EPISTÉMÈ

Can the Sun Lie? An Inquiry into the Epistemological Conditions of Atmospheric Reading: Gyeyeon Park, Sung Do Kim; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;39:7. Published online September 30, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.39.7

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The sky has long been read, and the climate crisis has renewed the need to read it. Today, changes in the atmosphere cannot be grasped simply by looking up at the sky; we encounter them through processes of observation, recording, classification, and interpretation. Yet the processes through which such readings are produced often recede behind their results. This study addresses this problem through the concept of environmental legibility, which refers to the process by which atmospheric change becomes perceptible and readable. Drawing on Derrida’s grammatology and on Ingold’s and Böhme’s accounts of atmospheric perception, the study distinguishes two dimensions of inscription. Material-atmospheric inscription refers to physical changes that register as perceptible or measurable differences. Discursive-technical inscription refers to the human and technical practices through which such differences are recorded, classified, and calculated. The legibility of the sky emerges through the interplay of these two dimensions. This interplay is examined through Susan Schuppli’s Can the Sun Lie? (2014) and Trevor Paglen’s CLOUD series (2019). Schuppli foregrounds how atmospheric difference becomes evidence, while Paglen makes visible how visual differences are selected as algorithmic features. Together, the two works show how the sky becomes legible and how the conditions of its reading recede behind the result.

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The Apartment as Semiosphere and the Untranslated Dread: Rewriting K-Dystopia through Concrete Utopia (2023): Heeyeon Kim, Jin Young Lee, Haerin Shin; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;39:6. Published online September 30, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.39.6

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This article analyzes Um Tae-hwa’s Concrete Utopia (2023) through Yuri Lotman’s concepts of spatial modelling, boundary, and the semiosphere, to elucidate how the sign of the apartment constitutes dread within Korean society and to submit the discourse of K-dystopia to critical scrutiny. Reading that discourse as a mode of self-description reorganized under the conditions of transnational circulation and global-platform legibility after the global success of Squid Game (2021), the study attends to the local surplus that such naming fails to carry across, declining nonetheless to consign it to the untranslatable. Two movements compose the argument. Beyond the film, the specificity of the Korean apartment is bound to the discourse of K-dystopia so as to disclose a dread that circulation leaves untranslated; within the film, scene analysis traces the visual codification of interior against exterior, the graduated nullification of the other, and the closure of the boundary through the ossification of self-description. Diegetic exclusion and discursive subsumption prove to be a single semiotic operation nested at two magnitudes, a matryoshka isomorphism in which the recurring unease articulated in Korean viewer reviews may be read as registering the homology of the two. Untranslated dread, so situated, opens onto a productive site of reappropriation and emergence.

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Polyphonic Aesthetics: Towards a Technopoetry and Sound Poetry Within Expanded Art: Ruth Vigueras Bravo; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;39:5. Published online September 30, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.39.5

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This study explores the polyphonic diversity of technopoetry and sound poetry, tracing their evolution within the expanded field of contemporary art. The 20th century was notably characterized by avant-garde movements—such as Dadaism, Surrealism, Russian Constructivism, Situationism, and Futurism—that influenced the poetic techno-scene. Some notable movements include Fluxus, the happening, and post-punk. These were movements that set powerful trends, finding new avenues of expression—hybridization, transgression, rupture, and the liminal space between the body and the artistic medium—within a constant flow that takes on a philosophical, aesthetic-political-social, and visual construct. Through the incorporation of diverse media and the use of technology, the work acquires a new symbolic dimension, one that originates in poetry and music. This essay briefly explores the symbolic nature of technopoetry and its relationship to related subgenres: experimental, concrete, sound, electronic, and semiotic poetry, as well as videopoetry, holopoetry, and performance poetry. Thereby prompting an examination of the future of poetry and the arts within the context of the 4.0 revolution and the technological convergence involving artificial intelligence and big data.

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Polyphony and Symbolism in “Poemas para no olvidar”: Mural art, Visual culture, Collective Memory and Peace: Neyla Graciela Pardo Abril; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;39:4. Published online September 30, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.39.4

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Creating the collective mural “Poemas para no olvidar” -Poems against oblivion- (2025), at the National University of Colombia, brought together the voices, experiences, knowledge, and actions of young university students. It also involved the participation of those who experienced the trauma of forced displacement, in dialogue with those who are emerging and embracing their identity as artists. The mural, as a collective construction of peacebuilding action, is the embodiment of the profound relationship that connects art, memory, polyphony (c.f. Bakhtin, 2013) and symbols of visual culture to, through practice, manage forms of artistic expression capable of consolidating collective memories, identities, and the projection of humanizing futures. This study adopts the framework of Multimodal and Multimedia Critical Discourse Studies (MMCDS), centered on the semiotic axis to explore, from combined theoretical perspectives, how collective memory is questioned, constructed, safeguarded, and transformed through murals, as an expression capable of visually representing indexes, iconologies, and symbols that materialize in art. The analysis takes into account the framework of collective memory, peace action, and participatory art.

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Adam Mickiewicz’s Poem “Aryman i Oromaz” Through a Polyphonic Lens of Good and Bad: Rafig Novruzov; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;39:3. Published online September 30, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.39.3

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It is known that poem"Aryman i Oromaz" is part of the cycle "Eastern Flowers" by the Polish poet. Along with other works of the cycle, which provide poetic translations from Arabic poetry, this poem is dedicated to a fragment from the French translation of the Avesta, describing the history of the creation of the world, the cosmogonic views of the Zoroastrians on the structure of the world. Mickiewicz, who has certain ideas about the content of the sacred book, tries to recreate the primary picture of the religious tradition for the Polish reader. This topic is important for Mickiewicz to assert the thesis of the triumph of good over evil, which is close to him and lived by him. In other words, by addressing the plot of a foreign ancient religion, the poet expresses the identity of the postulates of Zoroastrianism with his life and personal views. Analysis of the text of the work shows that the Polish poet adheres to the plot of the French translation, creating his own vision of the problem, confirming the moral values that follow from the source material. Some elements of the work, reflecting the main concepts of the translated text, suggest that Mickiewicz initially planned to translate the text into Polish, and in the process of translation, individual interpretation took over. Thus, the poem should be perceived as a recreation of the text, interpreted in a new artistic context.

