Mimicry and Meaning: Structure and Semiotics of Biological Mimicry

Mimicry and Meaning: Structure and Semiotics of Biological Mimicry

Maran, Timo

E-bookPDFDigital Watermark [Social-DRM]E-book

EUR128,39

BookfromEUR140,00

E-bookEUR128,39

Add to basket

Product description

The present book analyses critically the tripartite mimicry model (consisting of the mimic, model and receiver species) and develops semiotic tools for comparative analysis. It is proposed that mimicry has a double structure where sign relations in communication are in constant interplay with ecological relations between species. Multi-constructivism and toolbox-like conceptual methods are advocated for, as these allow taking into account both the participants´ Umwelten as well as cultural meanings related to specific mimicry cases.

From biosemiotic viewpoint, mimicry is a sign relation, where deceptively similar messages are perceived, interpreted and acted upon. Focusing on living subjects and their communication opens up new ways to understand mimicry. Such view helps to explain the diversity of mimicry as well as mimicry studies and treat these in a single framework. On a meta-level, a semiotic view allows critical reflection on the use of mimicry concept in modern biology.

The author further discusses interpretations of mimicry in contemporary semiotics, analyses mimicry as communicative interaction, relates mimicry to iconic signs and focuses on abstract resemblances in mimicry. Theoretical discussions are illustrated with detailed excursions into practical mimicry cases in nature (brood parasitism, eyespots, myrmecomorphy, etc.). The book concludes with a conviction that mimicry should be treated in a broader semiotic-ecological context as it presumes the existence of ecological codes and other sign conventions in the ecosystem.

Details

Additional ISBN/GTIN9783319503172

Product TypeE-book

BindingE-book

FormatPDF

Format noteDigital Watermark [Social-DRM]

FormatReflowable

PublisherSpringer International Publishing

Publication townCham

Publication countrySwitzerland

Publishing date11/01/2017

Edition1st ed. 2017

SeriesBiosemiotics

Series no.16

LanguageEnglish

File size3714077 Bytes

Illustrations4 s/w Abbildungen, 6 farbige Abbildungen, X, 164 p. 10 illus., 6 illus. in color.

Article no.8099668

CatalogsVC

Data source no.1432033

Product groupBU676

More details

Series

Ratings

Write a review

Recommendations for similar products

Among headlines of rising numbers of mental problems among teenagers and ever smaller green spaces available to children, this book is an urgent und well-researched reminder of what we're really losing. Coming at it from various angles, Jones examines the importance of nature and wild spaces for our mental and physical well-being. The benefits are so clear, in fact, that even having a hospital bed with a green view instead of one of building has been shown to improve patients' recovery, to give just one example. Her focus here is on all humans but clearly children, still developing and without much agency, are easily the worst affected. Having schools without any outdoor space, of which there are at least 20 in the UK at the moment, should not be legal. Easily my favourite nugget of knowledge was that all babies, if left to their own devices, will eat soil, which turns out to contain important microorganisms the contribute to a lifetime of better gut health and mental health. So yes, my little one might loke like some sort of hippie dracula with his little soil stained mouth - but I'm playing the long game and will not disturb him.

Bill Gates is one of the few super-rich who actually seems to feel some responsibilty attached to his wealth and is currently trying his best to get the world vaccinated. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that he feels strongly enough about the climate crisis to publish a book about it. It's a pleasantly solution-minded approach: he sets out in detail what exactly needs to be achieved and which, in his opinion, is the best way to do so. Clearly enthusiastic about the developing technology, Gates largely puts his faith in scientific funding and advancement. His optimism here comes across as highly knowledgable and justified, only tampered by his lack of plan when it comes to political cooperation. Here though, a lot of the initiative when it comes to tackling the climate crisis has floundered and been torpedoed by other interests. Let's hope Gate's book goes some way in opening politicians eyes everywhere.

I am not the first Dussmann employee to recommend this wonderful book and I suspect I won't be the last either. Flynn's exploration of what she calls the 'post-human landscape' is a fascinating window into what happens to places humans have all but destroyed after we leave. From forest clearings created by WW1 shells to post industrial Scottish landscapes, she casts a rare optimistic glance over the effects of human intervention in the landscape by demonstrating that (although it can take many years) the natural world has an incredible ability to reclaim man-made wasteland and this can have extraordinarily positive effects on biodiversity and even on CO2 levels. Flynn is careful not to get too carried away in her optimism but an uplifting book which looks at the climate crisis is rare - all too often we are left to wallow in our imminent doom - so in many ways it is a breath of fungus cleaned fresh air!

Auf die Romane, für die Autoren den Literaturnobelpreis erhielten, bin ich immer besonders gespannt und hege vermutlich oft zu hohe Erwartungen. Hamsuns Roman "Hunger" ist eines meiner Lieblingsbücher und ich merkte, dass fast 30 Jahre Schaffenszeit dazwischen einen deutlich anderen Stil beim Autor zum Ausdruck brachten. Und das ist gut so - trotz allem wollte mir sein (durch den archaischen Erzählstil fast biblisch oder alttestamentarisch anmutender) Isak als Figur nicht so viel über sich erzählen. Fast 30 Jahre verfolgen wir ihn und seine kleine Familie mitten im Ödland, die in die Selbstversorgung geht. Es wird selten kommuniziert, das Gesetz umgangen und die Modernität kritisch beäugt (Telegrafenmasten, wofür denn dies moderne Gerät hier?). Das einfache Bauernleben fängt der Autor zwischen endloser Plackerei und malerischem Idyll ein. Nichtsdestotrotz hätten es gern 200 Seiten weniger sein dürfen. Einige Raffungen mehr und meine Zufriedenheit wäre gestiegen. Das Kapitel über Schwangerschaften, Fehlgeburten und Kindstötung war ein wunderbar Emanzipiertes. Bitte mehr davon, Herr Hamsun! Ich las diese kleine Bauern-Chronik nicht ungern, aber Hamsun überzeugte mich definitiv bereits mit anderen Romanen.

The book that launched a publishing obsession. Isabella Tree's account of her and her husband's transformation of his family estate into a 'rewilded' oasis for flora and fauna is only a few years old yet has proven such a hit that other publishers have raced to put out their own books on wilding/rewilding.
This is with good reason. Once you get over the fact that Tree and her husband just happen to own thousand of acres of the best and most beautiful countryside in Britain, you discover this is a book filled with fascinating nuggets about what best to do with the countryside in the climate crisis and how to think about natural history in different ways. Among the biggest revelations to me was Tree's scepticism about the idea that closed canopy forests had once covered the whole of the UK. Her point being that if they did, there would have been no sustenance for large grazing animals. There is much much more to learn in the book itself!