Thirty high-level essays on various aspects of semiotics by Finnish, Estonian, and Hungarian scholars.

Foreword - Eero Tarasti

Generalities

My 'Short Happy Life' in Finno-Ugric Studies - Thomas A. Sebeok
Sketch of a Finno-Ugric Semiotic - Vilmos Voigt
Metaphysical Contemplations - Finland and Eastern Thought - Henri Broms
Swedish-speaking Finns Between East and West - Henri Broms
A Mediator Between Russia and the West: V. Sesemann as Philosopher and Semiotician - Thorsten Botz-Bornstein

From Philosophy to Culture

Ontological Nihilism, or The Meaning of the So-called Finnish Passive Construction - Pauli Pylkko
Text and Intelligence - Kristian Bankov
Pierce, Rantala, and Theological Semiotics - Heikki Kirjavainen
La neige et le silence - Matthieu Guillot
Finland Among the Paradigms of National Anthems - Eero Tarasti
Invasion as an Object of Semiotics: Representing Invasion - Creating Invasion - Anti Randviir
Cultural Arbitrariness and Linguistic Bias - Niilo Kauppi
Approaches to Media Semiotics: Journalism in Social Context - Maarja Parl Lohmus
Ethnofuturism in Udmurtia - Viktor Shibanov

Signs in Human Behavior

Ethnic Identity in the Light of an Ancient Myth: Psychoanalytic and Semiotic Interpretations of the Finnish Kullervo-Legend - Heikki Majava
Signs and Meanings in Education - Tuomo Jamsa
Inside Out - From Verbal Imagery and Inner Voice to Verbal Hallucinations - Hannu Lauerma

Arts I: Music

Ethnomusicology and Media Reality - Erkki Pekkila
Music as Narrative Discourse - Anne Sivuoja-Gunaratnam
Jean Sibelius as an Icon of the Finns and Others: An Essay in Post-colonial Analysis - Eero Tarasti

Arts II: Theater and Cinema

Film and Reality - Ilkka Niiniluoto
Actors as Characters, Characters as Actors in Audiovisual Fiction - Henry Bacon
The Signs of the Player: A Solution - Kari Salosaari

Arts III: Literature and Verbal Signs

Problems of Reference in Description - Harri Veivo
The Lure of Etymology in the Poetry and Prose of Pentti Saarikoski - Hannu Riikonen
Rebellious Words: Avant-garde Literature and Theories of Formalism to Post-structuralism - Sinikka Tuohimaa
The Kanteletar as Poetic Text and Discourse in the Semiotics of Culture - Pirjo Kukkonen
The Poetic Legacy of the Eighties: In the Home of Human Voices and Touches - Immo Pekkarinen
Signs Between - Erja Hannula

Arts IV: Gastronomy

On Culinemes, Gastrophemes, and Other Signs of Cooking