Gesture, Labor, and Semiosis: Some Research Hypotheses for a Theoretical Convergence between Semiotics and Dialectics

In this chapter, I will try to illustrate how semiotics and dialectical theory can converge towards a common analysis of cognitive processes. The concept of “gesture” will constitute the meeting point between the two approaches. My starting point will be the argumentations thematized by Giovanni Maddalena in his 2011 article “Lavoro come conoscenza. Uno sguardo semiotico”—i.e., “Labor as knowledge. A semiotic overview.” According to Maddalena, the teleological structure of labor— understood in a Hegel-Marxian sense—presents some homologies with what he defines as “complete gesture” (Maddalena 2015), i.e., a model of synthetic reasoning based on the three semiotic elements posited by Charles S. Peirce (1839–1914), i.e., Icon, Index, and Symbol. More specifically, Maddalena’s proposal conjugates the Hegel-Marxian meaning of labor—understood precisely as “a type of purposeful action” (Maddalena 2011, 3, my translation)—with the pragmatist reworking of the Kantian paradigm, defining labor as a model of synthetic reasoning: labor is “our way of reasoning synthetically” (Maddalena 2011, 10, my translation). The theoretical convergence between the Marxian concept of “labor” [Arbeit] and the pragmatist concept of “gesture” can be further confirmed by developing a parallel between Peirce’ and Ernst Bloch’s (1885–1977) theories of knowledge. In this regard, I will underline two aspects: a) both authors hypothesize a phenomenological foundation for their theory of categories: categories are elements of experience (according to Peirce) and products of praxis (according to Bloch); and b) both authors develop a theory of categories strongly connected with the issue of temporality. Furthermore, I will underline that Bloch’s theory of knowledge is characterized by an element which contributes to the parallel between labor and gesture: indeed, by establishing a homological relation between the act of gazing—the theoretical act par excellence (see Petrosino 2004)—and the act of manipulating, Bloch emphasizes the fundamental role played by the gestural dimension in the knowledge process.