Emilio Garroni tra linguistica, estetica e semiotica

The main purpose of this paper is to analyse Emilio Garroni’s intellectual path through art and language in connection with the historical background. He is one of the most important Italian philosophers who gave a strong incentive to a linguistic reading of works of art, and he excellently interiorised the semiotic enthusiasm that involved many Italian thinkers in 1960'. Through his works one can observe the development of a semiotic conversion and examine in depth central questions: is semiotics suitable enough for understanding art? Can a work of art be assimilated to a speech act? From a too mild confidence in semiotics Emilio Garroni turns to a more cautious attitude thanks to a critical review of his ideas.