Representation &Roland Barthes’ Semiotics

Structuralism (3)

Outline 1. Representation

Representation and Production of Meaning Theories of Representation De Saussure Re-Considered: Contribution & Limitations

2. Semiotics: Major principles in semiotic readings Sign systems: fashion as an example Semiotic reading (1): denotation and connation Semiotic reading (2): first and second-order signification. (literal

language and meta-language) Myth today defined

3. Examples: Images of Nature in some Landscape Paintings and Ads

What is Representation?

Not Re-Presentation (原音重現，身歷其境 , 歷史現身 )

“Representation means using language to say something meaningful about, or to represent, the world meaningfully, to people.” (15)

1. Using language (system of representation);

2. To produce meanings (another system of representation) about (make connections among) things, and

3. To communicate them to some people.

What are the two systems of representation we use in representation (meaning production)?1. Signs

signifier (e.g. ‘love’ ‘I’)

2. Conceptual System (pp. 17-18; e.g. love ‘romantic love,’ ‘puppy love,’ ’maternal love,’ etc.)

frequently inseparable from the signified of our languages;

Codes (pp. 21-22)

What’s hidden in this stereogram

Conceptual System

Shapes formed because of 1) two-eye differences (wall-eyed; cross-eyed); 2) the gestalt laws of organization (e.g. figure and ground)

What’s hidden in this stereogram

ANSWER: BUNNY!

http://www.billybear4kids.com/stereogram/bunny.html

What’s this? What mental image (concept) does it correspond to?

Different Perspectives = Different Conceptual Systems

1. Conceptual System = the Context of a sign, which determines its meaning

2. Sign system– image or English letters

Two Systems at Work in Representation: What kind of room is this?

A restaurant or a tea house? Signs: Red color, paper lantern, floor-to-ceiling

windows, sofas, pillows, wood desk, ‘bamboo room,’ etc.

What kind of room is this?

The Lava Room

From Star Nightclub http://www.creamnyc.com/

Representation=Meaning Production

What makes the difference?

Different conceptual

frameworks, or

conceptual

systems.

Different Languages

Are these meanings absolute or relational? Why?

Meaning – Essential or Relational?

God Loves Me

I Teach/Contribute to Society

I Fuck/Produce Children

I Shop

I’m Happy

I Think

I AMI AMI AM

生命的意義在創造宇宙繼起的生命。

生活的意義在增進人類全體的生活﹔

1. “I” – no essence? 2. Meanings – one truer/better than the other? –produced by ourselves or a system?

1. “I” – no essence? 2. Meanings – one truer/better than the other? –produced by ourselves or a system?

* Note

Note: Relativism

Is there an essential definition of our selves? e. g. 生為中國 /劉家／輔大人，死為中國／劉家／輔大魂（鬼﹚。

Self(-Definition) –not essential nor unchangeable; -- is relational (“I am A” implies “I am not B”). (i.e. binarist th

inking may be at work.) -- is usu. determined by our value systems, if not given to o

r imposed on us by our society. -- can be contradictory, with so many conceptual systems

we live in. Relational view of meaning is not relativism.

Relativism: Everything is ok and nothing matters.

Theories of Representation Reflective approach –

Some truth and functions to it (in communication, in knowledge acquisition)

Representation as “Re-Presentation” Intentional approach – Can we decide the meanings

of what we say? (p. 25) Representation as Self-Expression (得意而忘言；言止於心意深處 )

Constructivist approach – Things don’t mean; we construct meanings about them by us

ing different systems of representation. Representation as Construction: We don’t speak language; l

anguage speaks us. (Activity 4)

De Saussure: Contribution & Limitations (pp. 32 – 35) Contributions to the Constructionist Theory of

Representation Arbitrary relations between signifier and signified Meanings in language can never be fixed; they are open to

changes by ‘context’ (historical, social or personal). Langue vs. parole the social part of language;

Limitations: too exclusive focus on language; Language is not a closed system. semiotics –the study

of signs (languages in a broader sense)

Semiotics & Roland Barthes

Major principles

1. All the cultural products and activities read as process or results of signification. No meaning is inherent or natural.

2. There are more than one (arbitrary) relations between signifiers and signified.

(iconic --resemblance, indexical --cause, symbolic -- arbitrary).

3. There are more than one level of meanings. denotation and connotation.

What kinds of signs are they?

Iconic

= airport

= Church

= crossroad

Symbolic

indexical

Sign System: Fashion as an Example Fashion codes (signs + concepts) (Textbook pp. 37-38) Fabric: Silk= feminine, denim= masculine,

casual, cotton = comfortable, khaki= military, formal.

skirt (+ silk)= feminine; jeans (+ cotton T-Shirt) =casual or masculine

Sign System: Rules of Selection and Combination All social practices as sign-systems and thus are

open to cultural interpretation (or de-mystification). e.g. the meaning of a jacket defined by its contexts. e.g. the “langue” of clothes (selection & combination)

System:

a. blouse, shirt, T-shirt ;

b. skirt, trousers

sentence:

1. blouse + skirt + high heeled shoes X snickers

2. blouse + jeans + snickers X not for concert

Fashion and Myth: from denotation to

connotation; description to prescription “. . . Mist gold, pure gold, and black gold are

all flashing in full glamour since most collections are heavily weighted toward evening cloths with an ostentatious dressing chic.

If gold is too much for you, don’t worry, for here comes the backup that makes you in style as well, the color of camel! As usual, camel has always been playing its role of warming up the winter, which has been so elegantly carried out by the blazing gold as it is this year. “ (Sophie Ko)

Fashion: from language to myth “Leather, of course, is something that can’t b

e left out in each winter.”

“Fur, for sure, is a must, especially for collars, ”

“As for trousers, they really do need to be slim-fitting and skinny-legged to be chic this season! ”

myth: 紫醉金迷、世紀末的華麗(Sophie Ko)

Semiotic reading (1): Denotation and Connotation

e.g. Panzani pasta1. Denotation: “the real objects in the scene”The signifiers: “these same objects photogra

phed.” 2. Connotation: “half-opened bag” spilling

out onto the table freshness, the domestic

3. Italianness (red green white)4. ‘a total culinary service” 5. Arrangement like “still life” painting

a signifier + signified =

Semiotic reading (2): Different levels of signification: primary signification & secondary signification

primary signification:

Secondary signification

sign (full)--denotation

Sign (empty)/ Form+ content = sign --connotation

Signifier + signified =([home])

Semiotic reading (2): Different levels of signification: primary signification & secondary signification

primary signification:

Secondary signification

sign (full)--denotation

Sign (empty)/ Form+ content = sign --connotation: Homepage, country cottage, etc.

Barthes’ examples:

rose, black pebble.

Signifier + signified =Young negro, in uniform, saluting,With eyes uplifted, fixed on the tricolor

Myth

primary signification:

Secondary signification

sign (full)—denotation([Black solider saluting

a French flag]) Patriotism/submission

Sign (empty)/ Form+ content = sign --connotation: France as a

Great empire, loved by all her “sons.”

colonialism militariness

“Myth”: distortion, naturalizing The form(on the secondary level) does not

suppress the original meaning, it only impoverishes it, it puts it at a distance... myth hides nothing: its function is to distort, not

to make disappear Target: Myth has an imperative, buttonholing

character: ...it is I whom it has come to seek. ... For this interpellant speech is at the same time

a frozen speech: at the moment of reaching me, it suspends itself, turns away and assumes the look of a generality; it stiffens, it makes itself looks natural and innocent