Thirty high-level essays on various aspects of semiotics by Finnish, Estonian, and Hungarian scholars.

Foreword - Eero TarastiGeneralitiesMy 'Short Happy Life' in Finno-Ugric Studies - Thomas A. SebeokSketch of a Finno-Ugric Semiotic - Vilmos VoigtMetaphysical Contemplations - Finland and Eastern Thought - Henri BromsSwedish-speaking Finns Between East and West - Henri BromsA Mediator Between Russia and the West: V. Sesemann as Philosopher and Semiotician - Thorsten Botz-BornsteinFrom Philosophy to CultureOntological Nihilism, or The Meaning of the So-called Finnish Passive Construction - Pauli PylkkoText and Intelligence - Kristian BankovPierce, Rantala, and Theological Semiotics - Heikki KirjavainenLa neige et le silence - Matthieu GuillotFinland Among the Paradigms of National Anthems - Eero TarastiInvasion as an Object of Semiotics: Representing Invasion - Creating Invasion - Anti RandviirCultural Arbitrariness and Linguistic Bias - Niilo KauppiApproaches to Media Semiotics: Journalism in Social Context - Maarja Parl LohmusEthnofuturism in Udmurtia - Viktor ShibanovSigns in Human BehaviorEthnic Identity in the Light of an Ancient Myth: Psychoanalytic and Semiotic Interpretations of the Finnish Kullervo-Legend - Heikki MajavaSigns and Meanings in Education - Tuomo JamsaInside Out - From Verbal Imagery and Inner Voice to Verbal Hallucinations - Hannu LauermaArts I: MusicEthnomusicology and Media Reality - Erkki PekkilaMusic as Narrative Discourse - Anne Sivuoja-GunaratnamJean Sibelius as an Icon of the Finns and Others: An Essay in Post-colonial Analysis - Eero TarastiArts II: Theater and CinemaFilm and Reality - Ilkka NiiniluotoActors as Characters, Characters as Actors in Audiovisual Fiction - Henry BaconThe Signs of the Player: A Solution - Kari SalosaariArts III: Literature and Verbal SignsProblems of Reference in Description - Harri VeivoThe Lure of Etymology in the Poetry and Prose of Pentti Saarikoski - Hannu RiikonenRebellious Words: Avant-garde Literature and Theories of Formalism to Post-structuralism - Sinikka TuohimaaThe Kanteletar as Poetic Text and Discourse in the Semiotics of Culture - Pirjo KukkonenThe Poetic Legacy of the Eighties: In the Home of Human Voices and Touches - Immo PekkarinenSigns Between - Erja HannulaArts IV: GastronomyOn Culinemes, Gastrophemes, and Other Signs of Cooking