A Methodology for the Study of Interspecific Cohabitation Issues in City

Abstract

Abstract The present article will introduce a proposition of semiotic methodology that can be used to diagnose cohabitation issues in cities between human inhabitants and non-animal liminals. This methodology is built on a few sets of data that should be easy to obtain in any important city, and can therefore be utilised in a variety of situations. The different sets of data allow us to map the semiosphere (following Hoffmeyer’s meaning of the term) of the cohabitation situation along three axes: the materiality of the situation, the symbolic value of the relationship, and the emotional value of the interaction. These three aspects allow us to see gaps, paradoxes and points of consistency, enabling of complex and multi-level understanding of the situation.