ABSTRACT
The relation between semiotics, science, and literature is, like the history of semiotics, two-sided, with either side almost – but not quite – a mirror of the other. In fact, one could argue that the relation of semiotics to the fields of science and literature is actually a key constituent of the definition of semiotics itself. Semiotics is not yet an institutionalized discipline like, say, linguistics or biology. Nor is it viewed in the same way by different groups: those who write for semiotics journals and publish books in the field and participate in semiotics conferences, and those who are aware of semiotics’ existence but have no commitment to semiotics except insofar as it can be used as a tool or a straw man for other pursuits.
