Founded at an impromptu meeting of Nordic semioticians in Imatra, Finland, in 1987, the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS) has organised eleven important and highly successful congresses. The first series of conferences and week-long Nordic Research Courses took place in Odense, Denmark (1990), Lund, Sweden (1992), Trondheim, Norway (1994), Imatra, Finland (1996), Oslo, Norway (1998), and in Copenhagen, Denmark (2000).
After a period of hibernation, NASS as an organization was refounded. On June 9th 2012 a 25 year anniversary symposium was held in Imatra, Finland, as part of the 27th International Summer School for Semiotic and Structural Studies. The theme of the symposium was Nordic Semiotic Paradigms – NASS 25 years: Where do Cognitive, Bio- and Existential Semiotics Meet? The board of 2011-2013 approved a new constitution, which was consequently treated at the General Meeting of NASS in Aarhus in May 2013. The organisation also launched a regular newsletter.
Recent congresses were held in May 2011 in Lund, Sweden (NASS VII, see the picture below), in May 2013 in Aarhus, Denmark (NASS VIII), in August 2015 in Tartu, Estonia (NASS IX), in June 2017 in Kaunas, Lithuania (NASS X), in June 2019 in Stavanger, Norway (NASS XI). The 12th conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies, titled “Meaning in Perception and the Senses” took place in Vilnius, Lithuania, 5–7 November, 2021. In 2023, June 7-9, the congress was held in Helsinki, Finland.
NASS is one of ca. 70.000 international associations listed in the UIA yearbook: https://uia.org/s/or/en/1100017149
We have a Facebook page and a Twitter account.
NASS constitution can be viewed here.
Members
The current member countries of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies include Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden.
The current board of NASS (2019-2021, currently being updated) counts the following members (Ordinary Representative listed first, then Supplementary Representative):
- DENMARK: + Luis Emilio Bruni
- ESTONIA: Lauri Linask (*President) + Siiri Tarrikas
- FINLAND: Juha Ojala + Merja Bauters
- ICELAND: n/a
- LATVIA: Daina Teters + Tatjana Menise
- LITHUANIA: Paulius Jevsejevas (*Treasurer) + Benediktas Vachninas
- NORWAY: Morten Tønnessen (*Secretary) + Øyvind Eide
- SWEDEN: Sara Lenninger + Aleksei Semenenko
The board has appointed Inesa Sahakyan and Alin Olteanu as NASS’ Organizational Assistants.
NASS representatives in The International Association for Semiotic Studies – Association Internationale de Sémiotique (IASS-AIS): Luis Emilio Bruni and Morten Tønnessen.
To get in contact with NASS, please write to post@nordicsemiotics.org
