 |
|
Volume 10 Number 2
Fall 2017
| Cognitive
Polyphasia In The Context Of Systemic Power And
Semiotic Potency Maaris Raudsepp Tallinn University, Estonia |
pp. 45-76 |
![[pdf]](../../graphics/pdf.gif){kind=small} |
| |
||
|
Abstract. Semiotic
environment
in the functional sense has dual effect on the
subject: on the one
hand, it directs and constrains the subject
through collective semiotic forms
(social representations), on the other hand—it
provides symbolic resources for
subject’s self-determinative activity. This
duality may be presented as a
tension between systemic power and semiotic
potency. Heterogeneity of
semiosphere and multiplicity of subject’s
relations to the environment are the
prerequisites to the phenomenon of cognitive
polyphasia. It is possible to
differentiate two forms of cognitive polyphasia:
positional polyphasia and
intra-positional polyphasia. In both forms of
polyphasia the main challenges
for a researcher are: 1) to describe and explain
the effects of interaction of
plural forms of knowledge in different contexts
and 2) to explain the choice
among the potential representational
possibilities by a subject in his or her
particular relationships with the environment.
The social representation theory
and the dialogical self theory can be used
complementarily for solving these
problems. Empirical illustrations are drawn from
a study of trajectories of
successive acculturation described in
biographical interviews of elderly
people. Variation of macro-contexts (different
levels of normative pressure,
monological vs heterodoxic/dialogical context)
and specific social suggestions
interact with semiotically potent subjects.
Various strategies have been
applied for coordinating incompatible
representations and for maintaining the
sense of agency in different contextual
conditions. Both positional and
intra-positional polyphasia is creatively used
for regulating relations with
the environment. |
||