Semiotics

Signs

What signs are important?

• Signs may be more important to one person over another, they are not fixed and we negotiate between text and reader

• Textual analysis is about recognising codes as the organising system of communication

Signifier/ Signified

• A sign consists of signifier and signified

• Signifier = physical form

• Signified = mental concept

• No fixed rules between the two

• Together they form the sign

HORSE CHEVAL

Signifier

• Is in some ways a substitute. Words, both oral and written, are signifiers. The brain then exchanges the signifier for a working definition. The word "tree", for example, is a signifier. You can't make a log cabin out of the word "tree." You could, however, make a log cabin out of what the brain substitutes for the word "tree" which would be some type of signified.

Signified

• What the signifier refers to - Connotative: Points to the signified but has a deeper meaning. An example provided by Roland Barthes is "Tree" = luxuriant green, shady, etc...

No logical connection between signifier (denotation) and signified (connotation) A-D-V-E-N-T-U-R-E as a syntagm becomes the recognisable sign ADVENTURE but this may still have various connotations to different people

Icon:

• An image signifying an object it closely resembles or shares many traits with; and has the effect of making the audience think about the object. This works regardless of languages, eg: a photograph of a tree will make you think of a tree, without the need for words and therefore without misunderstanding in foreign countries.

Index

• A signifier which is not randomly selected; it is directly connected in some way to the signified object, and indicates it. The link can be obvious or inferred, eg:: smoke is an index of fire.

Symbol

• A signifier which has no obvious correlation between the signifier and the signified, which has to be learnt from society, eg: the alphabet.

• Icon = a sign that shows what it is by looking like its signified (mental concept).

• Index = signs that show their signified by association

• Symbol = relationship between signifier (physical form) and signified as a matter of agreement

• Signification is examining how signs mean before thinking about what they mean

Myth

• Ideology = hidden pattern of meaning, often created through Myth

• Myth is third order of signification (denotation = 1, connotation = 2)

• Myths are repeated until their pattern becomes normalised and often reinforce the dominant values of society

Activity

• Consider the levels of signification within which this image operates. What are the different levels and how do they work off/from each other?

• 1 = literal meaning

• 2 = cultural associations

• 3 = Myth