Le système de la propriété littéraire dans la France de l’Ancien Régime est souvent examiné de manière rétrospective à l’aune du droit d’auteur contemporain : tout se passe comme si la librairie d’Ancien Régime devait être nécessairement le laboratoire d’un dispositif juridique et idéologique en pleine formation, encore mal adapté aux réalités littéraires. Cette thèse propose d’examiner la question de cette propriété à nouveaux frais, en considérant le système de librairie comme un ensemble d’acteurs, de logiques et d’outils opératoire, sur le temps long, des années 1650 jusqu’aux années 1780. À travers l’étude des logiques institutionnelles de la propriété économique et de la responsabilité juridique, des dispositifs bibliographiques des dictionnaires, des journaux et des recueils d’ana et des opérations éditoriales imaginées par les auteurs eux-mêmes, elle met en évidence les rapports de force qui agitent la librairie et le monde littéraire de l’époque. En empruntant à l’histoire littéraire, à l’histoire du droit et à l’histoire du livre, ce travail entreprend de montrer de quelle manière la propriété littéraire se construit à l’encontre des intérêts des auteurs et en faveur de la constitution d’un monde de la librairie où l’État joue de moins en moins son rôle de régulateur des pratiques. À travers le prisme de l’attribution littéraire, la démonstration est menée avec un intérêt particulier pour l’analyse précise des paratextes littéraires. / Literary property rights in early modern France are often understood through the prism of the contemporary droit d’auteur. Many studies see the early modern period as a laboratory for an on-going experiment in law and ideology, still ill-fitted to the literary practices of the authors. This thesis offers a fresh start in the examination of the question of literary property, taking the whole library system from the 1650s to the 1780s to be an effective articulation of agents, tools, and discursives practices. Through the study of institutional policies in the domain of literary property as well as judicial responsibility, through a careful reading of the bibliographical discourse with dictionaries, anas, and periodicals, and through the description of editorial endeavors undertaken by authors themselves, it shows the dynamics of the early modern library and literary world. With roots in literary history, history of law, and book history, this dissertation seeks to understand how the concept of literary property is aggregated, against the very interests of the authors, to consolidate a commercial book-trade where the State slowly delegates its regulatory powers. Through the study of literary attribution, this work follows its demonstrations with an acute interest in a close-reading of literary paratexts.

[pt] A presente tese se dispõe a analisar o conceito de obra de arte de Walter Benjamin tomando em consideração sua teoria da linguagem. Temos como objeto os primeiros escritos do autor, que vão de 1910 até o ano de 1930. A partir daquela teoria, percebemos certa manutenção de uma estrutura de pensamento que abarca muitos temas, incluso nosso objeto, o de um conceito de obra. Essa estrutura se caracteriza pela determinação de extremos conceituais que se comunicam e se correspondem para formar um sistema filosófico que, contraditoriamente, se impõe pela fragmentação. Neste sentido, tentamos fazer uma abordagem topológica, nomeando alguns topoi, lugares conceituais que se espalham naquele sistema e que reproduzem as mesmas características, seja na filosofia da história, seja na teoria da arte. Com esse fim, atentaremos para uma dimensão que se forma aos poucos nessa estrutura, tomando ares dialéticos. É com isso que apontaremos as relações e correspondências entre aqueles extremos que se perfazem em topoi. / [en] The present thesis aims to analyze Walter Benjamin s concept of work of art based on his theory of language, using as our object the first writings of the author, ranging from 1910 to 1930. The reason for focusing on such a theory is that we perceive the maintenance of a thought structure in it which encompasses many themes, including our own, that of a concept of work of art. This structure characterizes itself for the determination of conceptual extremes, which communicate and correspond one another in order to form a philosophical system that, contradictorily, is distinguished by its fragmentation. With this in mind, we intend to make a topological approach, that is, to name some topoi, motifs spread in Benjamin s system, which reproduce the same characteristics, either in his philosophy of history or in his theory of art. In sum, we point out the relations as well as the correspondences among those topoi as we also observe a dimension that gradually rises in this structure, a dialectical one.

