxis-constructive abilities. Rehabilitation included a program of Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT), specifically Symbolic Communication Training Through Music (SYCOM) and Musical Speech Stimulation (MUSTIM). Rehabilitative treatment was measured by improved cognitive and language performance of the patient from T0 to T1. Music rehabilitative interventions and continuous speech therapy improve visual attention and communicative intentionality. In order to confirm the effectiveness of data presented, further extensive studies of the sample would be necessary, to assess the real role of music therapy in post-stroke global aphasia.

Evolutionary ecology of language origins through confrontational scavenging.

A dynamic model and an agent-based simulation model implementing the assumptions of the confrontational scavenging hypothesis on early protolanguage as an adaptive response of Homo erectus to gradual change in their habitat has been developed and studied. The core assumptions of the hypothesis and the model scenario are the pre-adaptation of our ancestors to occupy the ecological niche that they constructed for themselves by having evolved displaced communication and a rudimentary tool manufacture, two features allowing them to use a new, concentrated and abundant resource-megafauna carrion-on the savannahs replacing arboreal habitats owing to the drying climate of East Africaat about 2Ma. The shift in diet required coordinated cooperation by the hominin scavengers confronted with concurrent predators. Power scavenging compelled displaced symbolic communication featuring a limited semantic range; syntax was not yet required. We show that phenotypic evolution on the accuracy of information transfer between cooperating hominins is a necessary and sufficient condition for the population of agents to survive the diet shift. Both the individual and the group fitness of the hominin horde increased with the accuracy of their protolanguage, with decreasing time allocated to foraging and thus more time left for culture. This article is part of the theme issue 'Human socio-cultural evolution in light of evolutionary transitions'.

Symbolic communication in cultural television programmes

Television performs the fundamental role of spreading information and transmitting culture as a method of mass communication because it is a significant carrier of both.It reflects both the social ambitions of society as a whole and the way that society is currently developing and functioning.It seems that only exciting TV shows can no longer entirely satisfy audience needs after multiple rounds of the program’s carnival-like eruptions, and too much entertainment has made viewers less aesthetic.Finding programs that may actually satisfy audience requirements has thus become a breakthrough for the advancement of television in the future.

Episcopal Power and Authority in Communication with the City of Bardejov in the Late Middle Ages

This study deals with communications between the town of Bardejov and bishops in the Middle Ages. The author examines how the ecclesiastical power and authority of the bishops was demonstrated in their communications with the royal city of Bardejov. The bishops’ power toward medieval towns in the Kingdom of Hungary was primarily manifested in the tithes and exemptions granted in the rights of archdeacons. In the case of Bardejov, there can be found some areas where the power of bishops of Eger (frequently represented by episcopal vicars) was demonstrated. First of all, the episcopal tithe collection caused permanent disputes between the parish priest, town representatives and the bishop. The author describes how the problems were solved and the machinery of episcopal powers in these cases. Another area of communication and the manifestation of episcopal authority was that of judicial cases between burghers, which were occasionally brought before ecclesiastical court contrary to town law. A further, greatly signifi cant manifestation of episcopal power in the area of the city was that of ecclesiastical rituals and symbolic communication. The study mentions various examples of episcopal presence in the consecration of churches, chapels, altars and liturgical dress.

Assessment of Safety Behavior and Hazard Communication Knowledge Amongst Tangerang-Merak Toll Road Users

A hazard prevention symbol is an essential safety communication tool in helping to indicate the various hazards present. The hazard prevention symbol warns against caution, providing needed safety information and instructions. This study aims to determine the understanding of symbols of danger and driving behavior on toll roads, especially the Tangerang-Merak toll road. The sampling method was carried out using a random sampling sample. Safety behavior will be assessed using the Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ). The results obtained by car drivers on toll roads, on average, understand the symbol of hazard communication in horizontal alignment conditions, vertical alignment, and dangerous road warnings. However, many drivers need help understanding the communication hazard symbol on the lane separator construction. Based on the Driver Behavior Questionnaire, sequentially, the deviant behavior of car drivers on the Tangerang-Merak toll road, namely violations, lapses, and errors.

