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>> Home / Archives for Semiotics

Semiotics: the basics

June 8, 2009 by Roy Johnson

Semiotics is ‘the study of signs’ – but what constitutes a ‘sign’? Basically, it can be anything. Its significance will be determined by the context in which it appears and the way in which it is interpreted. The colour red can suggest passion, danger, or heat, depending on where it occurs and who perceives it. Daniel Chandler’s introduction to the subject explains the history and the various strands of the subject in everyday language, using up-to-date examples.

Semiotics: the basicsBasically, his account covers the development of these ideas from the nineteenth-century Swiss linguist Saussure, to post-modern cultural theorists of the present day. Semiotics is a subject which can hardly escape the dominance of language as the most developed system of signs. This is because language has what he calls ‘double articulation’. What this means is that small units (words) can be signs, but they can be combined indefinitely with each other to form other, bigger, or more complex signs. However, the theory leads effortlessly into considerations of linguistics, philosophy, and critical theory, as well as cultural media such as television, photography, literature, cinema, and even academic writing. This is in addition to the more obvious day-to-day sign systems of facial expressions, food, clothing, and social gestures.

His guidance through this multi-discipline maze is thoughtful and clear, and even though you have to be prepared to dip your toes into the waters of critical theory, he has a reassuring manner which makes it a pleasant intellectual experience.

I enjoyed his chapters on metaphor, irony, and codes – though a few more examples of how the theory could be applied would be useful. It would also be interesting to consider why something deprecated in one code (switching point of view in film, for instance) is permitted in another, such as narrative fiction.

However, he summarises his exposition with a useful chapter outlining the strengths and limitations of semiotics as an analytic tool. I was slightly surprised he didn’t include more comment on the Internet as a cultural medium, because this book has its origins as a well-established web site where he has been posting help for his students in the last few years.

Semiotic theory claims that it can reveal the codes and conventions shaping what we might otherwise think of as ‘natural’, which makes it a powerful tool for analysing all forms of culture and human communication. This an excellent basic introduction to the subject, with a good glossary, an index, and a list of further reading.

© Roy Johnson 2007

Semiotics   Buy the book at Amazon UK

Semiotics   Buy the book at Amazon US


Daniel Chandler, Semiotics: The Basics, London: Routledge, 2nd edition 2007, pp. 328, ISBN: 0415363756


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Filed Under: Media, Theory Tagged With: Communication, Language, Media, Semiotics, Theory

Symbols – how to understand them

September 14, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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Symbols – definition

symbols A symbol is an object which stands for something else.

redbtn In language it is a reference in speech or in writing which is made to stand for ideas, feelings, events, or conditions.

redbtn A symbol is usually something tangible or concrete which evokes something abstract.


Examples

redbtn The following are standard symbols in the context of English culture.

  • The rose often stands for love.
  • The colour red stands for passion.
  • The dove stands for peace.
  • The ace of spades stands for death.
  • The cross stands for Christianity.

Use

redbtn All cultures use symbols which are actual, tangible objects — such as the cross in a Christian church, the Union Jack flag in the UK, or the Statue of Liberty in the USA.

redbtn These standard symbols and others more original are evoked by conscious and deliberate use of language by writers, advertisers and speakers.

redbtn NB! Symbols are evoked or depicted by language. The very language which evokes the symbol is itself a code or symbol!

redbtn Symbols in the context of language use are sometimes created by the use of words such as ‘cross’ or ‘rose’ or ‘blood’.

redbtn The rose has been used so often in connection with love that it has become a symbol of it.

redbtn But the human heart is also used as a symbol for love – so there can be more than one symbol for the same thing.

redbtn Fire is often used as a symbol, both for danger and for human passion — so a single word or object can sometimes symbolise more than one thing.

redbtn The moon is sometimes used as a symbol for the female — because both have a ‘monthly cycle’.

redbtn In literature, a writer such as D.H. Lawrence exploits this symbolic connction by using images of the moon to stand for female sexuality.

redbtn Even when the word ‘moon’ itself is not used explicitly in his work, any pale nocturnal light can have the same symbolic effect in suggesting the female and her sexual nature.

redbtn In a novel, poem, short story or play, symbols are often introduced at the beginning and then developed and sustained throughout the work by means of various literary techniques.

redbtn Sometimes a symbol is created only for the duration of the work in which it is used. This is called ‘context-bound’ — because it does not have symbolic value outside the work.

redbtn For instance, the handkerchief in Shakespeare’s Othello is used as the symbol of Othello’s mistrust of Desdemona, his wife. [This is because it has come into the possession of his ‘rival’, Iago.] The material, tangible object stands for the emotion jealousy, bringing it into dramatic relief for the audience.
redbtn A handkerchief could be used as a completely different symbol in another piece of work.

redbtn Symbols are used very commonly in daily life. Many road signs are symbols, as is the traditional red and white pole for a barber’s shop.

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© Roy Johnson 2004


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Filed Under: English Language Tagged With: English language, Language, Semiotics, Symbols

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