A semio-anthropological perspective on mediatization: semiosis, 2 by Eliseo Verón

Abstract

Since the late 1960s and until his death in 2014, theorist Eliseo Verón built bridges between semiotics and communication studies—two territories that actually belong to a single domain not always perceived as such. His last book, reviewed here in the context of his overall scientific production, was aimed at the systematic development of a semioanthropological theory of mediatization. Unlike scholars such as Hjarvard, Krotz, Hepp, or Lundby, Verón situates the entry point of the historical sequence of mediatization at the very start of the evolution of human species, directly connecting both. He thus puts forward an interpretative approach and a line of work that will encourage much needed discussion and reflection. His theoretical model is yet to be debated.