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Symbolism and Polyphony of Theatrical Enunciation: Princess Turandot: Inna Merkоulova, Marina Merkоulova; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;39:2. Published online September 30, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.39.2

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Modern semiotics pays particular attention to the concept of enunciation, particularly markers of subjectivity and polyphonic discourse. The view of enunciation as an act or process has become a central concern of the Paris Semiotic School in recent decades, with the introduction of the categories of "instances of enunciation" (Coquet 1984). The connection between the phenomenon of polyphony and the enunciation in literary texts was noted by Mikhail Bakhtin (1963) and Oswald Ducrot (1984). However, the problem of expressing polyphonic utterances in theatrical contexts remains understudied. Theatrical semiotics represents a special area of the sign world. In theater, "everything is semiotics," from makeup to the stage and the ritualized theatrical atmosphere (Lotman 1989). We propose analyzing theatrical enunciation through the lens of the concept of truth, using the example of the Vakhtangov Theatre's production of Princess Turandot.

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The Paradox of Buddhism: Decline in India, Resurgence in East Asia, and the Emergence of Tứ Pháp Symbols in First-Millennium Vietnam: Pham Thi Thuy Chung, Dinh Hong Hai; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;39:1. Published online September 30, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.39.1

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Buddhism, once a dominant religious and cultural force in its birthplace of India, experienced a dramatic decline between the 7th and 13th centuries CE, eventually nearly vanishing from the subcontinent. This research examines the multifaceted causes of this "symbolic paradox," analyzing the intersection of external pressures and internal vulnerabilities. External factors included intense competition and strategic absorption into Brahmanical symbolism, in which the Buddha was recast as an avatar of Vishnu, and the decisive military destruction of major monastic universities, such as Nalanda, by Muslims. Internally, Buddhism suffered from sectarian fragmentation, a growing disconnect between monastics and the laity, and a shift toward complex scholasticism that alienated common followers. Despite its retreat from India, Buddhist symbols survived through migration to Tibet, East Asia, and Southeast Asia, and, significantly, through the emergence of Giao Chau Buddhist symbols (Vietnam today) via Tứ Pháp (Four Dharma). This research hypothesizes that although the institutional conditions for Buddhism can be fragile, its core teachings possess resilient symbolism that enables them to re-emerge across diverse cultural and social contexts and in different modes of practice.

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Polyphony of Symbols: Inna Merkoulova; Published online September 30, 2026

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Cultural Representations in French as a Foreign Language Textbooks: Nicoleta Dima; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;38:8. Published online June 30, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.38.8

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The teaching of French as a foreign language (FLE) and intercultural studies represents a fertile field of research for educational theorists and researchers. As a result, teachers have access to a wide range of teaching resources (both online and in print, such as textbooks). This paper examines how cultural representations are depicted in FLE textbooks published in France. Textbooks serve as the backbone of a lesson, and they are widely used by teachers. In this article, we will focus on the Alter Ego+ and Mon Alter ego textbooks for levels A1–A2, published by Éditions Hachette and used not only in France but also in many other countries. We will conduct a qualitative study of cultural representations specific to France, as well as of lessons dedicated to literature in FLE textbooks.

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Narrating the Self in the Age of Social Media: A Cross-Reading of Boris Cyrulnik and Jérôme Bruner: Nora Weber; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;38:7. Published online June 30, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.38.7

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This article offers a cross-reading of Jerome Bruner’s narrative intelligence and the narrative identity of Boris Cyrulnik and Paul Ricoeur to grasp the self-narrative on Discord. Drawing on fifteen interviews conducted within a Weberian interpretive framework, it shows how the interface generates a sense of a ‘‘ blank page’’ that licenses identity experimentation, omission, and confiding without fear of consequences. The body, and the voice in particular, nonetheless recalls the subject to temporal coherence. Between the lightness of the ephemeral bond and the maintenance of self through the Ricoeurian promise, the online self-narrative articulates sameness and selfhood, revealing the platform as a social circle in its own right.

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The First Words of a Fragmented Memory: A Peircean Approach to the Narrative Incipits of Economically Disadvantaged Older Koreans: Hae Won Shon; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;38:6. Published online June 30, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.38.6

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This paper argues that the silence of the elderly does not indicate memory loss; rather, it may be the threshold of memories that have not yet found their voice. The study proposes the concept of “Memory Incipit” as a theoretical framework, based on Charles Sanders Peirce’s concepts of qualia and quale-consciousness. This concept delineates the moment prelinguistic embodied memory first becomes speech through silence, hesitation, fragmentary utterances, repetition, and place-related words. Using a series of autobiographical interviews conducted with five low-income elderly individuals, this study reveals that their memories frequently manifest not as chronological events or causal narratives, but rather as bodily sensations, the atmosphere of a place, and sensory and emotional traces condensed within brief utterances. Sensory questions facilitate the translation of these traces into verbal expression. Therefore, incoherent speech and fragmented utterances do not signify failures in the act of narration. Rather, they represent the initial phase in meaning-making whereby embodied memory becomes speech. The study aims to explore the potential of “Memory Incipit” as a framework for understanding the narrative identity of older adults with limited literacy and opportunities for self-narration.

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Articulating Meaning: Reflexivity, Mediation and Self-Presentation in Private Higher Education: Imane Habboub; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;38:5. Published online June 30, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.38.5

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This research focuses on meaning-making discourses developed by Master’s 2 students within private higher education institutions. Based on a qualitative approach grounded in semi-structured interviews and reflexive fieldwork, the study analyses how university communication devices contribute to the production and narration of student trajectories. The findings highlight a strong capacity among students to articulate their aspirations, doubts and professional projects. Far from being the spontaneous expression of individual interiority, these discourses also appear as the product of institutional frameworks that encourage reflexivity and self-presentation. Drawing on the works of Erving Goffman, Pascal Lardellier and Hartmut Rosa, the article shows how pedagogical interactions, academic rituals and support mechanisms contribute to the construction of meaning in student trajectories. This reflection leads to questioning the limits of institutionalised reflexivity and to emphasising the importance of the mediation of interactions and relational resonance in renewing social ties within higher education.

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Prolegomena to an Anthroposemiotic Theory of Prehistoric Writing: Sung Do Kim, Seungjoon Cho; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;38:4. Published online June 30, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.38.4

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This study proposes an anthroposemiotic theory of prehistoric writing, moving beyond the traditional view that script emerged purely from administrative needs in early Mesopotamian civilizations. Instead, it intends to demonstrate that writing’s deepest roots may lie within the graphic and ritual practices of the Upper Palaeolithic. Approaching early humanity as Homo symbolicus, this study explores how cave art, geometric signs, and monumental architecture may have functioned as exosomatic memory and sacred mediation. Drawing on archi-écriture and spatial syntax, the research shows that prehistoric marks organized spatial relations and structured symbolic ecosystems long before their formalization into phonetic scripts. Ultimately, writing’s genesis can be situated within a broader cognitive evolution, where symbolic exteriorization transformed natural surfaces into durable spaces of meaning.

