Greimas Colloquium at Istanbul University
On October 6-7 an international colloquium was held at Istanbul University to celebrate the legacy of semiotician Algirdas Julius Greimas. Reknown scientists from a number of countries came to Istanbul to attend the colloquium. Lithuania was represented by Dr. Nijolė Keršytė, a lecturer at the A.J. Greimas Centre for Semiotics and Literary Theory in Vilnius.
Ambassador Audrius Brūzga addressed the participants of the Colloquium and said this i.a.” As we pay tribute to Mr Algirdas Julius Greimas we cannot forget his ties with his home country Lithuania. Mr Greimas ‘re-read’ Lithuanian mythology using his new method which greatly enlarged the scope of interpretation of the traditional Lithuanian folklore. Equally important is the fact that Mr Greimas did his best to pair the potential of the Lithuanian science with European intellectual tradition.” The Ambassador also noted that by coming to Turkey soon after the attempted coup the participants showed a sign of solidarity with the academic community of Turkey which was greatly appreciated.
Algirdas Julius Greimas is well remembered in Turkey where he taught at the universities of Ankara and Istanbul in the period of 1958-1962. To commemorate this a plaque sponsored by the Lithuanian Embassy was unveiled at the Department of Letters of the Istanbul University.
50 years ago Mr Greimas published his seminal work Sémantique structural and in such a way started a new school in semiotics which now bears his name. In 2017 UNESCO will celebrate 100- year anniversary of A.J. Greimas on an international scale. In view of this the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania has decided to proclaim the year 2017 the Year of Algirdas Julius Greimas.
Read more at http://edebiyat.istanbul.edu.tr/?p=33992