Aquesta tesi explora els orígens de la pintura abstracta des d'un punt de vista eminentment conceptual. Parteix de la hipòtesi que l'abstracció es pot considerar la culminació dels ideals estètics del Simbolisme finisecular; i considera que un dels elements de continuïtat entre Simbolisme i abstracció fou l'ideal de l'obra d'art total o Gesamtkunstwerk. La tesi estudia els pintors Vassily Kandinsky i Piet Mondrian per mostrar, a través de l'anàlisi de les seves obres i textos, que aquest ideal d'obra total fou per ambdós un leit-motiv fonamental en la seva evolució vers l'abstracció. En el cas de Kandinsky s'estudien especialment les seves composicions escèniques, i en el cas de Mondrian, l'arranjament del seu estudi, projectes en el marc dels quals es va desenvolupar la seva pintura. En ambdós casos, com també en el Simbolisme, el projecte de l'obra d'art total es considera tant des de la vessant artística, com en relació al seu valor utòpic. / This thesis explores the origins of abstract painting from a predominantly conceptual point of view. It begins with the hypothesis that abstraction may be considered as the culmination of the aesthetic ideals of turn of the century Symbolism, and considers that one of the elements of continuity between Symbolism and abstraction was the ideal of the total work of art, or Gesamtkunstwerk. The thesis studies the painters Wassily Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian to show, through analysis of their works and texts, that this idea of the complete artwork was a fundamental leitmotif for both artists in their evolution towards abstraction. In the case of Kandinsky, it studies in particular his scenic compositions and, in the case of Mondrian, the layout of his studio, the framework within which their painting was developed. In both cases, as in Symbolism, the project of the total work of art is considered as much from the artistic viewpoint as in relation to its utopian value.

Cette thèse examine les convergences et divergences le long de l'histoire de la documentation muséale dans trois galeries nationales en Angleterre, au Canada et aux États-Unis. Elle met en évidence un modèle commun, émanant plus particulièrement des deux types d'institutions apparues en Angleterre au 17e siècle : les musées publics, fondés sur des principes scientifiques et populistes, et la galerie privée, ancrée dans des traditions élitistes. Les galeries nationales analysées constituent un modèle hybride, en conflit avec ces deux formats antagonistes, mais leurs similitudes les plus frappantes résident dans l'évolution de leurs pratiques respectives de la documentation des œuvres d'art. La lutte continue afin d'intégrer véritablement la technologie dans la documentation d'art trahit l'héritage difficile entre ces deux modèles opposés. Tout au long des trajectoires uniques à chacune des institutions étudiées, peu de preuves montrent que les technologies optiques ou numériques ont eu des répercussions importantes sur les méthodologies ou les philosophies de la documentation des œuvres d'art. Au contraire, on observe que la documentation de forme numérique repose toujours sur une approche minimale de recueil de données, sur un groupe restreint de personnes habilitées à les collecter et sur un accès limité à ces données. Cette recherche renforce l'argumentation pour une redéfinition de la documentation des œuvres d'art pour repenser ses stratégies et ses philosophies directrices, pour poser un nouveau regard sur la recherche dans les collections et pour élargir l'intégration des technologies numériques dans ces processus. / This research examines the divergences and convergences across the histories of three national galleries, in England, Canada and the United States, providing evidence of a common model that emanates particularly from two types of institutions that appeared in England during the 17th century: public museums founded on scientific and populist principles, and private art galleries anchored in elitist traditions. The national galleries compared in this study constitute hybrids in conflict with the original antagonistic models. But their most striking similarities reside in the evolution of their respective documentation practices. The continued struggle to truly integrate technologies in the documentation of art betrays the difficult heritage between these two opposing models. Throughout the unique historical trajectories of these institutions, there was little proof that optical or digital technologies had had important repercussions on the methodologies or the philosophies of the documentation of works of art. On the contrary, it was observed that documentation, even in digital form, continued to rely on minimal standards of data gathering, restricted groups of persons trained to collect data, and limited access to any data captured. This research reinforces the need to redefine museum documentation in order to rethink its strategies and guiding philosophies, to enable new research into museum collections, and to enlarge the integration of digital technologies into the process.

