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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_KFbS5A4Ng&feature=fvw
“I need a sign…”
semiology (from the Greek semeîon, 'sign'):
a science which studies the role of signs as part of social life.
“Sign, sign, everywhere a sign…”
COMMUNICATION THEORY
Information theory in the late 1940’s: Intentional information = signal •“Cybernetics, or Control and Communication” Norbert Wiener
•“A Mathematical Theory of Communication” Claude Shannon
Crawford Dunn
• Applies idea of signal to the content of messages
• This idea lets us focus on the possible layers of meaning within a message
SEMIOTICS Also called semiology
The study of signs or sign systems. It applies to any kind of signs, not just words. Coined in 1690 by John Locke in “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding”.
Signs = words
Signs = images
Signs = sounds
Signs = gestures
Semiotics is important because it can help us not
to take 'reality' for granted as something having a
purely objective existence which is independent of
human interpretation. It teaches us that reality
is a system of signs.
Studying semiotics can
assist us to become more aware of
reality as a construction and of
the role we play in constructing it.
Meaning is not 'transmitted' to us,
we actively create it according
to a complex interplay of codes
or conventions of which we are
normally unaware.
Becoming aware of such codes
is both inherently fascinating and
intellectually empowering. We learn
from semiotics that we live in a
world of signs and we have no way
of understanding anything except
through signs and the codes into
which they are organized.
Through the study of semiotics we
become aware that these signs and
codes are normally transparent
and disguise our task in ‘reading’ them.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890
In defining realities,
signs serve ideological functions.
Structuralism is an analytical method which has been employed by many semioticians and which is based on Saussure's linguistic model. Structuralists seek to describe the overall organization of sign systems as 'languages‘.
Saussure & Sanefski
Darren with Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure circa 1916
the sign - the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified
The relationship between the signifier and the signified is referred to as 'signification'.
-- Saussure
a 'signifier' - the form which the sign takes;
the 'signified’ - the concept it represents.
American Charles S. Peirce shown w/Darren Sanefski – circa 1918
Barthes (French social theorist), and Sanefski, applied semiotics to cultural studies; has been applied to psychoanalysis, aesthetics, communications, and anthropology.
Rowland Barthes shown w/Darren Sanefski – circa 1975
Semiotics and that branch of linguistics known as
semantics have a common concern with the
meaning of signs, but John Sturrock argues that
whereas semantics focuses on what words
mean, semiotics is concerned with how signs
mean.
Three possible layers of a message:
Alphasignal• Hard data or primary facts of a communication• Alpha: denoting the primary message• The objective part of the message
Parasignal• Aspects of communication that supports or amplifies the alphasignal.• “Para”: above or beyond
Infrasignal• Content beneath the message that can reveal information about the creator.• “Infra”: below or within
Three possible layers of a message:
Alphasignal• Hard data or primary facts of a communication• Alpha: denoting the primary message• The objective part of the message
ELEMENTS OF THE MESSAGE as defined by Crawford Dunn
ELEMENTS OF THE MESSAGE as defined by Crawford Dunn
ELEMENTS OF THE MESSAGE as defined by Crawford Dunn
METASYMBOL Significance beyond meaning
OPEN
Signified: The thing represented (Concept)
Signifier: What represents the signified (Mark/Sound)
OPENOPEN
Semiotics deals with how meaning is formed.
The fundamental unit considered in semiotics is the sign.
Signified: The thing represented (Concept)
Signifier: What represents the signified (Mark/Sound)
Dog
Chien (France)
Perro (Spain)
Cane (Italy)
Hund (Germany)
< historical evidence does indicate a tendency of linguistic signs to evolve from indexical and iconic forms towards symbolic forms.
% @ $ # *
Symbol
Icon
• Resembles the thing it represents
• Examples: pictorial representation, photo, architect’s model of a building
Icon
“Visual Cues”
“Visual Cues”
Index• Indirect connection to the thing it represents
• Examples: smoke, shadows
Index
Symbol• Arbitrary relationship between signifier & signified.
• Interpreter understands the relationship through previous knowledge.
• Example: words, +, &, ?, $
Metasymbol• Symbol whose meaning transcends the realm of one-to-one relationships.
• Barthes defined this as “myth”— when a sign becomes imbedded with abstract concepts through history, culture, and tradition.
• For some readers, religious & magical signs & symbols have these properties: Christian crosses, etc.
Semiotics of Ribbons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEgxTKUP_WI&playnext=1&list=PLA21C626278D32590