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Dambueva S.V. [Chinese сharacter as sign-artifact] World of Science. Series: Sociology, Philology, Cultural Studies, 2023, Vol. 14, No. 4. Available at: https://sfk-mn.ru/PDF/17FLSK423.pdf (in Russian).

Chinese сharacter as sign-artifact

Dambueva Sofia Valentinovna
Banzarov Buryat State University, Moscow, Russia
E-mail: sofyadambaeva92@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2104-765X
RSCI: https://elibrary.ru/author_profile.asp?id=938783

Abstract. The unique semiotic nature of the Chinese character, which distinguishes it from the signs of phonographic writing, determines the frequency of linguosemiotic studies of Chinese hieroglyphic writing. However, the number of works in which the Chinese character is considered both as a semiotic sign and a cultural object is relatively small. This article attempts to justify the status of the Chinese character as an artifact representing the cultural worldview of the Chinese. The purpose of the study determines the choice of a semiotic approach (the theory of Charles Pierce’s semiosis) with the involvement of M. Cole’s theory of artifacts, based on the cultural-historical approach of L.S. Vygotsky, A.R. Luria and A.N. Leontiev. Within the framework of this approach, the meaning of the term «artifact» is expanded to any aspect of the material world that has changed during the history of its inclusion in purposeful human activity, due to which artifacts are both ideal and material. Within the framework of the level classification, primary artifacts include material objects; secondary artifacts include cultural schemes mediating whole sets of conceptual and material artifacts; tertiary artifacts include forms of representation that make up the «world» (or «worlds») of imaginary practice. On the basis of systematic analysis, we made a conclusion that the Chinese character represents the sign-artifact unity. The artifact-semiotic model of the Chinese character consists of the following components: the character pattern as a sign-primary artifact, the Chinese cognitive-cultural schemes as an object-secondary artifact and the interpretant-tertiary artifact in the form of intentional reinterpretation of primary and secondary artifacts in the abstract worlds of Chinese written texts. The consideration of hieroglyphic writing in the new status of the sign-artifact system allows us to apply methods developed within the framework of the cultural-historical approach, anthropological psychology, linguosemiotics and psycholinguistics to the study of its cultural component. A cross-disciplinary approach to the study of the Chinese character in the status of an artifact sign provides an opportunity to explore the relationship between the cognitive processes codified in the hieroglyphic system and the cultural worldview of Chinese people.

Keywords: sign; chinese character; semiotics; cultural-historical approach; theory of artifacts; artifact

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