Article Title

Dirt, Ground and Groundedness: Material Semiotics and Social Anchors of the Real and Truth in the Modernist Imaginary

Authors

Abstract

What makes the ground (earth, dirt, soil) the axial point of reference for modern subjectivity? In this paper, I explore the semiotics of the ground and the complex ways modern subjectivity sets a performative frame around association/ disassociation with dirt. From the hygiene hypothesis and the problematic of modern existence and the lack of understanding of the good of dirt for the immune system to the ontology of being real in grounded theory, how we posit our connection to the ground can inform us of the way that we seek to anchor our place in the world. In this anchoring to the ground, I explore the concern with ‘dirt’ as both a material and symbolic semiotic range that is expressive of our concern with how we structure our personal and collective universes.

Recommended Citation

(2023) "Dirt, Ground and Groundedness: Material Semiotics and Social Anchors of the Real and Truth in the Modernist Imaginary," The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE): Vol. 6: Iss. 1, Article 3.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/ije/vol6/iss1/3