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From Embodiment to Social Incorporation: Robotization, Delegation, and New Forms of Action: Federico Montanari; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;38:3. Published online June 30, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.38.3

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Research on artificial intelligence and robotics has long been structured by questions of autonomy, cognition, and embodiment. Whether in engineering, cognitive science, or philosophy of mind, the dominant concern has been how machines can perceive, act, and interact within their environments. This article argues that such perspectives are no longer sufficient to account for the contemporary transformations associated with intelligent technologies. The central claim advanced here is that the key issue is not machine autonomy but social incorporation. Robots and AI systems become socially significant not because they increasingly resemble humans, but because they are progressively integrated into networks of practices, institutions, and forms of life that incorporate them into collective action. Contemporary robotization should therefore be understood less as a technological evolution than as a reconfiguration of social regimes of delegation. Drawing on socio-semiotics and Science and Technology Studies (STS), the article develops a theoretical framework that distinguishes three interconnected forms of delegation: operational delegation, cognitive delegation, and decision-making delegation. Through these processes, intelligent technologies increasingly participate in the production of action, interpretation, evaluation, and choice. As a result, agency and responsibility become distributed across complex assemblages involving humans, algorithms, sensors, infrastructures, and organizations. The article further examines contemporary warfare as the most visible and radical manifestation of these dynamics. Autonomous drones, AI-assisted targeting systems, and automated command platforms reveal how mechanisms of delegation extend beyond technical assistance and increasingly shape processes of identification, classification, and decision-making. Far from being confined to the military sphere, these transformations illuminate broader changes affecting healthcare, logistics, security, and everyday life. Building on these observations, the article proposes the foundations of a geosemiotics of robotization, understood as an analytical framework capable of articulating sociotechnical imaginaries, social practices, infrastructures, and geopolitical power relations. From this perspective, the fundamental challenge posed by intelligent technologies in the twenty-first century is not the replacement of humans by machines, but the ongoing reconfiguration of action, decision-making, and responsibility within hybrid collectives composed of human and nonhuman actors.

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Social Robots and the Question of the Body: Toward a Semio-Anthropology of Artificial Presences: Didier Tsala Effa; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;38:2. Published online June 30, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.38.2

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Social robots were initially designed within frameworks of assistance, accompaniment, and relational support, particularly in contexts of ageing, care, and social isolation. Yet their diffusion has been accompanied by recurring concerns regarding loss of control, dehumanization of social relations, emotional dependency, human replacement, and the artificialization of care practices. Drawing on an analysis of media discourses devoted to social robots, this article proposes to shift the conventional question of technological acceptability toward an anthropology of contemporary relational imaginaries. The central hypothesis advanced here is that controversies surrounding social robots do not merely reveal resistance to technological innovation; rather, they make visible a deeper crisis affecting social bonds, care infrastructures, and forms of human presence. Media representations thus emerge as privileged sites of symbolic production where the boundaries between human and non-human, assistance and substitution, relationship and simulation are continuously negotiated. The article argues that the acceptability of social robots cannot be reduced to functional evaluation alone but must instead be understood as a cultural and anthropological construction of technical alterity and human–machine relations.

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Through the Humanoid Looking Glass: Limits and Shifts of Resemblance in Social Robotics: Joffrey Becker, Mathilda Gaulard; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;38:1. Published online June 30, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.38.1

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Social robots constitute a significant component of therapeutic mediation tools used with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Predominantly anthropomorphic, these robots are designed to facilitate interaction by relying on the simplicity of their expressive modalities, achieved through simplified and predictable behaviors. Their interactional simplicity makes them particularly valuable tools for healthcare professionals. Numerous studies highlight their potential benefits in supporting joint attention, imitation, and emotion recognition. Are anthropomorphic robots, however, truly an adequate means of addressing children’s difficulties? In this article, we show that although the anthropomorphic approach currently dominates the field, it presents several limitations that must be addressed. These limitations concern the cost and accessibility of such devices, their acceptability among children and professionals, their limited adaptability to the situated practices of care, as well as the additional technological workload they impose on caregivers. Drawing on an examination of social robotics applied to autism and its limitations, this article proposes to broaden the scope of inquiry by considering a conception of the social that is not restricted to face-to-face interaction but instead encompasses its multiple dimensions. As with any technical object, the design of mediation robots is shaped by networks of human, institutional, and symbolic relations that determine their uses and their effects. Based on a review of the main existing devices and on fieldwork conducted with healthcare professionals, we identify two principal models of mediation. We argue that these models do not always align with care practices and with the situated forms of knowledge on which such practices rely. We propose to explore a complementary pathway in mediation robotics. This approach is being developed within the framework of the Médiations Robotiques en Soins de Santé (MR2S) project. It is grounded in the design of non-anthropomorphic, softer, simpler, and cheaper technical devices that build upon the experience of healthcare professionals. Our approach pays particular attention to an aspect that remains relatively unexplored in social robotics applied to autism: sensoriality. The purpose of the project is to design robotic objects capable of enriching the therapeutic relationship while being sustainably integrated into existing care practices.

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Archaeology of Social Robots: The Evolution of Manipulated Interactions in the Age of AI under X: Gilles Brachotte; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;37:8. Published online March 31, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.37.8

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This article examines how social robots, or “bots,” have transformed online interactions and information manipulation, particularly on the platform X (formerly Twitter). It retraces their socio-historical evolution—from early chatbots like ELIZA to AI-driven agents capable of realistic human mimicry. Drawing on the Beelzebot research project, the paper proposes a classification of “malicious” bots according to their technical sophistication, intentionality, and interaction strategies. These bots amplify, polarize, and distort public debate through mechanisms such as astroturfing, fake engagement, and echo-chamber exploitation. The integration of generative AI has produced a new generation of adaptive, persuasive “AI bots” blurring human-machine boundaries. The article highlights how these entities shape information flows, foster disinformation, and undermine trust in institutions. It argues for a socio-technical “archaeology” of bots to understand their evolving power in digital public spaces. Finally, it calls for new multidisciplinary tools—technical, educational, and regulatory—to preserve the authenticity of social interaction and democratic deliberation in the AI era.

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God at War: Myth, Rhetoric, and Biblical Historiography: Maria Pina Scanu; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;37:7. Published online March 31, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.37.7

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God at War: how do you read about this difficult topic in the Bible? Biblical language has its own distinctive characteristics and conventions, are you aware of them? Modern and and contemporary exegetical research grapples with the challenges that biblical texts pose on a historical, literary and theological level. This essay presents some exemples of texts and textual issues on the motif of the divine and human war in the Bible, and reflects on the biblical reference to myth, on rhetoric and on the intertwining of historiography and theology. A deep attention to what is inside and concerns the language and imagery employed in each biblical text can help to develop a critical reading able to appreciate the textual reasonings and the communicative force of the biblical texts.

