Victoria Welby and the Science of Signs. Significs, Semiotics, Philosophy of Language

Victoria Welby (1837–1912) dedicated her research to the relation between signs and values. She exchanged ideas with important exponents of the language and sign sciences, such as Charles S. Peirce and Charles K. Ogden. Her contacts included women like Mary Everest Boole, Lyn Linton, Julia Wedgwood, Vernon Lee. But Welby's research can also be developed in ideal dialogue with authors she could never have met in real life such as Mikhail Bakhtin, Susanne Langer and today Genevieve Vaughan. Welby contends that signifying cannot be limited to any one system, type of sign, language, field of discourse, discipline or area of experience. Consequently, to understand meaning she evidences the advantage of translating or resorting to metaphor. Her approach is structurally interdisciplinary as demanded by the specific object of her research – the relation between signs and values. In fact, her ultimate focus is not only the meaning of signs, but their significance for the quality of life in all its aspects. Welby promotes full awareness of the expressive potential of signifying resources. Her reflections make an important contribution to problems connected with communication, expression, interpretation, translation, and creativity. Implementing an interdisciplinary approach, Victoria Welby has made a major contribution to studies on meaning, communication and understanding from the perspective of the relation between signs and values focused on the quality of life.