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Elis Eriksson: Ting och tecken

Andersson, Fred LU (2007)
Abstract
The title of this thesis translates as "Elis Eriksson: Objects and Signs" and concerns the life and work of the Swedish artist Elis Eriksson (1906-2006) as analysed from a semiotic point of view. The semiotic theory applied in the thesis is to be regarded as a theory of cultural semiotics or socio-semiotics, explicitly critical towards the rigid application of linguistic models so often associated with semiotic studies in the human sciences. In this spirit it draws upon the semiotics of Charles Sanders Peirce, as well as the works of several Continental and Swedish scholars who combine rhetorics and semiotics in the analysis of cultural phenomena. Reference is also made to social theories associated with Pierre Bourdieu and with Marxist... (More)
The title of this thesis translates as "Elis Eriksson: Objects and Signs" and concerns the life and work of the Swedish artist Elis Eriksson (1906-2006) as analysed from a semiotic point of view. The semiotic theory applied in the thesis is to be regarded as a theory of cultural semiotics or socio-semiotics, explicitly critical towards the rigid application of linguistic models so often associated with semiotic studies in the human sciences. In this spirit it draws upon the semiotics of Charles Sanders Peirce, as well as the works of several Continental and Swedish scholars who combine rhetorics and semiotics in the analysis of cultural phenomena. Reference is also made to social theories associated with Pierre Bourdieu and with Marxist studies.



The social element warrants a thorough description and narrative of Elis Eriksson's life and career. This narrative is to be found in sections II and VI. These sections provide an evaluation and analysis of Eriksson's paradoxical status within the Swedish art world, being regarded as both a major figure and an outsider. In sections III-V, Eriksson's production from the late Fifties and the first half of the Sixties is subjected to semiotic analyses. The analyses are made with a specific concern for the rhetorical aspect; i.e. expressive devices regarded as deviations from certain norms.



Out of his position as established in an urban, high-culture, middle class Swedish milieu, Eriksson could introduce expressive elements that were deviating from that milieu by means of being associated with the low culture of the economically and/or symbolically subordinate. An evident example of this is the fondness of dialect and sociolect that is considered in section IV.



Three basic questions are posed and answered in the thesis: 1) What was Eriksson's role and status in the Swedish artworld from the 1940s onwards? 2) What are the relations between verbal and visual information in Eriksson's production? 3) How could we understand Eriksson's production in relation to existing theories of deviations from cultural norms? Semiotically, the questions are related to three levels of analysis: that of images (section III), that of words (section IV) and that of the reference of words and images to things and actions, imagined or real (section V). (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

Denna avhandling behandlar konstnären Elis Erikssons liv och verk ur ett semiotiskt perspektiv. Den semiotiska teori som appliceras i avhandlingen ska ses som en kultursemiotisk eller sociosemiotisk teori. Den är därmed uttryckligen kritisk mot den rigida tillämpning av lingvistiska modeller som så ofta förknippas med semiotiska studier inom humaniora. I enlighet med denna inriktning hänvisas till Charles Sanders Peirces semiotik, men också till flera kontinentala och svenska forskare som kombinerar semiotiska och retoriska förklaringsmodeller i sin analys av kulturella fenomen. Det refereras också till marxistiska studier och till de sociala teorier som förknippas med Pierre Bourdieu.

... (More)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

Denna avhandling behandlar konstnären Elis Erikssons liv och verk ur ett semiotiskt perspektiv. Den semiotiska teori som appliceras i avhandlingen ska ses som en kultursemiotisk eller sociosemiotisk teori. Den är därmed uttryckligen kritisk mot den rigida tillämpning av lingvistiska modeller som så ofta förknippas med semiotiska studier inom humaniora. I enlighet med denna inriktning hänvisas till Charles Sanders Peirces semiotik, men också till flera kontinentala och svenska forskare som kombinerar semiotiska och retoriska förklaringsmodeller i sin analys av kulturella fenomen. Det refereras också till marxistiska studier och till de sociala teorier som förknippas med Pierre Bourdieu.



Det sociala momentet motiverar en grundlig beskrivning och redogörelse för Elis Erikssons liv och karriär. Denna redogörelse återfinns i avdelningarna I och VI. Dessa avdelningar erbjuder en utvärdering och analys av Erikssons paradoxala roll i det svenska konstlivet, där han betraktades som såväl en betydande gestalt som en outsider. I avdelningarna III-V görs Erikssons produktion från sent femtiotal och från sextiotalets första hälft till föremål för semiotiska analyser. Analyserna innebär ett särskilt fokus på den retoriska aspekten, med andra ord hur vissa uttrycksmedel utgör avvikelser från vissa normer.



