Between Face and Voice: Semiotic Relationships

The aim of this study is to investigate the semiotic relationships that emerge from the interpretation of the face in relation to the sound of the voice, considering both as signifying expressions subject to layered semantic interpretation. Specifically, we will explore the relationship between the voice and the face, treating them as palimpsests in symbiotic signification. This approach draws on fundamental semiotic research into the face, examining how, being both an integral part of the phonatory apparatus and a modulator of vocal sound, it conveys culturally legible characteristics and generates meanings in connection with the voice, particularly in relation to the emotional dimension perceptible in both.

Alongside this primary aim, a secondary objective emerges: to investigate, from an interdisciplinary perspective combining semiotics and cognitive science, the middle ground on which the contested boundary between nature and culture shifts. This reflection builds on analyses of the cultural interpretation of facial and vocal expression to reach the biological foundations of our semiotic system and its cultural ramifications.