The making of a semiotician according to Luiz Tatit

Abstract

We can speculate that the work of a researcher involves two kinds of action. On the one hand, confronted with the empirical object, we take hold of the theoretical apparatus, and we analyze, divide, and organize it in typologies. On the other hand, we work on the construction of the theory and the methodology. Categories and tools are the products of the activity of building theories and that are, in turn, used in that other activity – the one that analyzes. In a semiotician’s practice, these actions are intertwined. There may be no other place in which these two aspects of semiotic research are more interwoven than in the research undertaken by Luiz Tatit. The scrutiny of his publications has shown a profound work with the empirical object – mainly the structure of songs –as well as an ambitious modeling force. Throughout his work, Tatit has foundthe model and the theory in the bosom of his objects of study. The path thatstarts at the close observation of the corpora gives rise to theoretical andmethodological discussions that lead to fruitful generalizations extendingbeyond those same observational objects. Thus, even if one may feel that toolsprecede their analytical use, Luiz Tatit shows us that, to a large extent, it is theuse that builds the tool, guaranteeing the creative circularity which is the markof Brazilian Semiotics.