The Semiotic Paradigm for Deconstructing Event Design and Meaning

Festivals and events convey a range of historical, political, social, and cultural signs and meanings; however, there remains limited methodological guidance for understanding these. This article proposes semiotics as a valuable yet underappreciated and underutilized approach in contemporary event s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEvent management Vol. 27; no. 7; pp. 1063 - 1079
Main Authors Viol, Maren, Todd, Louise, Anastasiadou, Constantia
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cognizant Communication Corporation 27.10.2023
Subjects
Design Theory
Event Design
Event Meanings
Event Studies
SEMIOTICS
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Summary:Festivals and events convey a range of historical, political, social, and cultural signs and meanings; however, there remains limited methodological guidance for understanding these. This article proposes semiotics as a valuable yet underappreciated and underutilized approach in contemporary event studies and design. In contending the value of semiotics to deconstruct the layers of meanings of festivals and events, this paper builds on the semiotic paradigm first proposed by Echtner in 1999 in a tourism marketing context. Drawing from two empirical studies, the article provides a framework for the application of semiotics to deconstruct layers of meaning communicated both at and by festivals and events. In making this methodological contribution to the field of event studies, the article also highlights additional potential benefits of semiotics and the adoption of a design perspective in event management practice.
Bibliography:1525-9951(20231027)27:7L.1063;1-
ISSN:1525-9951
DOI:10.3727/152599523X16847420514728