[pt] O intuito dessa dissertação é examinar a crítica de Heidegger ao pensamento representacional, principalmente dentro dos domínios da arte. Este trabalho analisa a perspectiva de Heidegger sobre o que seria uma obra de arte, retomando e desenvolvendo questões fundamentais em seu pensamento, como o conceito de ser e de verdade. Investiga-se, assim, a relação entre obra de arte e verdade e seus desdobramentos na filosofia heideggeriana. Numa época em que a experiência da verdade é tomada sobretudo como representação do sujeito cognoscente, qual seria o papel do pensamento? Num tempo como o nosso seria possível o homem procurar uma experiência do pensar que não esteja comprometida apenas com a busca de classificação, de segurança e de controle sobre todas as coisas? Essas e outras questões, como a da arte, da critica da estética e da possibilidade de superação do pensamento representacional da tradição filosófica, aparecem no caminho daqueles que buscam um aprofundamento na obra deste grande filosofo alemão. Com este propósito, a presente pesquisa teve como fio condutor o ensaio A Origem da Obra de Arte, que serviu de base para leitura e interpretação de outras obras de Heidegger também apresentadas nesta dissertação. / [en] The task of this dissertation is to examine Heidegger s critique of the representational thought, specially within the art s domains. This paper analyses Heidegger s perspective over what a work of art would be, revisiting and developing fundamental questions in his thought such as the concepts of being and truth. It investigates, thus, the relation between work of art and truth and its unfoldings in Heidegger s philosophy. In a time when the experience of truth is generally accepted as a representation of the cognizing subject, what would be the role played by the thought? At a time like ours, would it be possible to men pursue a experience of the thinking which is not committed only with the search for classification, security and control of all things? These and other questions, such as the art question, the critique of aesthetic and the possibility of overcoming the philosophical tradition representative thinking, appear in the path of those who seek a deeper understanding of the work of this great German philosopher. With this intention, the present study had as its guiding light the essay The Origin of the Work of Art, which was the base for the reading and interpretation of other works from Heidegger that were introduced in this dissertation.

La pluridisciplinarité artistique contemporaine, qui remonte à l’humanisme et au romantisme, est-elle encore liée à un désir de connaissance et de totalité, ou s’inscrit-elle dans un spectre de fragmentation ? Les défaillances reconnues du savoir, du sujet et de l’œuvre forment une résistance à la puissance des technostructures. La sphère de l’art, détachée de la division du travail artistique, s’inscrit dans une négativité non dialectique. Par la sape méthodique des référents et des maîtrises, l’œuvre s’ouvre au désordre et au manque. Poursuivant simultanément plusieurs démarches distinctes dans les arts visuels, la musique et l’écriture, passant de l’art populaire à l’art intellectualisé, étant autant témoin qu’acteur de mon travail, je propose une approche de l’art qui se définit plus par l’errance et la pluralité que par un projet unitaire. La position mineure et dispersée se ressource dans une poïétique prolifique : simultanéité divergente, transposition négative, hétérogénéité, confusion des temps, présence du vide et du fantomatique… / Is artistic pluridisciplinarity, which goes back to Humanism and Romanticism, still connected to a desire for knowledge and for holistic apprehension, or does it reveal the prospect of fragmentation? The known shortcomings of knowledge, of the subject, and of the work of art resist the power of techno-structures. Once the artistic sphere gets disconnected from the division of artistic labor, it is amenable to a non-dialectical negativity. As the work of art methodically subverts referents, mastery and know-hows, it becomes accessible to loss and disorder. Being as much the witness as the agent of the work I produce, I propose an approach to art conceived as wandering and plural—an approach based on various forms of practice in visual arts, music, and writing, which shift from popular to intellectual art. This artistic stance, minor and scattered, draws its strength from a prolific poietics: divergent simultaneity, negative transposition, heterogeneity, confusion of temporalities, void, and haunting presences…

Probably the fundamental issue about the relation between art and beauty in the Critique of the Power of Judgment, of 1790, is the difficulty to recognize an object as a work of art (across a concept of art) and the judgment of taste, which when considered as pure cannot possess concepts that determine the object. Nevertheless, there does not seem to be another experience such as the experience of beauty for the recognition of beautiful artwork. Thus, it becomes necessary to explore the points of convergence between a production oriented to ends and the production of a beautiful object, considering, despite what has just been said, that the "concept" of work of art is different from any concept that could be considered to be an end of an intentional act. Along this dissertation we propose to explore the relations between the practice of genius and taste, as regulators of the