The Meanings of the Built Environment

Federico Bellentani

Published by De Gruyter Mouton 2021

The Meanings of the Built Environment

A Semiotic and Geographical Approach to Monuments in the Post-Soviet Era

Federico Bellentani

Volume 24 in the series Semiotics, Communication and Cognition [SCC]

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110617276

Overview
Contents

About this book

This volume analyses the interpretation of the built environment by connecting analytical frames developed in the fields of semiotics and geography. It focuses on specific components of the built environment: monuments and memorials, as it is easily recognisable that they are erected to promote specific meanings in the public space.

The volume concentrates on monuments and memorials in post-Soviet countries in Eastern Europe, with a focus on Estonia. Elites in post-Soviet countries have often used monuments to shape meanings reflecting the needs of post-Soviet culture and society. However, individuals can interpret monuments in ways that are different from those envisioned by their designers. In Estonia, the relocation and removal of Soviet monuments and the erection of new ones has often created political divisions and resulted in civil disorder.

This book examines the potential gap between the designers’ expectations and the users’ interpretations of monuments and memorials. The main argument is that connecting semiotics and geography can provide an innovative framework to understand how monuments convey meanings and how these are variously interpreted at societal levels.

Author information

Federico Bellentani, University of Cardiff, UK.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	V
List of Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
List of Infographics Publicly Available Download PDF	XIII
1 Connecting semiotics and cultural geography: A new approach to the study of monuments and memorials Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part A: A Semiotic and geographical approach to monuments in transitional societies
2 Toward a semiotic and geographical approach to monuments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
3 The multiple meanings of monuments in transitional societies: The case of Estonia Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	33
4 The cultural reinvention of monuments and memorials Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
Part B: The cultural reinvention of monuments in Estonia
5 Removing and relocating the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn as a translation strategy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
6 Erecting new politically-charged memorials: The War of Independence Victory Column Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	78
7 The coexistence of old and new: The memorial landscape of Maarjamäe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	112
8 Erecting new urban decorations: The Kissing Students of Tartu Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
Conclusions: Towards a semiotics of post-Soviet monuments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	165
List of references Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
Audience: Scholars interested in Semiotics, Cultural Geography, Urban Planning, and the Estonian politics of memory and identity
Pages
- Front matter: 13
- Main content: 188
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 88
- Coloured Illustrations: 10
- Tables: 7
Keywords: Monuments and Memorials; Post-Soviet City; Semiotics of Culture; Cultural Geography

eBook

Published: January 18, 2021
ISBN: 9783110617276

Hardcover

Published: January 18, 2021
ISBN: 9783110614459