Seminar of Visual Culture: “Semiotics of Typography in Graphic Communication”

In another session of the Seminar of Visual Culture, organized by Passeio and CECS in partnership with SOPCOM’s Semiotics Working Group, the Research-Fellow Dr. Mari-Liis Madisson and Prof. Dr. Andreas Ventsel will present a lecture entitled “Strategic Transmedial Conspiracy Narratives: Mechanisms of Visual Communication and Meaning-Making”. Here is the synopsis for the event:

“Strategic transmedial narratives represent a powerful form of communication, spreading across multiple platforms and engaging audiences through multimodal channels. This presentation explores how strategic narratives rooted in conspiracy theories semiotic devices to achieve narrative coherence, emotional resonance, and active audience participation. Drawing on theories of cultural semiotics and transmedia narratology, the presentation examines key textual strategies, including visual repetition, semantic gaps, and affective semiosis, which enhance narrative cohesion and amplify the credibility and impact of such narratives.

Through an analysis of examples from the Estonian right-wing populist information space, particularly Soros-themed conspiracy narratives, the presentation demonstrates how visual and multimodal texts create interconnected networks of meaning. These strategies not only reinforce the meanings embedded in conspiracy theory code texts but also generate an immersive audience experience that guides interpretative paths and motivates active contributions to the narrative.”

This session will also be an open class of the University of Minho’s Masters in Communication, Arts & Culture, as well as a Seminar of the Semiotics Working Group of Sopcom (Portuguese Association of Communication Sciences). The working language of this session will be English. The event will take place in hybrid format, in the Sala de Atos of the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Minho and online, at 18:00 in April 23, 2025.

Mari-Liis Madisson is a Research Fellow in Semiotics at the University of Tartu and has previously worked at the Estonian Military Academy and as a postdoctoral researcher at Queen’s University Belfast. Her research combines cultural semiotics, international relations, media studies, and critical disinformation studies. Madisson has co-authored two monographs: Strategic Conspiracy Narratives: A Semiotic Approach (2021) and Varjatud märgid ja salaühingud: vandenõuteooriate tähendusmaailm (2023). Her recent publications focus on the qualitative analysis of conspiracy theories, strategic narratives, and threat discourses.

Andreas Ventsel is a Professor of Political and Sociosemiotics at Tartu University. He holds an MA degree (University of Tartu, 2005) and a PhD (University of Tartu, 2009) in Semiotics. His research is interdisciplinary including semiotics, discourse theory, visual communication, security studies and political analysis with a particular focus on the post-structuralist political thought. Ventsel has presented the results of his research on these topics in around 120 academic articles and been the initiator and editor of several scientific journals, both Estonia-based and international. He is the author of the books Strategic Conspiracy Narratives: A Semiotic Approach (Routledge 2021, with Mari-Liis Madisson from the University of Tartu), Introducing Relational Political Analysis: Political Semiotics as a Theory and Method (Palgrave Macmillan 2021, with Peeter Selg from Tallinn University) and Varjatud märgid ja salaühingud: Vandenõuteooriate tähendusmaailm (Postimees kirjastus 2023, with Mari-Liis Madisson & Mihhail Lotman).