Languages of “Modern” (Harbin Hotel “Modern” in the History of Russian-Chinese Cultural Relations)

The construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway and the foundation of Harbin determined the importance of this city in Russian-Chinese relations, which increased even more during the Civil War in Russia and after it. Various aspects of these relations can be analyzed using the example of the Harbin Hotel Modern. Its owners were the first to realize the idea of creating an entertainment and hotel complex, where the hotel and restaurant service was organically combined with the possibilities of cultural leisure and introducing the population to art. In the article "Modern" is presented as an example for studying the cultural and leisure aspects of the life of Harbin residents in the first half of the 20th century. Built on the initiative of Russian entrepreneurs, "Modern" has become a symbol of intercultural communication in a multinational city. Readiness for it, he broadcast the language of architecture, cooking, theater and cinema. The authors introduce the concept of the architectural language of the building itself, which is of great artistic value, give a brief description of the culinary language of "Modern", in which the traditions of Chinese cuisine were organically combined with European technologies, analyze the repertoire. European (Russian) and Chinese cultures met on the stage of "Modern", both amateur performers and outstanding artists performed, and important political negotiations took place. Two main periods of activity of "Modern" are considered: the first, 1906-1945, is more connected with Russian history, the second, from 1945 to the present day, represents the Chinese reality, but the Russianness characteristic of the past persists to this day. "Modern" and today plays an important role in the business and cultural life of China. The article is based on materials from Russian, Chinese and American archives and libraries, as well as on the results of the authors' field research.

Ecology, Anti-Christianity, and the Far Right

Ecology, Anti-Christianity, and the Far Right

ICI-Robust Transceiver Design for Integration of MIMO-OFDM Radar and MU-MIMO Communication

By virtue of the low cost and flexible deployment, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are becoming the most promising platform for active radar sensing to find targets in shaded areas and build a temporary communication infrastructure at disaster sites. Radar and wireless communication are essential functions for reliable control of UAVs and real-time exchange of sensed measurements. However, due to the limited payload and power budget of UAVs, it is impossible to mount two individual radar and communication systems, especially on small- or medium-sized UAVs. Recently, joint communication and radar (JCR) systems have emerged as a breakthrough, which perform the communication and radar functions simultaneously on the same hardware platform. Compared to a simple combination of individual communication and radar systems, a UAV JCR system can minimize the implementation cost, power consumption, payload, and radio resource usage. This paper proposes transmit beamformer and receive beamformer designs for a UAV network composed of a UAV JCR base station, a target, and multiple user equipments. Specifically, the UAV transmits an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-modulated waveform with transmit and receive beamforming to perform multi-input multi-output (MIMO) radar and multiuser-MIMO (MU-MIMO) communication functions simultaneously. Unlike the previous OFDM radar scheme that employs the communication symbol repetition method, a novel receive beamformer design is proposed to resolve the inter-carrier interference problem in the range/velocity estimation process, which therefore does not sacrifice the communication transmission rate. As a result, simulation results show that the proposed scheme achieves a higher radar signal-to-clutter ratio while achieving a higher communication sum-rate than existing schemes.

Communication and Deafblindness, Special Needs Education, and New Perspectives on Deafblindness

