1. languages of media and analysing images
TRANSCRIPT
plus sign
crucifix
crossroads
(poss denote christianity and therefore connote suffering or oppression or sacrifice)
Pierce – Divide SIGNS up into 4 different kinds:Arbitrary: no relationship between sign and signified e.g word ‘daffodil’ and actual daffodilIconic: resemble what they signify e.g. photo of daffodil, icon of Jesus resembles actual Jesus, some computer icons Indexical: act as evidence of the signified e.g. smoke of fire, sweat of effort, spots of measlesSymbolic: linked arbitrarily to referents e.g. crown as symbol of monarchy
This biohazard sign is a completely conventional symbol with no inherent
relationship to what it
represents.
Also CONVENTIONAL
signs e.g. ‘NO’ circle with cross through it
Roland Barthes - French semiologist
Denotation = literal or obvious meaning
Connotation = potential or suggested meaning e.g. + is sign which has many literal and potential meanings.
‘Let us deconstruct this text’
Iconic sign (it is a photo of a real person, tanks etc and visually resembles its
referent.)
Indexical sign ( the light and shadow act as evidence of time of day, weather etc. The photo
and video shot at same time used as political evidence too.
Symbolic – the photo was widely circulated and interpreted. Became a symbol of western
democracy/consumerism vs. totalitarian communism
Some definitions you should know:
Denotation
Connotation
Polysemic
Open/closed text
Preferred reading
Aberrant decoding
Anchorage – fixed usually with caption
Intertextuality
Intertextuality
Anchorage (used wrongly)