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The Violence of Thinking: Healing through the Contemplative Seeing of the World: Yvonne zu Dohna Schlobitten; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;37:6. Published online March 31, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.37.6

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The topic of violence and art can be viewed from many perspectives, from the depiction of violence to people who inflict violence on art. Here, the focus is on the ‘violence in our thinking’. Can one's thinking inflict violence on things? Can cold, scientific thinking, thinking in prejudice, or ideological thinking inflict violence on works of art? Here, we address how this happens and how one can confront this violence against works of art. How can it be healed? Through this, the difference between the violence of Thinking and Thinking as a Battle will be explained. At the center of this argument, we discuss the Contemplative Seeing of the World (Welt-Anschauung) which enables an honest seeing. This means becoming friends.

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Nonviolence: A Spiritual Resistance Practice The lived experience of Antonio Pampliega and Narges Mohammadi: Nicolás Paz Alcalde; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;37:5. Published online March 31, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.37.5

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Within the interconnected conceptual framework of spiritual resistance and everyday resistance, this article analyzes the personal testimonies of Antonio Pampliega, a Spanish journalist kidnapped by Al Qaeda, and Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, imprisoned by the Iranian authorities. The article describes 1) what specific nonviolent practices they developed to resist conditions of dehumanization and 2) which of those practices were specifically connected with spirituality and/or religion according to their own experience. The phenomenological research method is used to describe subjective experience. The hermeneutical method complements the phenomenological approach to understand and interpret each narrative using meaning-making theory as a framework. The article concludes that in both experiences, spirituality was a fundamental dimension of their nonviolent resistance to counteract dehumanization.

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The Construction of the Religious Adversary: An Interdisciplinary Investigation into Hate Speech, Human Dignity, and the Limits of Expression: Fr. René M. Micallef sj; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;37:4. Published online March 31, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.37.4

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This article examines religious hate speech as a discursive technology that constructs adversaries through conceptual antinomies, enabling moral disengagement and legitimising exclusion or violence. It draws on interdisciplinary perspectives from philosophy, law, sociology, and theology and discusses significant cases—including the Northern Ireland Troubles, ISIS propaganda, Hindu extremist rhetoric against Christians, and Buddhist ultranationalism against Rohingya Muslims—demonstrating how religious identities intersect with other factors to create hostile narratives. The article explores definitional challenges, distinguishes hate speech from incitement to genocide and blasphemy laws, and examines US and European legal approaches. It reveals that hate speech produces multilayered harms affecting individuals, targeted groups, and democratic processes, with causal factors including ideological antinomies, political manipulation, and social media amplification. The study argues that combating religious hate speech requires moving beyond punitive criminal law to embrace restorative justice, interfaith solidarity, counter-speech initiatives, and educational programs. Only through multifaceted collective efforts can societies preserve democratic values and protect vulnerable populations from discrimination and marginalization.

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Believing Bodies: Gender, Islam, Violence and Transformation in Contemporary Iran: Sara Hejazi; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;37:3. Published online March 31, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.37.3

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This article examines the role of religion in shaping conflict and peace in contemporary Iran through the lens of gender and Islamic feminist activism. Drawing on a historical genealogy from the Qajar era to the Islamic Republic and to present times, it shows how women’s bodies and legal status have been central to the biopolitical construction of the modern nation and to the contested terrain where emergent gender identities and state violence have intersected. At the same time, the article highlights how Iranian Muslim feminists—scholars, activists, and ordinary women—have articulated internal critiques of patriarchal jurisprudence through renewed interpretations of the Qur’an and Islamic law. These reinterpretations challenged structural violence, promoted legal reform, and generated educational spaces that cultivate critical reasoning and ethical agency grounded in Islamic tradition. Nowadays, rather than offering definitive solutions, Islamic feminism provides culturally situated tools for rethinking conflict, expanding interpretive authority, and fostering everyday practices of nonviolent transformation within the framework of the Islamic Republic.

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Impossible Balancing Act? Teaching Interfaith Dialogue through Humility, Compassion, and Justice: Peter Admirand; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;37:2. Published online March 31, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.37.2

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In this paper, I am concerned with three key questions: 1. Why are the values of humility, compassion, and justice so essential and destabilizing in interfaith dialogues, especially in times of peace? 2. Why should teaching interfaith dialogue always provide space for the grievances on all sides from past, present (and possibly) future unrest and conflict? 3. How do interfaith dialogue participants in post-conflict settings balance the desire and need for justice with compassion and humility for one’s self, one’s community, and the community in conflict? To begin to answer these questions, I will first reflect upon the role, limits, and relationships between these three virtues before turning to the aims and goals of teaching these virtues in the context of interfaith dialogue. At issue is whether the failure to embody compassion and humility through interfaith dialogue in times of relative peace and prosperity signal the impossibility or meaninglessness of such dialogue when passions are rife, stakes are high, and vulnerability, rage, and hopelessness abound.

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From the Decalogue to the Ten Commandments: A Reflection on the Sacred Text as a Source of Questions (Rather Than Answers): Debora Tonelli; EPISTÉMÈ 2026;37:1. Published online March 31, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2026.37.1

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The aim of this essay is to reflect on a particular form of violence, that caused by the short circuit between faith and religious ethics, between the liberating dimension of the experience of God's love and the need to derive from it a practical ethic that promotes human coexistence and is an expression of that love. In the Christian experience—but also in Judaism and Islam—it is possible for a reversal to take place whereby ethics ends up preceding and judging faith. This is a form of moralism, very similar to religious fundamentalism, made possible by the reversal between the purpose of faith (to live the experience of God's love to the full) and the ways and expressions that should express and realize it in practical life. This reversal occurs when moral action is an end in itself and has lost the criteria of judgment through which moral discernment is achieved. Through the interpretative story of the Decalogue (Ex 20:1-17), the thesis argued in this essay is that moralistic rigor enacts a true form of violence both against the religious tradition it claims to protect and against the believing community, preventing or limiting its dialogue with the challenges of the present that would allow it to keep the experience of faith alive.

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Pragma-Semantic Remarks on Legal Phraseology: Corina Dobrotă; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;36:96-107. Published online December 31, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.36.7

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The present paper aims at analyzing the so-called legal phrases, sometimes called collocations, expressions, or even idioms, which constitute one of the numerous terminological difficulties of legalese, and often prove challenging to learners of English as a second language. Definable as a subtype of multi-word units, or phraseological combinations with various forms, they possess a specific semantic content and pragmatic function, which make them resist decoding and radically diverge from “plain” language, thus giving rise to innumerable comprehension and interpretation problems. Additional features such as the complex use of metonymy and euphemism streamline complex legal processes and manage the emotional and social impact of legal discourse, while strategic adaptations of Grice’s maxims support consistency and interpretive stability. Together, these elements demonstrate that legalese functions not merely as technical jargon but as an essential tool for structuring legal reasoning and administering justice.

