Key research themes
1. How does pluralism inform the conceptualization of music and its semiotic interpretation in scientific inquiry?
This research area investigates the diverse and sometimes conflicting conceptions of music arising from multiple scientific disciplines. It emphasizes pluralism as a framework that acknowledges complementary and antagonistic definitions of music, suggesting that no single definition is universally applicable. Within musical semiology, this plurality impacts how music is studied, modeled, and interpreted across contexts, highlighting the need to integrate distinct semiotic approaches tied to diverse research agendas.
2. What are the roles of structure, context, and listener interaction in the generation of musical meaning within semiotic frameworks?
This theme explores the interaction between musical structures (such as melody, harmony, and notation), the cultural and historical contexts of music, and the active interpretative role of listeners or performers in meaning-making processes. It challenges structuralist views that locate meaning solely within musical objects, emphasizing instead the dynamic, relational, and subjective dimensions of musical semiosis that arise through listener engagement, cognitive framing, and socio-cultural factors.
3. How do philosophical and interdisciplinary approaches advance the understanding of music semiotics and its cognitive, cultural, and ethical dimensions?
This research theme investigates how philosophical frameworks, cognitive science findings, historical perspectives, and interdisciplinary methods contribute to the theory and practice of musical semiology. It includes examining music’s ethical implications, its evolutionary and human-specific cognitive adaptations, semiotic relations beyond language, and reflexivity in semiotic and analytical frameworks. Such diverse approaches enrich the interpretative and theoretical scope of musical semiotics.