CentersSouth-East European Center for Semiotic Studies

SOCIOSEMIOTIC LABORATORY (at the School for Graduate Studies)

Building 2, office 306

Phone: +359 2 8110171
Director: Prof. Kristian Bankov, DSc, PhD
e-mail: kbankov@nbu.bg

 

The Sociosemiotic Laboratory is an integral part of the Southeastern European Center for Semiotic Studies since 2010. Its activities are led by Prof. Dr. Kristian Bankov and Dr. Dimitar Trendafilov. In qualitative and quantitative research projects are involved  PhD students in semiotics,  students from the postgraduate programs in Brand management and Marketing at NBU, as well as other professors from the socio-humanitarian  collegium.  Several types of  research endeavors are carried out through the laboratory:

Participation in international research and educational projects.

• Establishment of an international doctoral program in semiotics with practical orientation 2009-2012  (SEMKNOW)
• A joint project with the University of Turin to co-finance two consecutive Early Fall Schools of Semiotic (EFSS): 2010 "Imagining and Understanding" and 2011 "The  Efficacy  of  Rituals"
• Project of the Human Resources Development Center – Erasmus Programme (HRDC Sofia) for financing two semiotic schools (together with the Department of Anthropology at the NBU) "Food and Cultural Identity" 2012-2013
• Project "Anthroponymy in Bulgaria", headed by Prof. Ivan Kasabov, PhD. 2016-2018
• Project "Culture and Communication of Taste" at Erasmus+ KA2 Strategic Partnerships, under the lead of University of Palermo, Italy and in partnership with Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania, 2017-2020

The Laboratory has carried out two projects for private companies:

• in 2012 for Lavena LTD on brand naming
• in 2017 for a large international company from the tobacco industry (as part of a PhD research of Sevim Asimova)

The results of the laboratory's research are presented every year to an international audience of semiotic schools jointly by students and teachers:

2014 Elements of Coffee Culture in Bulgaria - U&A

2015-2016 Use of smartphones in everyday life

2016 Lifestyles in Bulgaria – qualitative research

2016 User  Behavior inside and outside the Internet

2016 Tourist image of Bulgaria

2016 bg-mama: Community characteristics

2017 Integrated semiotic analysis for cigarette market in BG

2017 Study the brand equity of mobile operators brands

2018-2019 Research on the impact of the restaurants' design on the perception of taste (part of the Erasmus+ project "Culture and Communication of Tatse" 2017-1-IT02-KA201-036736)

 

For the international recognition of the results of the research work of the Laboratory we can list the following publications in prestigious journals:

 

Prof. Kristian Bankov, DSc, PhD

 

2016 „Consumer rituals in Facebook” in New Semiotics. Between Tradition and Innovation: proceedings from the 12th World congress of IASS/AIS, Kristian Bankov (ed.), London: IASS Publications (www.iass-ais.org/proceedings2014)

2018. “Overview of Consumer Culture in Bulgaria: From Perestroika to Facebook” in Krasteva-Blagoeva, Evgenia (Ed.) Approaching Consumer Culture. Global Flows and Local Contexts, New York: Springer, 93-111.

2018. “Legendary brands and economic value: a semiotic approach” in The American Journal of Semiotics, 34.3-4 (2018), 273-291, doi: 10.5840/ajs201913142

2020. “Cyberbullying and hate speech in the debate around the ratification of the Istanbul convention in Bulgaria: a semiotic analysis of the communication dynamics”, Social Semiotics, 30:3, 344-364, DOI: 10.1080/10350330.2020.1731175

2020. “Flags, Identity, Memory: from nationalisms to the post-truth uses of collective symbols” in Wagner, Anne and Marusek, Sarah (eds.) 2020. Flags, Identity, Memory: Critiquing the Public Narrative through Color. London, New York: Routledge.

2022 (co-author Dimitar Trendafilov) “Semiotics in Marketing and Branding” in Bloomsbury Semiotics Vol. II, London, New York: Bloomsbury, 319-341

 

Dr. Dimitar Trendafilov:

Chasing the Myth: A Harley-Davidson Story(telling). Semiotica 204 (April), Walter De Gruyter, pp. 315-339, 2015.

 

The Brand as an Economic Value and Sign. Positioning as an Instrument for Creating Market Distinction. International Handbook of Semiotics. Trifonas, Peter (ed.), Toronto/New York: Springer, pp. 341-368, 2015.

 

Brand Sense or Sensitive to Brand?, on "RW Connect", онлайн издание на ESOMAR, 11 декември 2014 г.

 

Rituals of Consumption. A Semiotic Approach to Typology of Night Life, with Milena Hristova-Markova. Lexia (University of Turin), Sept. 2012

 

Is Trust Amongst The Main Brand Equity Dimensions? The Telecom Project (Bulgaria). Journal of Academic Publications: Science Review Vol.1, pp. 83-95.

 

From Artifacts to Experiences: Brands in the Era of Prosumeration. Public Journal of Semiotics Vol.7 (1), pp. 59-78. 2016

 

Design incorporated: IKEA as personal experience. Punctum 4(1), 2018, 165-178. Достъпен онлайн на: http://punctum.gr/.