18.1940, Books: Sociolinguistics: Neiva

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LINGUIST List: Vol-18-1940. Thu Jun 28 2007. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 18.1940, Books: Sociolinguistics: Neiva

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1)
Date: 25-Jun-2007
From: Julia Ulrich < julia.ulrich at degruyter.com >
Subject: Communication Games: Neiva

 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2007 10:42:25
From: Julia Ulrich < julia.ulrich at degruyter.com >
Subject: Communication Games: Neiva 
 



Title: Communication Games 
Subtitle: The Semiotic Foundation of Culture 
Series Title: Approaches to Applied Semiotics [AAS] 5  

Publication Year: 2007 
Publisher: Mouton de Gruyter
	   http://www.mouton-publishers.com
	

Book URL: http://www.degruyter.com/rs/bookSingle.cfm?id=IS-9783110190465-1&l=E 


Author: Eduardo Neiva

Hardback: ISBN:  Pages: 306 Price: Europe EURO 98.00
Hardback: ISBN:  Pages: 306 Price: U.S. $ 132.30 Comment: for USA, Canada & Mexico


Abstract:

Communication Games is a new and radical interpretation of the relationship
between culture and communication. It explores the idea that culture and
communication studies should be seen predominantly in relation to struggles
and conflicts within the social arena. It criticizes the conventional
heritage of the social sciences and humanities. Culture and communication
are conceived not merely as means of integrating social actors, but as
semiotic ways of providing fitness indicators that allow for the resolution
of competition between individuals. 

>From the perspective of Peircean semiotics and the Darwinian understanding
of life processes, Communication Games redefines culture in terms of
Darwin's notion of sexual selection. Moving on from the realization that
sexual selection creates individual organisms with conflicting interests,
Communication Games emphasizes the contribution of game theory to semiotics
and communication studies. 

The book demonstrates how cooperation and shared conventions eventually
emerge, and how conflicts are resolved through the display of costly and
inflated signs. It is from these inflated signs and the escalation of
excessive messages that cultures gain a certain degree of stability.
Communication Games proposes a new way of understanding culture,
communication, and semiotic exchange in terms of game theory.
 
Reviews:
 
"Over the past twenty years the insights of semiotics have inspired and
guided research across the whole spectrum of the humanities - from
anthropology to queer theory, from literary history to film studies, from
philosophy to art history. Yet, with time the imbalances and fault lines
within the original core of semiotic theory have also emerged, or half
emerged. Neiva names and defines a set of problems that semiotics must
finally resolve - before the whole engine runs out of steam. A daring,
inventive, passionately original book, this is essential reading for
everyone concerned with culture, signs, meanings, subjects." 
-Norman Bryson 

"Blending social history with evolutionary biology, Eduardo Neiva shows how
sexual selection impacts cultural practice through complex communicative
exchange. Debunking conventional explanations of cultural development, the
author employs a massive body of evidence ranging from the bloody
battle-grounds of ancient conflict to the technologically-driven terrain of
contemporary life to fashion an intriguing argument." 
-James Lull, San Jose State University 

Of interest to: Libraries and Researchers in the Fields of Semiotics,
Communication, and Culture   

To order, please contact:

Rhenus Medien Logistik GmbH & Co. KG
Justus-von-Liebig-Straße 1
86899 Landsberg
Tel.: +49-(0) 8191-97000-214
Fax: +49-(0) 8191-97000-594
e-mail: degruyter at de.rhenus.com

For USA, Canada, Mexico: 

Walter de Gruyter, Inc.
PO Box 960
Herndon, VA 20172-0960
Tel.: +1 (703) 661 1589
Tel. Toll-free  +1 (800) 208 8144
Fax: +1 (703) 661 1501
e-mail: degruytermail at presswarehouse.com
  
Please visit our website for other publications by Mouton de Gruyter:
http://www.mouton-publishers.com/
 
For free demo versions of Mouton de Gruyter's multimedia products, please
visit http://www.mouton-online.com/

Prices are subject to change.
Prices do not include postage and handling. 



Linguistic Field(s): Sociolinguistics


Written In: English  (eng)
	
See this book announcement on our website: 
http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=26497


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LINGUIST List: Vol-18-1940