Semiotics: The study of signs and sign systems, and the way they work

Three main elements in the study of semiotics:

- the sign itself

- the systems into which the signs are ordered

- the culture (or cultures) within which these codes and signs operate

Signs and sign systems are purely human constructs and can only be understood within this context (Fiske, pp. 40-41, 43-45).

We don’t interpret signs and sign systems; we create them!

We construct sign systems as ways of "making sense"of the world around us, i.e., giving it meaning -- in fact, generating meaning. In order to do this, we, as members of a common culture:

EXAMPLES:

MAN/BOY; MAN/WOMAN; DOG/CAT; DIFFERENT BREEDS OF DOGS

(show overheads)

NB: Saussure -- language is one such systems of meaning. Others include clothing, gestures, facial expressions, haircuts, etc. (these are mostly visual and become apparent to us in visual media, whether still or moving)

Saussure (linguistics -- external reality)

Use the "rose" example (rose example: Branston & Stafford, p. 6)

First, a sign has a physical form (words, either in the form of of marks on the paper [R - O - S - E] or sounds in the air; a haircut; a fingerprint; a photo

-- this is the signifier.

A sign must be understood as referring to something other than itself. This is the signified and is a concept, not a thing in the real world.

The word "rose", spoken or written, refers to the concept of a certain type of flower (Barthes would call it "roseness"). The signifier plus the signified work together to allow us to understand and recognize the external reality out there, of a real rose.

Icon, Index, and Symbol

Focus on Peirce for Icon, Index, and Symbol:

B & S, pp. 11-13; Fiske, pp. 46-48.

e.g., rose

• Iconic signs always resemble what they signify. There is a close physical similarity between a good color photo of a rose and our ideas and experience of these flowers; the photo can be thought of as an iconic signifier of "roseness."

Sounds are also often iconic signifiers.

• Indexical signs act as a kind of evidence or a symptom of a sign; they bear some sort of existential relationship to the sign:

smoke of a fire

sweat of effort

spots of measles, and so on.

e.g., the "crown" = monarchy, the state (similar to synecdoche)

• Symbolic signs term used in relation to visual signs that are only arbitrarily or symbolically linked to referents by convention.

Note: These categories are not mutually exclusive. Signs can display varying levels of iconicity, indexicality, and symbolism.

e.g., take flags for example: to what extent are they symbolic & indexical?

road symbols ...

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Fiske, pp. 53 - 56 ; B&S, p. 5, p. 377

Conventions are the social and cultural dimension of the sign.

In other words, conventions are the dominant ways in which we, as members of a culture, decode particular signs within a sign system.

Use road sign examples to determine their iconicity, indexicality, and symbolism.

EXAMPLES

FIRST, WITH CLASS:

indexicality: A rose bears a close existential relationship to gardening

symbolism: A rose is, by convention in our society, a symbol of love and affection.

*****

indexicality: Children are an index of "school"; and the sign itself is an index in that it indicates the driver is about to approach a junction where s/he will have to stop.

symbolism: It is symbolic because we need to know the rules of the road in order to understand that the symbol means "school ahead."

*****

indexicality: A phone is an index of communication (& comm technology

symbolism: We need to know the rules of the road in order to understand that the symbol within a dark blue rectangle means "phone facilities ahead".

*****

iconicity: It's a picture of a flag (in b & w)

indexicality: The stars are an index of the 50 states of the union; the stripes are an index of the original thirteen states

symbolism: The flag is a symbol of patriotism and love for one’s country.

*****

… AND NOW AS A CLASS …

iconicity: Gas pump outline bears some resemblance to a real gas pump

indexicality: A gas pump is an index of transportation

symbolism: We need to know the rules of the road in order to understand that the symbol means "gas pump ahead."

*****

iconicity: Photo of a Union Jack

indexicality: The cross is an index of the religion of Christianity

symbolism: The Union Jack is a symbol of British nationalism and/or support for the royal family.

*****

iconicity: None. It is a German flag

indexicality: The cross is an index of the religion of Christianity

symbolism: The tricolor is a symbol of the German nation and republic

*****

iconicity: B & W photo of a panda

indexicality: Panda is an index of endangered species

symbolism: The panda is a symbol of the World Wildlife Fund.

******

iconicity: Rough drawing of a heart

indexicality: Index of the human body, healthy living

symbolism: It's a symbol of the American Heart Association

CODES

Encoding-Decoding:

Hall helped develop a theory of text which allows for a measure of "negotiated" or "oppositional" readings of the text by the audience. This means that audiences/readers don't simply take in a TV show, newspaper, etc., dumbly, accepting the textual meaning intended by the producer or editor. Instead, they negotiate meaning in the media text, that is, they take in some of the meaning supposedly embedded in the text, but they also infer some of their own meaning into the text. Depending on their cultural backgrounds, some people might accept most of the media text's message, while others reject it almost entirely, preferring an oppositional decoding of the text.

So there are now all these additional personal and cultural factors that need to be taken into consideration.

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