The fate of semiotics in China

Abstract

Abstract For almost the entire twentieth century, semiotics, as well as the general trend of formalism, was rarely welcomed with enthusiasm in China. Its fortune started to change around the end of 1970s, but the road it took to arrive in China was tortuous. In the last two decades, however, semiotics has been enjoying an impressive rapid flourishing in China, mostly because of the drastic (post-)modernization of Chinese culture. This paper describes the achievements made by Chinese scholars working in different parts of this field, and concludes that, since there have now emerged some favorable conditions, much more could be expected from the younger generations of Chinese semioticians.