The symbolic and semi-symbolic: in the intersection of two proposals for the reading of the coat of arms of Pope Francis

Abstract

The appearance of the technology, virtual communication and the search mechanisms have allowed beside the existence of online scientific periodics that have the same quality as the printed ones, as well as the inedited and unpremeditated academic shares such as the one that has made possible the production of this article: without knowing each other in person, beyond the virtual means, two professors from distinct countries but with the same language, the Portuguese, who are interested in the same object of study, image reading, but with theoretical bases – even traditions – totally different between them, they join to make a theoretical and analytical exercise. We are talking about the Heraldic Art and the Visual Semiotic. The first one is based on the symbolic processes; the second one establishes a neologism as a concept: the semi-symbolism. What is equal and what is distinct when both of them examine the same empirical object, the coat of arms of Pope Francis?