C.S. Peirce’s semiotics, one reads in Chris Barnham’s The Natural History of the Sign, is fundamentally about cognition. Rejecting the Western “mirror” model of cognition that underpins our conventional view of perception, Peirce argues that signs are made by each of us, as we seek to understand the world around us. This is how we become integrated in our own cultures. Chris Barnham will discuss the implications of Peirce’s model for commercial semiotics; and Serdar Paktin will describe what happens when the Western model of perception is imposed upon non-Western cultures.

CHRIS BARNHAM read Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at Oxford before starting a market research career — which eventually led to him founding Chris Barnham Research and Strategy. He went on to earn a PhD on Charles Sanders Peirce and the psychologist Lev Vygotsky. In 2022, he published a book on the activity of concept formation in Peirce’s semiotics: The Natural History of the Sign. It recently became available in paperback.

SERDAR PAKTIN is a strategist, sensemaker, and expert in cross-cultural semiotics and cultural analysis. As the founder of Pakt Agency, a consultancy based in London and Istanbul, he helps brands and businesses navigate cultural and sensory codes across Turkey, the MENA region, the UK, and beyond, bridging Western and Eastern perspectives.

This session is going to be one-of-a-kind and we can't wait to see you there. Semiofest is a non-profit organisation that relies on kind donations to help us cover our expenses. We recommend a minimum donation of £5.

Thank you.

The Semiofest Team

Semiofest Session 34: Peirce & Perception

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