Introduction: In this valedictory lecture, the author presented new perspectives on deafblindness, by looking back at the studies performed in the field of Communication and Deafblindness from an educational perspective at the University of Groningen since her appointment as professor in 2008, preceded by her personal life story. Background Ph.D. Studies: In these studies, based on Single-Case-Research methodology, the aim was improving communication between individuals with congenital deafblindness and their educators (teachers, caregivers and parents) and evaluate the effects of the interventions in a mainly quantitative way. Building up evidence-based-practice was the central theme. In total, interventions were performed with 75 people with congenital deafblindness and their 175 educators. These communication interventions were based on attachment theory (Ainsworth, Bell, and Stayton, 1974) and Trevarthen’s intersubjectivity theory of (Braten and Trevarthen, 2007). The interventions were performed by well-trained communication coaches who conducted a cyclic diagnostic intervention approach, tailor-made for each individual case, in which video analysis and video feedback were crucial tools. Results Ph.D. Studies: Presented were the developed Models and Educational Instruments by the different Ph.D. researchers, and some crucial communication aspects from each model. Martens developed the Intervention Model of Affective Involvement, Bloeming-Wolbrink the Change Project, and Huiskens the Intervention Model for Tactile Communication. Interventions based on these models proved to be effective on the first and second layers of intersubjective communication and were focused on aspects such as attention, initiatives, positive emotions, affective involvement, meaning-making, and bodily emotional impressions. Damen developed the High Quality in Communication Intervention, Boers the Interaction Communication Analysis List, and Wolthuis the Layered Communication Model. Interventions based on these instruments proved to be effective on three layers of intersubjectivity, on aspects such as attunement, meaning-making, symbolic communication, declarative communication, and perspective-taking. Based on the Self-Determination theory of Deci and Ryan (2000 Haakma, developed the Need-Supportive Behavior Intervention, to enhance motivation in learning for both students with acquired and congenital deafblindness. It was concluded that the ‘autonomy-supportive behavior’ of educators in particular should be more strongly encouraged. Results Master Studies: In the years between 2006 and 2020, when the author coordinated the Master Pedagogical Sciences Communication and Deafblindness, a number of 85 international master theses and 35 Dutch theses were written, of which several were published in this Journal. The international theses were based on theoretical frameworks of Dialogicality, Developmental Psychology, Semiotics, and Cognitive Linguistics integrated into a Special Needs Education perspective, lectured and reviewed by members of the former DbI Communication Network, now known as Groningen Study Group on Diversity in Communication. New Perspectives and Conclusion: As main new perspectives for the future were referred to in the presentations of the Symposium Deafblindness (June 21, 2022), namely: a) the voices of Persons with Deafblindness are heard; b) listen to parents; c) unite the three fields of deafblindness (Congenital, Acquired and Age-related); d) overview of educational knowledge in Academic Volumes for Oxford University Press; e) dialogical Reflections on Video-analysis of Communication related to different theoretical perspectives; f) continuation of Research and Education on new topics in Groningen; and g) international collaboration. The main conclusion of the author was that a solid foundation has been laid in which science and practice go hand in hand and that it is up to the young people with deafblindness, family members, practitioners, and researchers, to build a ‘sustainable house’ on this foundation.

Hetmans’ Land Donations to the Orthodox Church: Motives and Expectations

Hetmans’ donations to the Orthodox Church were characteristic of the religious and political culture of the Cossack state already in the era of its emergence in the mid-17th century. In addition to other gifts, hetmans confirmed or provided Orthodox monasteries with land ownership, which was at the center of identity, power, and social prestige. It is clear that certain concrete motives, expectations, and models of behavior stood behind the hetmans’ donations of land. This article suggests considering hetmans’ donations of land to the Orthodox Church as an element of symbolic communication, in which the giver and the recipient interacted, built symbolic communicative ties, and produced centers of communication. The focus is on “communication through donations,” that is, relationships of giving. Religious motivations and the recognition of monasteries as powerful centers of prayer were determinative for the hetmans’ “communication through donations” to the monasteries. The hetmans’ giving land and other real estate to monasteries was based on “piety,” but it was done in the name of Christ-loving rulers. So, in such donations it is quite natural that state interests were prevalent, but also there were complex combinations of religious, social, and political motivations and expectations. These characteristics were evident both in a general sense and in each specific instance of gifting.

SYMBOLISM AND VISUALIZATION IN THE FORMATION OF PROPAGANDIST COMMUNICATIVE SPACE BY THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION DURING THE ACTIVE PHASE OF THE RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN-WAR

The article is dedicated to the peculiarities of the formation of communicative space by Russian Federation during the time of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Only several aspects enabling the creation and development of propagandistic communication, namely – symbolic and visual are used as the base of the research. The author pays much attention to the peculiarities of the formation of the informational space of the Russian Federation after 2014, and to the methods able to ensure the desired result in a propagandistic message. In such a situation, propaganda is one of the methods for achievement of the desired result, organization of communicative space – one of the means of the declared method realization. The author raises the question: Why do they use namely symbols and their visualization? Why does the combination of these mechanisms of influence and manipulation increase the efficiency of propaganda? So, symbols are ready-made, formulated images that do not need to be deciphered, analysed, or proved. In this stage, the main task of a propagandist is to synchronize the tactics and strategy and support them with the relevant symbols – symbolic behaviour, symbolic background, symbolic signs, and symbolic visual row. While studying this symbol, the author presents the following of his functions: coding and decoding of the message and; – simplification of information perception; – acceleration of information perception; – acts as an identifier (ownforeign); – outlines the sphere, direction, and field of activity. Russian “military symbols” and the way they work among the military and civil population of the Russian Federation are analysed in the article. Research of Russian civil though of the analytical centre Levada-Centre and Active Group (the poll was conducted on March 11-14, 2022) using CATI method (computer-assisted telephone interviewing) is used as the basis. It would be correct to say that the visualization of symbols is an effective component of propagandist influence. Thus, visual and symbolic communication “work” jointly for strengthening the efficiency of the formation of the propagandist communicative space.