artistic production, recognition and valuation of the works of art. We will consider for it, the possible rules of the genius, trying to isolate the formal and content aspects of the object. With this intention, we will depart from the classification of the works of art as forms of expressiveness, similar to the language, trying to show the weaknesses of any classic aesthetic norm in the establishment of rules of connection between forms and contents. Nevertheless, also we will evaluate the emphasis of Kant himself in supporting identifiable connections between the objects considered as works of art, specially the formal aspects of the same ones. From the previous analysis we will be forced to evaluate the relationship between beautiful art and nature. The failure of the arbitrariness, as a way for establish the artistic beauty in the assimilation to a form of language , leads us to recovering the theory of natural beauty, trying to find the points of contact between beauty and aesthetic the experience of art. Therefore, we will evaluate the consequences of the Kantian theory of art in relation to the aesthetic experience of the "Analytic of the Beauty ", distinguishing the difficulties that Kant might have had in mind when he developed his philosophy of art. The fundamental aim of this tour across Kant's text is the possibility of evaluating the current importance of the Kantian aesthetics, linking the exegesis of the text with two fundamental elements of the contemporary debate in philosophy of art: definition (or recognition) and valuation. We try to show that the aspects considered by Kant as necessary to support this balance (originality, relation between artists and public across the work, place of the work em the society, pleasure of the aesthetic experience, artistic tradition), still are relevant for the current debate in aesthetics and reflective human action. / Provavelmente o principal problema da relação entre arte e beleza na Crítica da Faculdade de Julgar, de 1790, esteja na necessidade de reconhecer um objeto como obra de arte (através de um conceito de arte) e o juízo de gosto, que, considerado puro, não pode ter conceitos que determinem o objeto. Porém, não parece haver outra experiência além da experiência de beleza para o reconhecimento da obra de arte bela. Assim, faz-se necessário explorar os pontos de convergência entre uma produção orientada a fins e a produção de um objeto belo, considerando, contudo, que o conceito de obra de arte é diferente de qualquer conceito que possa ser colocado como fim de um ato intencional. No percurso do trabalho nos propomos a explorar as relações entre a prática do gênio e o gosto como regulador da produção artística e do reconhecimento e valoração das obras de arte. Consideraremos para isso as possíveis regras do gênio, tentando isolar os aspectos formais e os aspectos de conteúdo do objeto. Neste intento, partiremos da classificação das obras de arte como formas de expressividade, semelhantes à linguagem, visando mostrar as fraquezas de qualquer norma estética clássica no estabelecimento de regras de conexão entre formas e conteúdos. Porém, também avaliaremos a ênfase do próprio Kant em manter conexões identificáveis entre os objetos considerados obras de arte, sobretudo os aspectos formais dos mesmos. A partir da análise anterior estaremos obrigados a avaliar a relação entre arte bela e natureza. O fracasso da arbitrariedade, como forma de estabelecimento do belo artístico enquanto assimilação a uma forma de linguagem nos leva a recuperar a teoria da beleza natural, visando encontrar os pontos de contato entre beleza e experiência estética da arte. Destarte, avaliaremos as conseqüências que temos da teoria kantiana da arte em relação à experiência estética da Analítica do Belo , destacando as dificuldades de que o próprio Kant poderia ter sido consciente ao desenvolver sua filosofia da arte. O alvo fundamental deste percurso através do texto de Kant se encontra na possibilidade de avaliar a atualidade da estética kantiana, vinculando à exegese do texto dois elementos fundamentais do debate contemporâneo em filosofia da arte: definição (ou reconhecimento) e valoração. Pretendemos mostrar que os aspectos considerados por Kant como necessários para manter este equilíbrio (originalidade, relação entre artistas e público a través da obra, lugar da obra na sociedade, prazer da experiência estética, tradição artística), ainda são relevantes para o debate atual no que diz respeito à estética e ao agir humano reflexivo.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-08T16:19:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 disserta.pdf: 10852661 bytes, checksum: 98356085bdcf5ff9c2caeeb5fcac4069 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-08-22 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This research has as a goal to think about the work of art as a complex system and, from this approach, supported by the General Theory of Systems and by the studies and principles of the complex systems, to propose a concept of obrassistema . This concept appears as an attempt to define the work of art in its systemic complexity, which transforms and modifies itself from unpredictable interferences given by the spectator and by the context in which it is located. Beyond the theoretical path that bases the notion of obrassistema , three artistic propositions are presented like cases as examples and consequences of this approach: Reunion for emergencies, (Not) Meetings and Investor. In Reunion for emergencies three different stories about three reunions that supposedly happened are presented. In each one of the narratives there was an attempt to highlight the concept of emergency, as well as the unpredictable organizational complex dynamics that redefine the reunion. In the second case, with (Not) Meetings, we refer to the experience of realizing and relating with a filtered or transformed by the use of an optical device with lens that change the watched images reality, constituting a memory based on an experience intentionally modified. This situation is presented through another story in which an event of this possibility is told and also through records of our practice accomplished using glasses with different filters during the period of our Masters Graduation Course and in other situations. The last case the Investor refers to the proposition of a device that allows the displacement of the upside down body. This proposition is presented through the narrative of a protagonist that relates with a person who lives in this condition and uses the device. In this case, possibilities of inversion are searched in a complex system / Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo refletir sobre a obra de arte como um sistema complexo e, a partir desta abordagem, apoiada na Teoria Geral dos Sistemas e nos estudos e princípios dos sistemas complexos, propor o conceito de "obrassistema". Esse conceito surge como uma tentativa de definir a obra de arte em sua complexidade sistêmica, a qual se transforma e se modifica a partir de interferências imprevisíveis dadas pelo espectador e pelo contexto ao qual se insere. Além do percurso teórico que fundamenta a noção de "obrassistema", apresentam-se três proposições artísticas em forma de "casos" como exemplificações e decorrências dessa abordagem: Reunião para emergências, (Des)Encontros e Inversor. Em Reunião para emergências são apresentadas três estórias diferentes a respeito de três reuniões supostamente acontecidas. Em cada uma das narrativas buscouse salientar o conceito de emergência, assim como as dinâmicas complexas organizacionais imprevisíveis que acabam redefinindo a reunião. No segundo caso, com (Des)Encontros, referimo-nos à experiência de perceber e se relacionar com uma realidade filtrada ou transformada pelo uso de um dispositivo ótico com lentes que modificam as imagens observadas, constituindo uma memória baseada numa experiência intencionalmente modificada. Essa situação é apresentada através de uma outra estória em que é narrado um acontecimento dessa possibilidade e também através de registros de nossa prática realizada usando óculos com filtros diferentes durante o período do nosso curso de mestrado e em outras situações. Já o último caso - o Inversor - refere-se à proposição de um dispositivo que permite o deslocamento do corpo invertido de cabeça para baixo. Essa proposição é apresentada por meio da narrativa de um protagonista que se relaciona com uma pessoa que vive nessa condição e que usa o tal dispositivo. Nesse caso, reflete-se sobre as possibilidades de inversão em um sistema complexo

L’objectif principal de ce travail est d’établir le sens attribué à la science de l’expression et de préciser comment elle est identifiée à la linguistique générale, dans l’Esthétique de Benedetto Croce. Adversaire de l’intellectualisme et du rationalisme, Croce a éprouvé au plus profond de lui-même les questions que l’homme se pose. C’est dans l’expérience du langage que l’homme expérimente la profondeur de son existence au monde. Il s’agit de l’essence du langage comprise comme expression dans laquelle l’intuition se réalise intégralement. D’où, le langage est le résultat de la création irremplaçable de chaque expression singulière. C’est le langage non répétitif et intraduisible de l’œuvre d’art. Le langage est un art, il prend son sens dans l’art et se comprend par rapport à l’art. Philosophie du langage et philosophie de l’art sont la même chose. C’est selon cette perspective que l’art pour Croce est expression. C’est l’expression de l’intuition comme faculté de la transposition esthétique qui occupe la première position de la vie de l’esprit. Il en sera différemment pour la place de l’oeuvre d’art. Débat qui se prolongera sur la question de l’art abstrait, contemporain de l’Esthétique de Croce. / The goal of my research is to establish the meaning given to the science of expression and specialy how it is identified to general linguistic, in Benedetto Croce’s Aesthetics. Against Intelectualism and rationalism, Croce felt deep inside him, the questioning of Man. It is in the experience of language that Man experiments the depth of his being to the world. The essence of language, understood as expression, is in which intuition realises itself, totaly. Therefore, language is the result of an irreplaceable creation of each single expression. It is a non repetitive and untranslatable language of the work of art. Language is art, it takes its meaning in art and is understood in regard to art. Philosophy of language and philosophy of art are alike. It is in this perspective that art for Croce is expression. It is the intuition’s expression as the faculty of aesthetic transposition that is in first position of the mind. It will be different for the work of art. This debate will continue on the question of abstract art, contemporary to the Aesthetics of Croce.