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Informational Chaos, Rumours, and Truths: Department Stores in Au Bonheur des Dames by Zola: Carmen Andrei; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;36:86-95. Published online December 31, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.36.6

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This article examines fake news, rumors, and truths – an entire heavy machinery of all-pervasive information – for which we propose the label capharnaüm to denote informational disorder. Reality is a composite and partial construct, shaped by the ways in which representations are produced and articulated: through techniques and technologies, but also through the intentions, strategies, and imagination of the actors of a given era. Such is the case with É mile Zola who, in Au Bonheur des Dames, offers an astonishingly visionary perspective on the world of advertising and the media, on the war of images and imaginaries – phenomena one might consider contemporary, yet whose origins go back as far as the Epic of Gilgamesh. The affinity with a certain dramatic mode of narration – here, the opening of the great department stores and the purchasing frenzy into which Zola’s female characters are drawn through exceptional sales and the flattering of their egos – transcends facts and figures. It opens a reflective window onto our own portraits, whether as reasonable buyers or as consumers of any product that enhances our self-image and, why not, as consumers of fine nineteenth-century literature.

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Salvaging Futurity: Newtro-Punk Epistemics in Space Sweepers: Haerin Shin; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;36:67-85. Published online December 31, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.36.5

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This essay proposes “newtro-punk” as a framework for understanding the Korean science fiction film Space Sweepers (2021) and its intervention into speculative fiction’s colonial genealogy. Newtro (Nyut’ŭro), a portmanteau of “new” and “retro,” focuses not nostalgic recreation but critical reinterpretation of past aesthetic forms to recuperate the visual vocabulary of colonial modernity and developmental hardship. Where silkpunk recovers precolonial material cultures, newtro-punk engages the traumatic textures of modernity itself, transforming worn surfaces produced under colonial extraction into speculative resources. Through analysis of the film’s remediation and citational practice, linguistic reappropriation, characterization of marginal subjectivity, and typographic aesthetics, this essay demonstrates how Space Sweepers enacts epistemic reappropriation by way of aesthetics, contesting established frameworks regarding what counts as properly futuristic through strategies that enact alternative valuations rather than merely arguing for them. The newtro-punk wager positions worn textures and vernacular particularity as legitimate materials for imagining futurity, demonstrating that futures imagined from positions of precarity possess validity equal to those imagined from positions of power.

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Augmented Hyperreality: When Artificial Intelligence Completes Baudrillard's Analysis: Emmanuel Carré; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;36:60-66. Published online December 31, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.36.4

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In 1981, Jean Baudrillard described the entry into the era of hyperreality: the image no longer represents reality, it precedes and produces it. Forty years later, generative artificial intelligence fulfills and surpasses this prophecy. Hyperreality is no longer merely a collective condition imposed by mass media—it becomes a personal device: everyone can now instantly produce their own simulacrum. This text analyzes three anthropological mutations provoked by this democratization. Ontology becomes reversible: AI authentically performs the human (Flynn, an artificial student in Vienna) while humans are suspected of being machines (the NPC effect). Emotion becomes an interface: empathetic chatbots shape what we accept to call "listening," and humans externalize the formatting of their emotions to algorithms. Existence becomes optional: fake-lives (starter packs, Strava Jockeys, fake Chinese offices) industrialize identity performance while feeding the surveillance capitalism theorized by Shoshana Zuboff. The article finally explores the ultimate inversion: we no longer merely simulate reality, we actively transform it to match the figurative. Cities Disneyland themselves for Instagram, bodies are surgically modified to resemble digital filters. The territory becomes the map.

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Artificial Intelligence for Intelligent Road Communication: Systems and Strategies in Cameroon: Myriam Josette Nken; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;36:46-59. Published online December 31, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.36.3

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Road safety in Cameroon remains a major concern, with thousands of deaths and significant economic losses recorded annually. Traditional road communication strategies have shown limited effectiveness, revealing a gap between the messages disseminated and their appropriation by road users. In this context, artificial intelligence (AI) emerges as a strategic resource to rethink prevention and traffic regulation. Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and digital tools such as navigation applications, smart sensors, and connected vehicles provide new opportunities for interactive, predictive, and adaptive communication. The study adopts an empirico-inductive methodology based on observation, documentary analysis, and international comparison. The theoretical framework combines Shannon and Weaver’s mathematical theory of communication, Habermas’s theory of communicative action, Crozier and Friedberg’s sociology of regulation, and ITS approaches. The analysis highlights both media and non-media strategies, while demonstrating the concrete contributions of AI to traffic fluidity, accident reduction, and road governance. It concludes with the challenges and prospects of implementing intelligent road communication adapted to the Cameroonian context.

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Towards a Socio-Relational Detection of Bots: Integrating Interaction Dynamics into AI Model Training: Gilles Brachotte, Thuy Duong Dang; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;36:26-45. Published online December 31, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.36.2

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Our study proposes a socio-relational approach intended to inform the training of an artificial intelligence system for botnet detection. First, a corpus of accounts likely to be automated was assembled using individual criteria defined by the Beelzebot team (Brachotte et al.). These accounts were then analysed through their interaction dynamics in order to identify relational configurations that could serve as relevant signals for automated detection. The article presents a socio-relational analysis based on a three-step protocol: (1) identifying forms of self-interaction; (2) examining internal interactions among suspected accounts; and (3) analysing their external interactions with third-party actors. Conducted within the framework of the ANR Beelzebot project, which aims to develop the first French-language solution capable of detecting information manipulation strategies deployed by automated networks in the French-speaking X-sphere, this research constitutes an exploratory phase designed to calibrate the data-preparation methodologies required for training an AI model that integrates socio-relational indicators. In addition to producing a quantitative score, our model aims to provide a complementary qualitative output that offers insight into the characteristics of the botnet and the functional roles occupied by different bot profiles within the network. From an ethical standpoint, this approach contributes to the development of a more explainable AI model.

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A Semiotic Analysis of Generative AI Multimodality: An Epistemological Inquiry for an Interpretation and Evaluation Model: Sung Do Kim; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;36:1-25. Published online December 31, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.36.1

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Generative AI confronts semiotics with a new kind of sign-producing machine that actively reshapes the production and interpretation of visual content. Addressing the lack of humanities-based transdisciplinary research on this transformation, this study aims to establish a methodological foundation for the semiotic analysis of multimodal AI. By combining visual, social, quantitative, and multimodal semiotics, the paper proposes an integrated micro–meso–macro framework for evaluating AI-generated images. The analysis moves from the micro-level examination of plastic features and text-to-image translation, through the meso-level of enunciation, narrativity, and causality, to the macro-level of social stereotypes, ideology, creativity, rhetoric, truth, and inference. This is supported by a case study on lonely death and a semiotic explanation of latent space.

