Abstract

This paper proposes a theory and a methodology for the analysis of the face from a post-structuralist and tensive semiotic perspective. This methodology assumes that the face is never isolated, and that it is difficult to study it semiotically without situating it in at least two respects: in its relation to a background that sustains it within a representation (uttered enunciation), and within the status through which such representation circulates throughout society (enunciative praxis). The face will be then studied according to these two parameters: 1. the genre of the portrait, which is the discursive genre that has worked the most on the face, in order to experiment with it, deform it or dynamize it. 2. The status of the face within a representation that has to be studied through practices of production, reception, and valorization of images in social domains (art, advertising, etc.).