Presentation and Interpretation of Power Dynamics within Character Transformations: Darren Aronofsky’s ''mother!''

The movie mother! is a psychological horror movie, written and directed in 2017 by Darren Aronofsky. The plot of the movie revolves around a couple living in an isolated house, as their serene lives become thrown into disarray by a series of bizarre events started by the arrival of a mysterious couple and many other strange guests. This movie is known for its representation of biblical symbolism, with underlying warnings of the inevitable self-destruction of human race through their historically repetitive torment of Mother Earth.The main topic of this article is going to be an analysis of the symbolic milieu of the movie, with special attention to the depiction of power dynamics of the represented (divine) feminine and masculine, as well as power relations of the characters, in general. In that process, we hope to understand the stages of their transformation, with regards to the question of the nature of their transformation - was it social or structural? Interpretation of the transformation and its nature, we also contemplate the nature of recognized process of othering in the movie, that relies on the root of the recognized power relations? All of these questions are explored through interpretation of symbolic communication, in which the architectural setting acts as a character "anchor" and a sustenance for its development, as well as the indicator and medium of its transformation.

Social Memory and Formation of Urban Identity of the Regional Capital City (on the Example of Saransk)

The subject of the study is the formation of urban identity based on group reflection on the past and present. The article summarizes the results of in-depth interviews with the experts and online observation of the thematic communities in the social network VKontakte, dedicated to the visual history of Saransk — the capital of the Republic of Mordovia and focusing on the late Soviet period as the era of its transformation into a major city, revealing the specific features of the social identity of the population of the republican capital, as well as the social functions of virtual urban communities as “assemblage points” of urban identity. Considering Saransk nostalgic communities in “new media” as a specific form of digitalization in modern “public history” and visualization of social memory, the author analyzes symbolic communication and manifestation of collective emotions of their members in modes of collective trauma and nostalgia. Author specifies the basic functions of nostalgic communities: the construction of cultural trauma of the social changes, promoting comprehension of responsibility for development of a city and stimulation of civil activity, formation of a complete image of a city in space and in time, identification of users with the generalized image of the city and urban community.

Joint Sequence Optimization-Based OFDM Waveform Design for Integrated Radar and Communication Systems

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is often used in integrated radar and communication (IRC) systems to improve the sharing of scarce spectrum resources and develop efficient solutions for intelligent vehicles. However, the communication symbols and pilot information carried by the integrated signal and the cyclic prefix of OFDM greatly limit the performance of the radar and communication. In this paper, we propose a joint sequence optimization-based OFDM waveform design method for IRC. First, the ambiguity function of the OFDM signal block and guard interval (GI) sequence are deduced in detail, and a new composite sequence with the cascading of Walsh code and m sequence is used to optimize the correlation of communication information, resulting in better ambiguity function characteristics. Then, a multivariate optimization model is explored, and the constrained particle swarm optimization algorithm based on weight allocation (WCPSO) is proposed to obtain the optimal GI sequence. It has lower sidelobe levels and higher information transmission efficiency. In addition, an improved received signal processing method is introduced to achieve stable communication synchronization and high-resolution distance and velocity estimation of multiple targets radar detection. Finally, numerical simulation results are presented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Past Conditional Subjectivities: Enacting Relationships with the Non-Human in the Work of Ana Mendieta

Inspired by what literary scholar Lisa Lowe calls “the past conditional temporality”—or the “what could have been”—this paper examines how the work of 20th-century Cuban American performance artist Ana Mendieta challenges modernist ontologies that separate the human from the non-human, simultaneously calling on older ways of being and demonstrating that they never disappeared. Many argue that the ecological crises of the Anthropocene are in large part due to the proliferation of modernist worldviews that set humans apart from the non-human world. The rise of European rationalist philosophies in the early modern period played a central role in the proliferation of instrumentalist relationships between humans and the non-human world. This paper explores how Mendieta’s Silueta and Rupestrian Sculptures series (from the 1970s and 1980s) resist the logic of European capitalism and colonialism, revealing that the relationships that rationalism sought to subdue have always existed, will continue to exist, and can proliferate. Symbolic communication is a key means of mediating and actualizing relationships between subjects, and so, if a non-instrumental relationship is possible between the human and non-human, visual art ought to be a possible means of enactment. Through Mendieta’s work, this paper considers the mechanisms by which this is possible. By considering meaning-making as a basis for life, the co-constitution of human/non-human subjectivities, and the inherent permeability of the category of the individual, this paper highlights counter-modernist visual art practices that are of special urgency in the age of the Anthropocene.

