Xenology as semiotic phenomenology

In this article I examine the science of the alien, or xenology for its contribution to semiotics. As a subfield of phenomenology, xenology emerged in the Husserlian theory of intersubjectivity when, in his late period, Husserl performed a transition from the other as an analogue of the self to the alien as a non-analogical structure. The transition came with singling out four alien modalities — children, animals, foreigners, and the insane — as the Limit-Subjects in possession of their own liminal worlds. Following the argument for the continuous relationship between phenomenology and semiotics, I examine the possibility of enriching the phenomenological theory of the alien through a semiotic intervention. I arrange for the latter with Gilles Deleuze who, owing to his association to both disciplines, helps me create a semiotic theory of the alien. In this model, the original alien modalities operate on the level of signification, thus building on the Husserlian investigations of how we experience alien-worlds with an elaboration of their signifying effects.