La “struttura chiastica” di un classico

This introduction argues that in contemporary semiotic research the most influential section of the Trattato di semiotica generale has become the second one, dedicated to modes of sign production. While at the time of its appearance, in the middle of the 70’s , the theory of codes, which is the core of the first part of the book, was probably considered the most relevant contribution to the development of the theory, today it appears to play a marginal role. In particular the modes of sign production appear to be of central interest for today’s most recent developments of the theory of enunciation. Another element of actuality is represented by the way in which Eco investigated the kind of work necessary to transform the material world into the expression plane of a sign function, a problem that has anticipated today’s discussions on the different constitutional forms of expression. Thus, the authors claim that it is not by chance that all the contributions to this volume focus on the second part of the Trattato, discussing various aspects of it - from ideology to creativity, to images and art, challenging its actuality, limits and insights.