The 9^th Congress of the Argentine Association for Semiotic Studies (AAS)

1The conference was held from 5^th to 7^th September 2013 in Mendoza city, Argentina, organized by the National University of Cuyo, under the coordination of Estela María Zalba. The program was arranged in simultaneous sessions of papers organized by subject, panels of discussion by specialists, and three plenary lectures delivered by recognized international semioticians: Ivan Darrault-Harris (France), Eliseo Verón (Argentina), and José Enrique Finol (Venezuela). Info: http://congresosemioticauncuyo.blogspot.com.ar/​

2Associated with the conference, the following special events also took place:

• The last issues of the journal DeSignis (Journal of the Latin American Federation of Semiotics) were presented and commented by Fernando Andacht, María Teresa Dalmasso, and José Enrique Finol, and the next programmed issues were announced by José Luis Fernández and Oscar Steimberg.

• Previously to the conference, on September 2-4, Ivan Darrault-Harris delivered a seminar about “Children’s identity and ludicrous behavior”, and was distinguished with an honorary doctorate by the National University of Cuyo.

• On September 6, the assembly of the association was held. Dr. José Luis Fernández was proposed as the new president, and Dr. Gabriela Simón as its vice-president. The next congress of the AAS will be held at the University of Salta in 2015. Info about the AAS: www.aasemiotica.com.ar

Some books related to semiotics published in Argentina in 2013

3■ Semióticas. Las semióticas de los géneros, de los estilos, de la transposición [The semiotics of genres, styles, transposition], in Spanish, Oscar Steimberg, 2013, Eterna Cadencia Editora, Buenos Aires, ISBN 978-987-1673-83-4
This is an enlarged and updated re-edition of one of the most important books of Argentine semiotic theory. The volume includes a series of papers from the eighties until nowadays, in addition to the texts of Semiótica de los medios masivos [Semiotics of mass media] (1993), a classical book on popular genres and their passage to the mass media.

4■ Leyendo historietas. Textos sobre relatos visuales y humor gráfico, [Reading cartoons. Texts about visual stories and graphic humor], in Spanish, Oscar Steimberg, 2013, Eterna Cadencia Editora, Buenos Aires, ISBN 978-987-1673-84-1
In this volume, the original edition of Leyendo historietas (published in 1977, and including texts from 1968 to 1976) is enlarged with texts on the subject produced by Steimberg from 1979 until nowadays.

Doctoral dissertation upheld in 2013

5Carlos González Pérez: “Application of Peircean semiotics to the study of the internal communication in organizations: The case of the processes of communication in the Museum of La Plata” [Aplicaciones de la semiótica peirceana al estudio de la comunicación interna organizacional. El caso de las relaciones entre los procesos de comunicación formal e informal en el Museo de La Plata].
Faculty of Journalism and Social Communication, National University of La Plata

6Abstract: The thesis points to analyze the internal communication processes of La Plata Museum, in order to explain the relations between formal and informal instances, from a Peircean perspective. The triadic sign scheme proves to be useful for taking into account complex and nonlinear processes, linked to the cultural aspects of the investigated organization, determined by a historical moment. The theoretical postulates of various authors included in this perspective allows to address the complexity of communication processes involved, given that all communication is realized through signs, which can be interpreted in one way or another, with the possibility of growth and generation of a series of more developed signs. Through the analysis, the thesis can explain not only the value of the formal communication processes, but also the value of informal spaces that complement the formal ones. There is an important internal segmentation that must be resolved in order to implement participatory communication actions (with internal and external public), something that is declaimed but not satisfied. The thesis identifies some aspects related to extension, public studies, and the relationship that the Museum has with the Argentine native communities, and also current valuations relative to what the Museum appreciates in the present, and which values are projected into the future. The theoretical and methodological developments, in relation to specific interventions (application of specific semiotic operations), have allowed to develop a semiotic outline for the study of organizations, mainly of their communication processes.

Posgraduate studies in Semiotics

7■ PhD in Semiotics and Master in Sociosemiotic Studies. Organized by the Center of Advanced Studies and the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities, National University of Cordoba. Director: María Teresa Dalmasso. The academic activities corresponding to the 4^th cohort of the PhD included courses and seminars, as well as lectures by international experts, Dr. Marc Angenot among them. In the course of 2013 four doctoral dissertations and two master thesis were presented and approved.

8Info Doctoral program:

• http://www.cea.unc.edu.ar/​carreras/​doctorados/​doctorado-en-semiotica

• http://doctoradosemiotica.blogspot.com

9Info Master program: http://www.estudios.com.ar/​maestria-sociosemiotica-cordoba-908.html

10■ Master in Semiotics of Discourse. Organized by the Program of Semiotics, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, National University of Misiones. Director: Ana Camblong. Info: http://www.programadesemiotica.edu.ar/​

Research Program on Social Discourse

11Center of Advanced Studies, National University of Cordoba. Director: María T. Dalmasso

12There are two research projects linked to this program. They are:

• Social discourse: the visible and the enunciable. Time and space in identity policies [Discurso social: Lo visible y lo enunciable. Tiempo y espacio en las políticas identitarias]. Director: María Teresa Dalmasso. Co-director: Adriana Boria. Members: Norma Fatala, Sebastián Gastaldi, Gloria Bustos, Mariana Gómez, Sandra Savoini, Santiago Esteso, Claudia Grzincich, Patricia Rotger, Laura Maccioni.

• The alternative media production: Conditions of possibilities in the contemporary discoursive net [La producción mediática alternativa: condiciones de posibilidad en la trama discursiva contemporánea]. Director: Ana B. Ammann. Co-director: Eva Da Porta. Members: Tamara Liponetzky, Romina Edelman, Paula Morales, Laura Balsamo, Eduardo Pelosio, Alejandro Melian, Soledad Autino, Juan Pablo Hamada, Esteban Ways.

13Other activities of this research group have included the preparation of the volume with the papers presented at the 3^rd Binational Meeting on Semiotics, held in the University of Chile, in Santiago city.