Politiikkaa pilakuvissa : pragmatistinen semiotiikka politiikan tutkimuksen metodologiana

Authors

• Anni Kangas

Abstract

The article argues that pragmatism and pragmatic semiotics offer a fruitful framework for the study of politics in general and the study of political cartoons in particular. The article is primarily intended as a methodological contribution. It presents the basic points of depature of pragma­tism, discusses the ”pragmatist turn” in International Relations and introduces in detail the prag­matic sign theory of Charles S. Peirce. The sign theory is then applied in the analysis of a set of political cartoons and a suggestion for a pragmatist research design is put forth. The article ar­gues that working on the basis of pragmatism and pragmatic semiotics enables scholars not only to escape a set of epistemological problems but also to create a better match between meta-concepts and analytical sensibilities.