Digital Eco-logy : Umberto Eco and a semiotic approach to digital communication

Abstract

The objective of this article is to review a series of semiotic contributions to the new media, computer-mediated communication and human-computer interaction research, centring on the works of Umberto Eco. This well-known Italian professor and fiction writer is one of the pioneers of the debate on hypertext and an active interlocutor in discussions on the future of the book. Researchers interested in digital textualities, computer-mediated communication and human-computer interaction have also applied Eco’s theories. This article maps the connections between Eco’s semiotic and digital field discussions.