Waveform design and signal processing for integrated radar-communication system based on frequency diversity array

Frequency diversity array (FDA) radar can continuously scan the whole airspace within a pulse duration by introducing a stepping frequency increment among each array element. The integrated radar-communication system (IRCS) based on FDA can perform multi-directional communication and target detection in a single pulse. We propose the waveform design and signal processing methods for IRCS based on FDA. Firstly, the transmit signal model adopts the pulse mode, and each pulse is divided into multiple sub-pulses. The communication symbols are embedded into the radar transmit waveform of each sub-pulse through phase-shift keying. Then, the tangent frequency-modulated signal is employed as the baseband waveform with the space coding by the Zadoff-Chu sequence to ensure pulse compression performance. Finally, the signal processing methods of radar and communication are proposed, respectively. The performances are verified in terms of the transmit-receive beampattern, multi-dimensional ambiguity function, and bit error rate. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method can perform multi-symbol communication under the premise of satisfying the directional scanning and pulse compression performances.

Symbolic Communication in Soul Independent Motor Community of Jakarta (The Phenomenological Study of Jakarta Independent Soul Fans)

The phenomenon of the Yamaha mio Soul fan community is one of the two-wheeled vehicle organizations that can continue to survive and continue to develop its positive organization so that it can be recognized by symbolic communication activities that run in an Independent Soul Fans community in Jakarta. In its establishing relationships between members with a phenomenological approach. The purpose of the study was to determine the communication of verbal and nonverbal symbols in the Soul Independent Fans community in Jakarta on building intimacy and fostering relationships among members. The research method used is a qualitative method. Basic Theory used Symbolic Interactionism. The results of this study are the use of verbal symbols using verbal symbols when conveying suggestions and conveying things to members through conversations or meetings, usually if the verbal is often conveyed by the general chairman and regional head in each meeting (kopdar), verbal symbols are often used in when they gather or open a forum to talk with fellow FSI members. It can be understoon about where to know and get communication codes and symbols, all informants gave uniform comments, knew the codes and symbols from other communities on the road to the group when were driving, paying attention to the movement of the symbols shown to them. From this study it can be concluded that the use of communication symbols will be seen by the system around it, because the values or norms of society is a standard in the treatment of community members which serves to maintain the stability of the internal interactions of community members, symbols as signs that refer to certain objects outside the sign itself. . The relationship between a symbol as a signifier and something that is signified (signed by a sign) is conventional.

Uncovering terra incognita in the AHD design space: A review of affective haptic devices

Affective haptic devices (AHDs) have been developed with the aim of communicating touch acts, symbolic messages, emotions, and/or providing a sense of social awareness. Within AHDs, three categories can be distinguished: mediated social touch (MST), symbolic communication systems, and awareness systems. For each of these categories, prototypes have been developed and discussed in the literature. Each such prototype, however, describes but a small part of the design space of AHDs. What is lacking is a description of the design space itself—of all choices that can be considered during the design process. Such a description will allow for a more systematic exploration of AHD designs and provides a means of combining insights gained from individual point solutions (i.e., existing prototypes). Therefore, in this article, we provide a systematic description of the design space of AHDs and its underlying dimensions based on general (e.g., revisability or synchronicity) and AHD-specific (e.g., actuation type) communication system characteristics. This resulted in 17 design dimensions, each consisting of two or more categories (the design characteristics). Based on a systematic literature search from devices up to 2019, 89 AHD prototypes were identified, and each was classified on the design dimensions. The empirical analysis of where these AHDs are located in the design space revealed, first, that potentially interesting characteristics from mediated communication, such as revisability and reviewability, are underexplored in AHDs. Second, MST devices were found to often lack those system characteristics, such as real-time modalities, that seem crucial for providing the affordances needed to simulate social touch. In particular, when comparing symbolic and awareness devices to MST devices, we found the latter to more frequently lack some of the key characteristics of face-to-face communication (i.e., bi-directional and symmetric communication). Limitations and implications are discussed.