Elisa Gasti | Università degli Studi di Torino (original) (raw)

Papers by Elisa Gasti

Sushi has permeated numerous spheres of sense in present–day Western society. This Japanese dish,... more Sushi has permeated numerous spheres of sense in present–day Western society. This Japanese dish, increasingly less exotic and more familiar, has
come to constitute a semiosphere of its own which, starting from the semiotic issue of food as a signifying vehicle, now crosses into other universes and assumes the status of a crossmedial vector. This conception of sushi as an
actor whose semiosic identity in Western societies is in constant evolution lies at the base of this paper which, concentrating on case studies belonging to a specific medium about which semiotics has already had much to say, intends to recreate the structure of theWestern imaginary of sushi in relation to its cinematographic representation. If the crasis between food, cinema and
imaginary already underpins a literature which still has a lot more to say, it proves fruitful at this point to ask what the consequences are in terms of the imaginary when sushi becomes the dominant element in a triad of recent —
and totallyWestern — films: Jiro Dreams of Sushi (Gelb 2011), Sushi Girl (Saxton 2012), Sushi: The Global Catch (Hall 2012).

The aim of this work is to analyze the 2009 British series Misfits by means of specific interpret... more The aim of this work is to analyze the 2009 British series Misfits by means of specific interpretative tools and to establish whether or not it may be defined as a media product of quality. In order to do so a precise methodology will be followed, starting from an accurate analysis of the thematic contents of the text, and culminating through certain steps in a comparison with other television series similar to Misfit in genre but different as regards the qualitative evaluation. Attention will be concentrated exclusively on the pilot episode, seen as a kind of identity card of the work, in an attempt is to focus on how this appears to be particularly well made from the point of view of its enrichment of the television language.

This paper deals with the distinctive rhetorical features used in Giovanni Papini's article Amiam... more This paper deals with the distinctive rhetorical features used in Giovanni Papini's article Amiamo la guerra (We love war) which appeared in the Lacerba review in 1914. The fundamental cognitive issue concerns the extent to which the text, albeit clearly belonging to the so-called "rhetoric of interventionism", is pertinent to the principles of classical rhetoric. Various interpretative aspects will therefore be treated: the search for potential isotopes, the analysis of some important figures of speech, the analysis of the system of passions which the text proposes and the general strategies that it adopts in order to "defend the indefensible".

Sport is one of the social phenomena to which the least attention is paid by the semiotic discipl... more Sport is one of the social phenomena to which the least attention is paid by the semiotic disciplines; the primary aim of this study is, therefore, to restore dignity to this topic, by analysing in this event one of the sports unjustly neglected by the media in Italy: volleyball. In order to do so, we will deal with the case of a typical match, analysed primarily as a text and secondarily as a narration, with the support of Greimas's speculations. After that, we will proceed to delineate the principal roles which come into play within this social game in a kind of interrelational epic, identifying the various types of communicative logic which are triggered (intentionally and otherwise) during processes that are intrinsically imbued with competitiveness. In conclusion, our hope is to succeed in creating a scientific work that may increase public awareness of and interest in one -but not the only one -of the disciplines which has much to give and say to the world of the passions, as to that of the social sciences.

Thesis Chapters by Elisa Gasti

Sushi has permeated numerous spheres of sense in present–day Western society. This Japanese dish,... more Sushi has permeated numerous spheres of sense in present–day Western society. This Japanese dish, increasingly less exotic and more familiar, has
come to constitute a semiosphere of its own which, starting from the semiotic issue of food as a signifying vehicle, now crosses into other universes and assumes the status of a crossmedial vector. This conception of sushi as an
actor whose semiosic identity in Western societies is in constant evolution lies at the base of this paper which, concentrating on case studies belonging to a specific medium about which semiotics has already had much to say, intends to recreate the structure of theWestern imaginary of sushi in relation to its cinematographic representation. If the crasis between food, cinema and
imaginary already underpins a literature which still has a lot more to say, it proves fruitful at this point to ask what the consequences are in terms of the imaginary when sushi becomes the dominant element in a triad of recent —
and totallyWestern — films: Jiro Dreams of Sushi (Gelb 2011), Sushi Girl (Saxton 2012), Sushi: The Global Catch (Hall 2012).

The aim of this work is to analyze the 2009 British series Misfits by means of specific interpret... more The aim of this work is to analyze the 2009 British series Misfits by means of specific interpretative tools and to establish whether or not it may be defined as a media product of quality. In order to do so a precise methodology will be followed, starting from an accurate analysis of the thematic contents of the text, and culminating through certain steps in a comparison with other television series similar to Misfit in genre but different as regards the qualitative evaluation. Attention will be concentrated exclusively on the pilot episode, seen as a kind of identity card of the work, in an attempt is to focus on how this appears to be particularly well made from the point of view of its enrichment of the television language.

This paper deals with the distinctive rhetorical features used in Giovanni Papini's article Amiam... more This paper deals with the distinctive rhetorical features used in Giovanni Papini's article Amiamo la guerra (We love war) which appeared in the Lacerba review in 1914. The fundamental cognitive issue concerns the extent to which the text, albeit clearly belonging to the so-called "rhetoric of interventionism", is pertinent to the principles of classical rhetoric. Various interpretative aspects will therefore be treated: the search for potential isotopes, the analysis of some important figures of speech, the analysis of the system of passions which the text proposes and the general strategies that it adopts in order to "defend the indefensible".

Sport is one of the social phenomena to which the least attention is paid by the semiotic discipl... more Sport is one of the social phenomena to which the least attention is paid by the semiotic disciplines; the primary aim of this study is, therefore, to restore dignity to this topic, by analysing in this event one of the sports unjustly neglected by the media in Italy: volleyball. In order to do so, we will deal with the case of a typical match, analysed primarily as a text and secondarily as a narration, with the support of Greimas's speculations. After that, we will proceed to delineate the principal roles which come into play within this social game in a kind of interrelational epic, identifying the various types of communicative logic which are triggered (intentionally and otherwise) during processes that are intrinsically imbued with competitiveness. In conclusion, our hope is to succeed in creating a scientific work that may increase public awareness of and interest in one -but not the only one -of the disciplines which has much to give and say to the world of the passions, as to that of the social sciences.