Utifrån sin position som etablerad i en finkulturell svensk storstads- och medelklassmiljö kunde Eriksson föra in element som avvek från normer i denna miljö genom att förknippas med de ekonomiskt eller symboliskt underordnades kultur. Tydligast skedde detta genom det bejakande av dialekt och sociolekt som behandlats i avdelning IV.



Tre huvudsakliga frågeställningar reses och besvaras i avhandlingen: 1) Vad har Elis Eriksson haft för position i svenskt konstliv från 1940-talet och framåt? 2) Vad är förhållandet mellan verbal och visuell information i Erikssons produktion? 3) Hur kan vi förstå Erikssons produktion i förhållande till existerande teorier om avvikelser från kulturella normer? Semiotiskt är frågeställningarna relaterade till tre olika analysnivåer: bildens nivå (avdelning III), skriftens nivå (avdelning IV) och den nivå som utgörs av bildernas och skriftens referens till ting och handlingar, fantiserade eller verkliga (avdelning V). (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • PhD Werner, Jeff, Stockholm University
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Systematisk filosofi, ideology, epistemology, metaphysics, aesthetics, ethics, Systematic philosophy, Konstvetenskap, Art History, Verbal & Visual information, Avant-garde practises, Low culture, Dialects, Swedish artworld, Social theory, Semiotics, Rhetorical aspect, etik, estetik, metafysik, kunskapsteori, ideologi, Sculpture and architecture, Skulptur och arkitektur, Grammar, semantics, semiotics, syntax, Grammatik, semantik, semiotik
pages
480 pages
publisher
Sekel Bokförlag
defense location
Lund University, dept of Art History and Musicology, Biskopsgatan 5, 221 00 Lund. Josephson buildning, room 314.
defense date
2007-09-29 10:00:00
ISBN
978-91-85767-06-9
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
cba80277-dfca-49fd-b561-c60c050056f0 (old id 548906)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 10:49:29
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:00:59
@phdthesis{cba80277-dfca-49fd-b561-c60c050056f0,
  abstract     = {{The title of this thesis translates as "Elis Eriksson: Objects and Signs" and concerns the life and work of the Swedish artist Elis Eriksson (1906-2006) as analysed from a semiotic point of view. The semiotic theory applied in the thesis is to be regarded as a theory of cultural semiotics or socio-semiotics, explicitly critical towards the rigid application of linguistic models so often associated with semiotic studies in the human sciences. In this spirit it draws upon the semiotics of Charles Sanders Peirce, as well as the works of several Continental and Swedish scholars who combine rhetorics and semiotics in the analysis of cultural phenomena. Reference is also made to social theories associated with Pierre Bourdieu and with Marxist studies.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The social element warrants a thorough description and narrative of Elis Eriksson's life and career. This narrative is to be found in sections II and VI. These sections provide an evaluation and analysis of Eriksson's paradoxical status within the Swedish art world, being regarded as both a major figure and an outsider. In sections III-V, Eriksson's production from the late Fifties and the first half of the Sixties is subjected to semiotic analyses. The analyses are made with a specific concern for the rhetorical aspect; i.e. expressive devices regarded as deviations from certain norms.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Out of his position as established in an urban, high-culture, middle class Swedish milieu, Eriksson could introduce expressive elements that were deviating from that milieu by means of being associated with the low culture of the economically and/or symbolically subordinate. An evident example of this is the fondness of dialect and sociolect that is considered in section IV.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Three basic questions are posed and answered in the thesis: 1) What was Eriksson's role and status in the Swedish artworld from the 1940s onwards? 2) What are the relations between verbal and visual information in Eriksson's production? 3) How could we understand Eriksson's production in relation to existing theories of deviations from cultural norms? Semiotically, the questions are related to three levels of analysis: that of images (section III), that of words (section IV) and that of the reference of words and images to things and actions, imagined or real (section V).}},
  author       = {{Andersson, Fred}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-85767-06-9}},
  keywords     = {{Systematisk filosofi; ideology; epistemology; metaphysics; aesthetics; ethics; Systematic philosophy; Konstvetenskap; Art History; Verbal & Visual information; Avant-garde practises; Low culture; Dialects; Swedish artworld; Social theory; Semiotics; Rhetorical aspect; etik; estetik; metafysik; kunskapsteori; ideologi; Sculpture and architecture; Skulptur och arkitektur; Grammar; semantics; semiotics; syntax; Grammatik; semantik; semiotik}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  publisher    = {{Sekel Bokförlag}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{Elis Eriksson: Ting och tecken}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}