Dalla nave di Teseo al campanile di Venezia. Una prospettiva semiotica sulla identità

Abstract

This article aims to analyse the notion of diachronic identity within a semiotic framework rooted in the structuralist approach. What are the conditions that allow to maintain the identity of a given entity through temporal transformations? When can we say that ‘something’ is still the same? Tracing back to the works of Umberto Eco and Luis Prieto, the author discusses the conditions that regulate changes of semantic identity, claiming that identity cannot be defined on the basis of any substantial essence, but only in relational terms, according to different criteria of relevance. Various examples are discussed in order to show a similar non empiristic and non-essentialist definition of identity and the ways in which it can change over time. Far from being just the result of cultural diversities, semantic identify turns out to be a heuristic and a methodological tool that can explain the system of meaning and values of a given culture.