On the Corposphere: body, eroticism and pornography
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José Enrique Finol
We have been pursuing the development of an anthropo-semiotics theory of what we have called, following Lotman’s theories, the Corposphere, which we see as a comprehensive vision of the many ways that bodies are a constitutive part or are related to the many ways of signification and communication processes. In this lecture we propose to take a new look at the relationship between body, eroticism and pornography, and try to question some approaches that do not take into account what we think is the core of eroticism, pornography and other similar practices where the body is the main significacional structure. We will argue that before any other interpretation of the body in its erotic or pornographic practices, we have to see such practices as processes where signs are the main ingredients, and, as a consequence, their very definition has to begin with the recognition of their semiotic conditions. Following this approach, we will see that the main difference between eroticism and pornography are rooted in their dissimilar ways of constructing signification.