Abstract
The science of semiotics is rapidly expanding, encompassing disciplines as diverse as computer science, film criticism, linguistics, philosophy, geography, and anthropology. Bouissac, author of Iconicity (1986) and a regular contributor to Semiotica, has created a comprehensive, well-written, and understandable reference work that allows a wide variety of students and scholars to access current semiotic theory and research. Each signed entry is well documented and contains bibliographic entries for further inquiry. Excellent coverage of well-known and lesser-known theorists, including Barthes, Eco, Bogatyrev, and Levi-Strauss; subject entries as diverse as "Cartoons," "Cartology," "Stereotype," and Paul Ekman and Wallace V. Friesen's "Facial Action Coding" system; and an extensive index make this volume another fine example of the publisher's commitment to scholarship. This is a good companion volume to Thomas A. Sebeok's An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Semiotics (Mouton de Gruyter, 1994) and a required purchase for all academic libraries and large public libraries.?Kevin M. Roddy, Univ. of Hawaii Lib., Hilo Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.