The article is dedicated to the methodological problem of semiotic analysis of non-classical sign objects – works of art, iconic signs, and symbols. It is argued that traditional concepts of sign, meaning, denotation, and sense, effective for describing individual words or road signs, prove insufficient when addressing literary texts and complex cultural phenomena. Examining existing ways to overcome these difficulties (the introduction of the concepts of "code" by R. Jakobson and "interpretant" by C. Peirce), the author notes their limitations and proposes their own approach, centered on the interconnection of understanding and meaning. The following examples are chosen as empirical foundations: the interpretation of animal images in primitive mythology and in the children's fairy tale "Stolen Sun" by K. Chukovsky; the analysis of the medieval concept of "trope" (according to S. Neretina); and understandings of God in the later texts of C. Jung. Based on this material, the author identifies four levels of semiotic reconstruction of meanings: phenomenological (working with the text, raising questions), cultural (considering the type of culture – primitive, medieval, modern children's culture), communicative (analyzing the author's intent and audience), and strictly semiotic (reconstructing meaning based on the three previous levels). It is particularly emphasized that in arts and humanities, the combination of the substantial characteristics of the studied phenomenon and the interpretative efforts of the researcher is inevitable. As V. Dilthey wrote, the possibility of comprehending another is one of the profound theoretical and cognitive problems. Moreover, the condition for this possibility is that something that cannot be absent in the knowing subject must appear in the manifestation of another's individuality. M. Bakhtin stated that the humanities examine two "spirits," the studied and the studying, which should not merge into one spirit. In conclusion, the main findings are formulated: meaning and understanding are inseparable; semiotic analysis requires methodological reconstruction that takes into account the type of culture, communicative situation, and the activity of the interpreter. The proposed four-tiered scheme allows, according to the author, to satisfactorily explain the meanings of signs in areas where classical semiotic models are powerless.
Vadim Markovich Rozin (Fri,) studied this question.