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A Cognitive Linguistic Framework for Multimodal Metaphors in the Graphic Novel Maus: Eugene Chung; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;35:6. Published online September 30, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.35.6

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This study develops a cognitive linguistic framework for analyzing multimodal metaphors in graphic novels, with a focus on Art Spiegelman’s Maus. While research on multimodal metaphor has advanced significantly in domains such as advertising, film, and political cartoons, graphic novels remain comparatively underexplored and are often examined primarily as trauma narratives. This study addresses that gap by proposing a replicable framework that identifies four principal units of analysis - visual motifs, verbo-pictorial interactions, layout, and sequential structures - and classifies them in relation to established levels of linguistic metaphor analysis. The analysis demonstrates that multimodal metaphors in Maus fulfill three interrelated narrative functions: they represent trauma and emotional experience as affective interiority, reveal power asymmetries through ideological critique, and structure memory and temporality through sequential and spatial design. By integrating insights from cognitive linguistics and comics studies, the article extends Conceptual Metaphor Theory into the domain of graphic novels. The framework not only illuminates how Maus realizes complex figurative meanings across visual and verbal modes but also provides a methodological foundation for future research on multimodal metaphor in long-form narrative media.

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The Evolution of Socio-Cultural Clothing Codes and Their Impact on Contemporary Fashion in Iran: Marzieh Athari Nikazm, Sohrab Ahmadi; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;35:5. Published online September 30, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.35.5

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The Achaemenid Empire, which flourished from the 6th to the 4th century BCE, is known for its diverse and sophisticated cultural practices, particularly in terms of clothing. The Achaemenid period saw a complex system of dress codes that signified not only social status but also cultural and ethnic identity. Clothing in this era was characterized by richly adorned garments, often made from fine fabrics like wool and linen, with intricate patterns and colors. The aristocracy wore elaborate costumes, such as the "kandys," a long, flowing robe, while commoners had simpler attire. These clothes were used as symbols of power, ethnicity, and allegiance to the ruling elite. With the fall of the Achaemenid Empire, Iran's clothing codes evolved through successive historical phases, but the influence of the Achaemenid era remained significant in the cultural fabric of the region. Islamic and later dynasties introduced new attire styles, yet they often incorporated elements from earlier Persian traditions. Our problematic is: "How have the socio-cultural clothing codes of the Achaemenid era evolved over time, and what is their impact on contemporary fashion in Iran?" This problem explores the historical transformation of Persian clothing styles from the Achaemenid period to the present day, focusing on how these ancient codes have influenced modern Iranian fashion, especially in the context of cultural identity, social status, and political change. In contemporary Iran, the socio-cultural codes of dress have undergone significant transformations due to political and religious influences, particularly after the 1979 revolution. While modern Iranian fashion is heavily shaped by Islamic principles, there has been a resurgence of interest in pre-Islamic Persian history, including Achaemenid styles. Contemporary Iranian designers are revisiting Achaemenid motifs, using them to create a fusion of traditional Persian designs with modern sensibilities. The modern reinterpretation of these ancient dress codes serves not only as a form of cultural expression but also as a statement of national identity and resistance to Western influence. Thus, the legacy of Achaemenid fashion continues to shape Iranian clothing codes, bridging the ancient and contemporary through a blend of cultural pride and modern creativity.

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The signs of Brazilian fashion in Dorival Caymmi's Bahian songbook: Bruno Pompeu, Clotilde Perez; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;35:4. Published online September 30, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.35.4

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The aim of this text is to explore conceptually, within the specific spectrum of song, the possible approximations between fashion and literature. In addition, it aims to reveal the meanings attributed to certain items of clothing in Dorival Caymmi's work; and, as a consequence, to propose a reflection on the participation of the fashion system, clothing, material culture - and consumption - and the song itself as constituent, defining and dynamising elements of Brazilian culture. To this end, we began with a conceptual overview of the symbolic relationships between music and literature, followed by an analysis of the songs ‘O que é que a baiana tem?’, ‘Vestido de bolero’, ‘Requebre que eu dou um doce’, “Maracangalha” and ‘A vizinha do lado’. The analyses were able to highlight the dense meanings of fashion and its privileged place in the formation of the Brazilian imagination, as well as being a source of inspiration in artistic, musical and literary productions.

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Atmosphere as language: Deconstructing the staging in fashion photography: Beatriz Guerrero González-Valerio; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;35:3. Published online September 30, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.35.3

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Fashion photography, given its communicative function and rhetorical intentionality, constitutes the ideal vehicle for the transmission and externalization of emerging stylistic trends. The creations go beyond simple garment representation, enriching and enhancing them through visual, narrative and symbolic mechanisms. The objective of this article is to analyse the role of atmosphere and staging as crucial elements in fashion photography during the 20th century. Through a qualitative approach that combines bibliographic review and visual analysis of works by A. De Meyer, I. Penn and D. Turbeville, the evolution of atmospheric strategies from the 1920s to the 1970s is examined. It is concluded that atmosphere not only defines visual narrative but generates different emotional typologies ranging from the romantic and sophisticated to the minimalist and intimist.

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Semiotics of the Manila Shawl (mantón de Manila): From Historical Transformations to its Present Identity Function: Ana Velasco Molpeceres, Carmen Baniandrés, María Prieto Muñiz; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;35:2. Published online September 30, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.35.2

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This article examines the Manila shawl (mantón de Manila) as a semiotic object in motion, whose trajectory—from Chinese silk to contemporary Spanish fashion—offers insights into processes of cultural hybridization, early globalization, and identity re-signification. Through a historical and semiotic analysis, it highlights how the material transformations of the shawl (embroidery, colors, fringes, uses) correspond to shifts in its symbolic value: from colonial exoticism to national myth, from festive accessory to costumbrista emblem, and from traditional garment to a key resource within the cultural and fashion industries. The study also includes contemporary examples (Juana Martín, Palomo Spain, Rosalía, Queen Letizia), showing how the shawl articulates tradition and modernity, authenticity and market, nationalism and cosmopolitanism. In conclusion, the Manila shawl is not only a hybrid object but also a sign in constant re-signification, a cultural “super-iconeme” that condenses collective imaginaries while maintaining its relevance in the 21st century.

