La semiotica del linguaggio di Ferruccio Rossi-Landi

In Rossi-Landi, general semiotics is sociosemiotics in a profound and original sense. The (socio-)semiotic interpretation of the notions of ‘mind’, ‘commodity’, ‘ruling class’, ‘ideology’ such as to find a semioeconomy renders Rossi-Landi’s research innovative and pioneering. Nonetheless, his work remained in the minor tradition, especially with respect to Italian culture in the second half of the twentieth century. This contribution traces the various phases in Rossi-Landi’s research: from his relations to the Italian tradition with an interest in semiotic and philosophical-linguistic themes, centered on GiovanniVailati and which through Carlo Cattaneo goes back to Giambattista Vico, from the Anglo-Saxon analytical philosophy to Charles Morris and George H. Mead.