Tateo, L., Marsico, G. (2023). Sensing the city. Affective semiosis and urban border-zones. In S. Petrilli and C. Ji (Eds.). Intersemiotic Perspectives on Emotions. Translating across Signs, Bodies and Values. (pp. 196-209), Routledge.

The human dwelling space is a complex fabric of signs. According to the theoretical model of cultural psychology, semiosis is the fundamental process of meaning-making, affectively guided by complexes of social suggestions embedded in the environment. What makes a specific feeling emerge while one is walking in urban spaces? Human spaces are filled with borders (visible and invisible, material and semiotic), that regulate the personal meaning and the collective coordination of everyday activities. How do multisensory systems of signs regulate the experience of urban living? How does one understand, for instance, that she is walking through a central or peripheral zone? How does one understand when a border is crossed? Contemporary urban spaces are also the arena for multicultural experiences, such as tourism and migration, in which people need to make sense of local systems of signs, affective experiences and atmospheres that require a form of competence in order to be interpreted. For instance, how do people from a different culture experience the sense of security/insecurity navigating urban space? How do they grasp the atmosphere of the urban space when entering a neighbourhood? How is the experience of a migrant in a European city, which is characterized by certain smells, visual cues, etc.? We will discuss issues related to intercultural emotional issues in contemporary urban spaces by the process of affective meaning-making that takes place at specific locations (the border zones) in urban living