Cette recherche porte sur le bouleversement épistémologique qui affecte la littérature patrimoniale, à l’ère du numérique et du multimédia. La première partie s’intéresse à la fondation de la notion de littérature patrimoniale en France. Elle propose une revue synthétique des contextes et des discours qui ont fondé cette notion à travers le temps. Les zones de fracture et de continuité entre conceptions passées et conceptions contemporaines y sont questionnées. L’analyse aboutit au constat que conceptions émergentes et traditionnelles forment une mémoire dialogique, vive et complexe, qui innerve de ses paradoxes les archétypes fondateurs : les notions d’auteur, d’œuvre et de « bibliothèque ». La deuxième partie examine la réception contemporaine de la littérature patrimoniale, pour laquelle « la bibliothèque » est une mémoire du passé mais aussi une réserve d’œuvres à venir dans le cadre du dialogue entre les arts et les modes que les techniques contemporaines favorisent. Pour le récepteur contemporain, la bibliothèque patrimoniale est intériorisée comme une triple mémoire formée de la bibliothèque collective, de sa propre bibliothèque intérieure, d’une bibliothèque virtuelle où se régénèrent le corpus patrimonial et les discours qui l’environnent. Ce récepteur connaît et pratique la bibliothèque collective, vouée à la conservation de la mémoire collective ; il est conscient aussi de posséder une bibliothèque intérieure où s’opère pour lui une double conversion : il devient sujet lecteur et l’œuvre patrimoniale texte du lecteur. Cette double conversion créative se concrétise et se réalise effectivement dans la bibliothèque virtuelle multimodale, lieu de partage et de discours sur les œuvres qui lui permet d’entrer en conversation avec d’autres sujets-lecteurs et en contact avec d’autres communautés discursives et, dans ce cadre, de produire à la fois de nouveaux discours sur les œuvres mais aussi des œuvres secondes. On pose que l’œuvre source et ses objets seconds forment alors une sémiosphère multimodale. Comme les objets seconds multimodaux émanent de communautés diverses, la notion de sémiosphère réinterroge les hiérarchies culturelles héritées. Etre cultivé aujourd’hui, ce n’est plus seulement connaître les œuvres de la bibliothèque collective mais investir la sémiosphère. Le sujet lecteur est amené à devenir sujet récepteur multi-compétent, capable de naviguer d’une communauté de discours et de pratiques à une autre. Il se nourrit de la diversité, assure la communication productive entre les objets et les communautés dans la sémiosphère et favorise, par sa seule navigation experte, le développement de la sémiosphère, c’est-à-dire de la culture partagée. / This research is concerned with the epistemological upheavals which affect literary heritage in the digital and multimedia age. The first part of this work explores the origin of the notion of literary heritage in France. It provides a synthetic review of the contexts and discourses which have underpinned this notion through time. Present and past concepts are examined in terms of continuity and discontinuity. The analysis leads to the conclusion that both emerging and traditional understandings blend together creating a dynamic, complex and dialogical trace which through its paradoxes informs the founding archetypical notions of author, literary work and ‘library’. The second part examines the contemporary reception of literary heritage for which the ‘library’ represents not only a record of past literary works but constitutes a stock for future ones given the increasing trend by which the Arts are distributed to the public using the medium of multimedia digital technology. The contemporary receiver conceives and internalizes the literary heritage library in three ways: as a public library, as an internal library, and as a virtual library where heritage corpus and discourses about corpus are regenerated. This receiver knows and uses the public library as a place which is dedicated to the conservation of the collective memory; s/he is also conscious of possessing an internal library where a double conversion takes place: s/he becomes a « reader-subject » and the heritage literature is the reader’s text. This double creative conversion takes a concrete form in the virtual multimodal library where literature can be shared and discussed. This enables the receiver to start up a conversation with other readers and be connected with other discourse communities. Within this framework, new discourses are generated concerning mainstream literary works and their offshoots. We consider then that the original literary work and its offshoots constitute a multimodal semiosphere. As the derived multimodal objects come from different communities, the notion of semiosphere re-interrogates the cultural inherited hierarchies. Nowadays, being cultured does not consist in knowing the contents of the public library but instead involves being invested in the semiosphere. The reader is encouraged to become a multi-skilled receiver navigating from one discourse community and/or community of practice to another. S/he feeds on diversity, ensures prolific communication within the semiosphere between objects and communities and, thanks to expertise in multimedia browsing skills, s/he enhances the development of the semiosphere, i.e. the shared culture.