ABSTRACT
The chapter examines the notion of literacy and posits semiotic literacy in terms of becoming aware of meaning. The discovery of meaning in experience is one of the goals of psychotherapy. In education, the dimension of meaning is often neglected, giving way as such to academic achievement. This chapter positions edusemiotics (as an educational theory) in the context of new materialism (as a cultural theory), arguing that both reconcile the natural, material world we live in with meaning, thus enriching it with the existential dimension. The chapter reviews the key contemporary thinkers in the area of new materialism. An important feature that new materialism shares with edusemiotics is the feminine emphasis on the materiality of relations. The human mind becomes extended into the material world, and human subjectivity is necessarily posthuman and exhibits a strong sense of ethical responsibility. Semiotic literacy also elicits a new kind of scientific literacy: the physical world is protomental, where body is minded and mind is embodied. Semiotic subjectivity bypasses ego-consciousness and, by incorporating ontological unconscious, becomes eco-centric and equipped with semiotic competence, exhibiting the values of coordination and dialogue.
