In response to numerous requests from colleagues and institutions, the Semiotic Society of America is pleased to extend our deadline for abstract submissions to ***June 20, 2014***.

SEMIOTIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA 39TH ANNUAL MEETING
October 2-5, 2014
Seattle, Washington

This year's non-restrictive conference theme is:

Paradoxes of Life
Challenge – Determination – Resilience

(Contributions on any other topic related to semiotics are welcome)

Ever since the paradoxes of Zeno (on the impossibility of motion) and Heraclitus (on the possibility of ever-present change)—through the work of Baudrillard, Eco, Escher, Hegel, Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, Peirce, Picasso, Russell, Whitehead, and others—philosophers, scholars, and artists have been exploring the phenomenological nature of paradoxes. Contemporary societies seem to be especially challenged by paradoxes in all aspects of life. And yet, antinomies in life are not fortuitous, nor do they result from incompetence. They are inherent in the human condition and innate forces in cultural and natural systems.

The irony is that when societies face crises, there is a tendency to confuse paradoxical situations with problems. This habitual tendency seems to be generated by intolerance for those ambiguities and uncertainties that are unavoidable features of paradoxes. But whenever paradoxes are perceived as problems, they can never be solved or dissolved. Rather, sooner or later, apparent solutions are discovered to be illusions, leading to ever-more-tangled problems. Thus, it is important to be aware of the difference between what we perceive as problems and what we experience as paradoxes.

Paradoxes present contradictions between irresolvably opposing aspects of life. But life feeds on these contradictory relations, and the evolution of life itself is paradoxical. Because we are born into a world of paradoxes, we are compelled to learn how to survive, to persevere, and to thrive in a reality that is constantly in a state of disequilibrium. Although we are challenged by the tension among various opposing forces, the resulting paradoxes can offer unique opportunities for engaging in crucial meaning-making processes. However, the manner in which we deal with the paradoxes of life is contingent upon our personal capacity for meeting challenges with determination and resilience. Indeed, how we deal with paradoxes can give us insight into the nature of complex semiotic processes. We invite you to consider this theme when planning your contribution to the annual meeting. A list of possible topics (in no way exhaustive) follows:

The Structure of Paradox
The Paradox of Teleology and Absurdism
The Paradox of Continuity and Discontinuity
The Paradox of Stability and Change
The Paradox of Determinism and Free Will
The Paradox of the Absolute and the Contingent
The Life and Death Paradox
The Paradox of the Whole and the Part
Paradoxes of Self and Others
Paradoxes of War and Peace
The Semiotic Paradox of the Lie and the Truth
Transmodernity and Paradoxes
The Paradox of Language
The Paradox of Troping
The Paradox of Beauty and the Grotesque
Religious Paradoxes
Gender Paradoxes
Paradoxes of Love
Paradoxes of Communication
Paradoxes of Space and Time
The Paradox of the Real and the Imaginary
The Paradox of Comedy and Tragedy
Paradoxes of the Digital Age
Finite and Infinite Paradoxes

For complete conference details and to submit your 150-200-word abstract, please visit our conference page at http://semioticsocietyofamerica.org/2014-annual-meeting/

We look forward to welcoming you in Seattle!