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Dressing the sign: Semiotic analysis of attire and fashion in the Universe of Tintin: Marina Bargón García; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;35:1. Published online September 30, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.35.1

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This article examines clothing in The Adventures of Tintin from a semiotic perspective, considering dress as a system of signs embedded in the visual logic of comics. Building on Pierre Fresnault-Deruelle’s pioneering studies (1976, 1999, 2002, 2006, 2012) and later contributions by scholars such as Groensteen, Marion, and Floch, the analysis explores how the aesthetics of the ligne claire transform garments into both narrative and symbolic operators. The results identify seven functional categories of dress—core attire, everyday wear, professional/functional outfits, disguises, cultural costumes, ceremonial garments, and altered clothing—which serve as identity anchors, indicators of action, or markers of cultural otherness. Tintin’s consistent base attire ensures visual coherence, while subtle variations introduce narrative nuance and contextual adaptation. The study concludes that clothing in Hergé’s work is far from decorative; it functions as a central semiotic device whose stability and transformations reinforce the character’s iconicity and his status as a timeless cultural hero.

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Narrating Time Through the Body: A Corporeal-Semiotic Reading of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Juyeon Cho; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;34:7. Published online June 30, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.34.7

This study analyzed The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by integrating corporeal narratology with Greimas’s semiotic square, examining how temporality and identity are constructed and deconstructed through the body. Benjamin’s body serves as a semiotic field where oppositions like “youth/old age” and “life/death” are generated, clash, and collapse. The semiotic square revealed how these binary structures become unsustainable and the internal disintegration of the semiotic system, highlighting both the model's utility and limitations in complex corporeal narratives. Corporeal narratology emphasized the body's role as an active agent that embodies and enacts the collapse of meaning, contributing to the disintegration of narrative structure. Ultimately, the analysis demonstrated that body, time, and identity are core semiotic forces that uphold and undo narrative structures.

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The Handmaid's Tale. Discussions on Fashion Semiotics, Power and Contemporary Gender Disputes: Victoria Nannini; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;34:6. Published online June 30, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.34.6

This paper explores the semiotic significance of attire in Hulu's series The Handmaid’s Tale, examining how clothing functions as a tool of power and control within the series. It further investigates the role of uniforms in contemporary society and draws parallels between modern fashion practices and subtle forms of repression and power exerted over women. By analyzing the interplay between fashion, power, and gender, this study aims to highlight the enduring impact of clothing as a medium of socio-political expression and control.

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The body as text: language and fashion: Patrizia Calefato; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;34:5. Published online June 30, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.34.5

This paper focuses on the relationship between fashion, language and the body. We refer to two theoretical starting points: Lotman's definition of language as a “primary modelling system”, and the relationship, identified by Barthes, between “real” and “written” fashion. The paper studies this relationship within four fields: the performative power of brands, the “playful” role of writing on T-shirts, the function of the written language in some examples of contemporary fashion, tattoos and permanent body modifications between writing and fashion practices.

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Fashion Translation from an Eastern Perspective: An Analysis of Chanel’s Female Ambassadors in China and the Cultural Implications: Fang Xie, Wenhan Hao; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;34:4. Published online June 30, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.34.4

As a representative brand of French fashion, Chanel not only facilitates the transformation between objects and signs in the production of fashion value, but also contributes to the construction of fashion consensus by offering rich interpretations and representations. In this process, female brand ambassadors play a pivotal role, serving as a crucial bridge between the brand and its consumers, while also functioning as key agents in the external communication of brand culture. This study takes Chanel’s female brand ambassadors in the Chinese market as a case, employing a semiotic analytical approach to examine how these ambassadors contribute to the construction of contemporary femininity marked by diversity and uniqueness. It further analyzes the Western brand’s imagined representations of Eastern women within a cross-cultural context, uncovering how Chanel utilizes Chinese female brand ambassadors to convey distinctive images of femininity, and explores the communicative pathways through which emotional resonance is established with Chinese consumers. This paper offers a new perspective on understanding the significance of women in the fashion industry and their cultural implications, while also providing theoretical support for the construction of female representations by brands across diverse cultural markets.

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Fashion Narratives in K-Dramas: Exploring Cultural Heritage, Global Trends, and Intercultural Body Image through Semiotics: Bianca Terracciano; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;34:3. Published online June 30, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.34.3

Korean dramas (K-dramas) have emerged as powerful cultural artifacts that not only entertain but also shape societal perceptions of Fashion, body image, and identity. Fashion in K-dramas operates as a semiotic medium of cultural storytelling, weaving together traditional Korean heritage with contemporary global trends. These audiovisual narratives play a crucial role in constructing and circulating culturally specific ideals of beauty and bodily norms. This article investigates how Fashion and body image are represented in K-dramas and how these representations are interpreted across different cultural contexts. Through a semiotic lens, it explores the mechanisms by which K-dramas mediate notions of identity, desirability, and belonging, revealing the tensions and harmonies between local traditions and globalized aesthetics.

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Penggunaan Hallyuwood Style dalam Sistem Komunikasi Visual LUC Coffee
Binar Adinda Padusi, Jefri Audi Wempi
Jurnal JTIK (Jurnal Teknologi Informasi dan Komunikasi).2027; 11(1): 42. CrossRef

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Semiotics of Fashion: Desire and Resistance, All Things Considered: Giulia Adriana Ceriani; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;34:2. Published online June 30, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.34.2

This reflection aims to explore the foundations, limitations, and necessity of fashion semiotics, beyond the inertia that still binds it to a mere reinterpretation of Barthesian legacy. On the contrary, fashion semiotics reveals its compelling and contemporary relevance when it is considered in light of the explanatory power granted to a language too often relegated—for commercial reasons or societal conventions—to a marginal or reductionist role, rather than being acknowledged as an active part of present-day expression in all its forms. These include, notably, gender relations, political implications, the dynamics of possible and impossible relations in the context of digital interfaces, the dialectic between conjunctive tensions and the condemnation to disjunction. Desire and resistance will be the two key terms guiding us through this unaligned reinterpretation.

