1 This is the author’s copy of the following publication: Märtsin, M. (2014). Introduction. Self-regulation by signs: a social semiotic approach to identity. In S. Salvatore, A. Gennaro & J. Valsiner (Eds.), Multicentric identities in the globalizing world (pp. ix- xx). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. Self-regulation by signs: a social semiotic approach to identity Mariann Märtsin Griffith University, Australia Identity as a means of self-regulation In contemporary social thought, identity is understood as a means of regulating and organising one’s dynamic engagement with the world. This conceptualisation builds on the idea that humans gain control over the world and their own natural abilities by way of constructing semiotic devices – signs and symbols – that allow distancing from the immediate experience and exploring it from (an)other perspective (Vygotsky, 1978; Valsiner, 2007a; Gillespie, 2010). This conceptualisation places identity firmly in the semiotic plane as a boundary process that regulates the flow between the intra-psychological semiotic field and inter-personally shared symbolic world. In line with Vygotsky’s thought, Holland and Lachicotte (2007), for example, suggest conceptualising identity as “a higher- order psychological function that organizes sentiments, understandings, and embodied knowledge relevant to a culturally imagined, personally valued social position” (p. 113; see also Holland et al., 1998). In their account, in symbolic worlds created by humans, certain subjectivities are assumed and certain feelings, thoughts and behaviours are expected. By way of dwelling in these ‘figured worlds’, to use Holland’s terminology, individuals commit themselves to these anticipated identities which therefore start to function as means of self- regulation and self-orchestration. For Holland (2010), “the person is enabled over