A Stroll Through the Umwelt and Performativity

Approaches from Jakob von Uexküll’s Work and Biosemiotics

Abstract

This article ponders on the performative scheme linked to the concept of Umwelt in Jakob von Uexküll, since it is through the endo and exosemiotic activity of the living being that builds its own surrounding world, composed of its own carriers of meaning, and adjusted to their perceptions and behavior. This performative element is one of the aspects that distances the Umwelt from the mere environment, this seen as a neutral, universal space, and indifferent to the various forms of life, about which it maintains a deterministic relationship. On the contrary, the Umwelt is the result of a transcendental and performative process from which the subject shapes the world that surrounds him, in return, it affects the animal, transforming his perception and behavior. Such a performative scheme has important points of agreement with some social and philosophical theories that have made performativity one of the central tools to understand the conformation of subjects and their spheres of life. The works of Erving Goffman and Judith Butler stand out in this area.