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Fashion Semiotics: State of the Art: José María Paz Gago; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;34:1. Published online June 30, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.34.1

Once the failure of classical fashion Semiotics (1960-1980) was certified, as it conceived the fashion phenomenon as a system devoid of meaning (Barthes), incapable of communicating (Lotman) and unbearable (Volli), the great designers and marketing strategists began a new period, that of the Pragmatics of Fashion (1980-2000), committed to resemiotizing the system by resorting to prestigious referents for their collections (the history of art and culture) and to the brand, defined as a hypericonema loaded with powerful literal, imaginary and psycho-emotional meanings (Paz Gago). This stage of fashion semiotics is described by Floch and Calefato, scholars of fashion brands as written text, since it is the proper name of the great fashion designers that has become a brand. Both agree on the need to move beyond the more linguistic stage of the discipline to develop a visual semiotics or a plastic semiotics that serves to analyze fashion as an essentially visual phenomenon. With the new millennium, in line with the new digital technologies that colonize and are colonized by fashion, the Neosemiotics of fashion (2000-2020) emerges, mediated by the stories and reels uploaded to social networks such as Instagram or TikTok, as Bianca Terraciano or Victoria Nannini will analyze. Fashion semiotics faces a new challenge today due to the emergence of Artificial Intelligence, which has already colonized all processes in the fashion system: design creation, pattern making, manufacturing, advertising and marketing campaigns, fashion shows, distribution, and marketing can all be implemented through generative Artificial Intelligence applications. These new technological phenomena respond to the semiotic mode I have called Machination, as opposed to the Representation and Simulation characteristic of classic analog and digital technologies.

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Semiotics of the Manila Shawl (mantón de Manila): From Historical Transformations to its Present Identity Function
Ana Velasco Molpeceres, Carmen Baniandrés, María Prieto Muñiz
EPISTÉMÈ.2025; 35: 2. CrossRef

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AI and the sacred: an anthropological approach: Emmanuel Carré, Pascal Lardellier; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;33:7. Published online March 31, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.33.7

This two-part article analyzes the ancient and mystical origins of artificial intelligence (AI). First, it explains that AI has precedents in mystical thought and finds relevance in certain anthropological concepts. Next, we'll look at how ancient philosophy has helped to explain in advance the way in which we - and in particular students - use artificial intelligence as a “mental orthosis”.

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Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: A Holistic Approach for Successful, Human-Centered Implementation: Emmanuel Carré, Marjorie Garofalo; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;33:6. Published online March 31, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.33.6

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the healthcare sector represents a major transformation that raises complex issues concerning the technical, organizational, and relational dimensions of the profession. This contribution analyzes the key success factors and obstacles to the implementation of AI in healthcare facilities, adopting a holistic perspective that emphasizes communicational and interprofessional dynamics. Through an analysis of recent literature, we identify promising approaches and necessary conditions for successful AI integration, while preserving the quality of caregiver-patient relationships and interactions among professionals. Our analysis reveals that successful implementation relies on a balanced combination of leadership, end-user training, support for teams in modifying their daily work, and ethical governance. The central role of communication in this transformation process is emphasized, both in change management and in the adaptation of professional practices. We propose recommendations that integrate these different dimensions to guide the development and implementation of AI projects in healthcare, focusing on preserving and enriching human relationships within healthcare organizations.

1,237 View
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The Advent of AI Civilization and Calling for a New Conception of the Human: Mun Cho Kim; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;33:5. Published online March 31, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.33.5

This study explores the advent of AI civilization and the need to redefine humanity in the face of rapid technological advancement. Tracing the evolution of digital technology from simple automation to intelligent agents capable of independent decision-making, it turns out that the rise of AI and humanoid robots blurs the line between humans and non-humans, challenging the long-standing human-nonhuman dichotomy rooted in Western philosophy. Based upon the examination of the shifts in ontology, from Cartesian dualism to monistic and relational perspectives, this study suggests that humans, living beings, and objects are evolving in a connected, co-dependent system. The emergence of cyborgs, AI, and bioengineering raises critical question about the identity of the humanity. With AI and enhanced humans gaining agency, traditional definition of humanity become obsolete and demand for an extended concept of the human in the post-AI era is growing.

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Grammatology in the Era of Digital Writing: Hidetaka Ishida; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;33:4. Published online March 31, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.33.4

This paper investigates Jacques Derrida's notion of grammatology in the context of contemporary digital writing technologies. It critically reassesses Ferdinand de Saussure’s linguistics and his concept of phonocentrism, underscoring phonography’s underestimated role in shaping the epistemological foundations of linguistics. Introducing original concepts such as the "logographic hiatus" and "grammatological polyphony," the paper challenges the limitations inherent in alphabetic linearity, particularly through the analysis of logographic writing systems like Chinese. Drawing on recent advancements in cognitive neuroscience, notably Stanislas Dehaene’s Neuronal Recycling Hypothesis, the paper proposes a neuro-grammatological framework. It argues that the human brain repurposes pre-existing neural circuits for reading, aligning visual symbols with ecological and neurological constraints. Further, the study addresses Derrida’s concept of "Mondialatinisation," examining the implicit cultural hegemony perpetuated through Latin-alphabet-based digital input methods (e.g., Romaji, Pinyin). This critical analysis highlights the subtle yet profound epistemological and cultural implications of imposing phonocentric and alphabetic models on traditionally logographic languages. Finally, the paper underscores the unresolved civilizational tensions emerging from the digital transformation of writing, emphasizing the urgent need for interdisciplinary dialogue bridging linguistics, semiotics, neuroscience, and cultural studies

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Machination: Semiotics of IArt. Dance and Artificial Intelligence: José María Paz Gago; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;33:3. Published online March 31, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.33.3

Multimodal generative Artificial Intelligence is an omnipresent technology in our post-industrial societies, as it has penetrated all areas of daily life, from social and commercial relations to the various fields of science and industry, communication, leisure and culture in general. This is to discuss whether AI is applicable to the field of artistic creation in general and to bodily arts such as dance in particular, taking into account emotional sensitivity and creativity, factors that are difficult to generate by a machine. In this article we will discuss examples of corporal artistic manifestations, in the domain of dance, in which corporality itself is called into question in the face of these interactions with humanized bodies conceived, created and “brought to life” by the magic of generative AI. The learning models developed by different Artificial Intelligence software allow these bodies to dance, model or evolve in scenographic spaces created ad hoc and shared to the point of replacing real dancers.

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Writing and Imagination in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Toward Narrative as Dialogic Abduction: Yunhee Lee; EPISTÉMÈ 2025;33:2. Published online March 31, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.38119/cacs.2025.33.2

This paper aims to look into possibilities of future writing in the age of artificial intelligence. ‘Who writes’ matters in a technological culture of co-existence of humans and machines. I thus investigate the aligned questions of ‘why we write’ and ‘how we write’, exploring writing with imagination, namely, narrative writing, for communication and transmission. As for methodology, I examine three domains of narrative with imagination based on Peirce’s metaphysical semiotics and Paul Ricoeur’s imagination theory: esthetics with oneiric imagination, poetics with narrative/analogical imagination, and speculative rhetoric with social imagination. I argue that narrative communication with social imagination which comprises an explanatory narrative process of quality through fact to representation for dialogic abduction is geared toward discovering self’s identity by means of re-authoring conversation. This thus results in enhancing a communal narrative self to transmit virtues and values to the following generations.