Abstract
The paper is ideally divided into two sections. The first one aims at discussing the role that semiotic theory can play for the development of ideology in a social framework, by incorporating the contributions of Ferruccio Rossi-Landi and Eliseo Verón.
Both the authors conceive ideology as pervasive and rooted in the social dimension, contaminating all the other discourses circulating in the contemporary culture. The first section ends with the proposal of a semiotic ideology elaborated by Webb Keane, who moves towards a more epistemological understanding of ideology.
The second part of the paper redefines the previous theoretical basis in order to elaborate a possible model through which collective memory and ideology can be rethought in relation to each other. Such a model is essentially founded on that proposed by Elena Esposito, who adapts Luhmann’s social systems theory to her definition of social memory.
Finally, the structural interdependence between the system of memory and ideology is demonstrated through the development of contemporary global memories and the universal patterns they give rise to, requiring a renovated approach to the much debated issue of ideology.