Post on 18-Jul-2020
transcript
SemioticsSemiotics is the study of signs (not your normal street signs) Itrsquos a way of looking at the world based on the idea that everything we experience is actively constructed by us That there is no information just sitting there but that we make information by the way we interpret and read ldquosignsrdquo Thinking about semiotics is useful for those of us conducting design research because it takes us back to basics It makes us stop look listen deconstruct and reconnect everything that we see and experience while doing research
This is not a pipe
lsquoThe Treachery of Imagesrsquo by Rene Magritte
Digital image of the painting
More precisely a digital image of a photograph of the painting
An image of a thing is not the thing itself
This is not a cow
What is semiotics Semiotics is the study of signs
Greek Semion - ldquoSignrdquo Semeiotikos - ldquointerpreter of signsrdquo
Three areas bull Semantics - what a sign stands for ndash Dictionaries - semantic reference books
bull Syntactics is the relationships among signs ndash Signs are part of a larger sign system ndash Codes - organised rules designating what signs stand
for bull Pragmatics - practical use and effects of signs
Semantics - what a sign stands for Dictionaries are semantic reference books they tell us what a sign means Syntactics is the relationships among signs Signs rarely stand alone They are almost always part of a larger sign system referred to as codes Codes are organized rules that designate what different signs stand for Pragmatics studies the practical use and effects of signs
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) Linguist (French)
ldquoSemiologyrdquo
ldquoA science which studies the life of signs at the heart of social liferdquo
bull We come to know the world through language
Saussure Semiology
Signs are bull Psychological bull Construct reality bull Reflects the system bull Arbitrary but follow laws of
tradition bull The relationship between
the signsignifier is not a matter of personal choice
A sign is anything that makes meaning
a sign is anything that can be used to tell a lieldquo
Umberto Eco
What is sign
Signsbull Gestures bull Facial
expressions bull poetry bull rituals bull clothes bull food
bull music
bull Morse code
bull marketing bull Advertisements bull film bull Etc
bull Car falling in water
bull Riverbank bull Quayside
bull Donrsquot know
bull Greek letter sigma bull Sum of
bull Smiley
bull Mobile or computer icon
bull Acid house music
bull Drugs
DOG
kukur
hund
kutta
canis
eg This word DOG represents the idea of an animal the letters used are arbitrary but our shared cultural understanding means that most of us in the room know what is meant when we see those three letters
SIGNIFIED - the idea being represented
SIGNIFIER - the word doing the representingThe sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified
SIGNIFIED
SIGNIFIER
SignSignifier
bull Any physical thing
ndashwords on a page ndasha facial
expression ndasha picture ndashgraffiti
Signifiedbull Concept that a
signifier refers to
The First level of signification
Stop means Stop
Apple means Apple
Crown means Crown
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
This is not a pipe
lsquoThe Treachery of Imagesrsquo by Rene Magritte
Digital image of the painting
More precisely a digital image of a photograph of the painting
An image of a thing is not the thing itself
This is not a cow
What is semiotics Semiotics is the study of signs
Greek Semion - ldquoSignrdquo Semeiotikos - ldquointerpreter of signsrdquo
Three areas bull Semantics - what a sign stands for ndash Dictionaries - semantic reference books
bull Syntactics is the relationships among signs ndash Signs are part of a larger sign system ndash Codes - organised rules designating what signs stand
for bull Pragmatics - practical use and effects of signs
Semantics - what a sign stands for Dictionaries are semantic reference books they tell us what a sign means Syntactics is the relationships among signs Signs rarely stand alone They are almost always part of a larger sign system referred to as codes Codes are organized rules that designate what different signs stand for Pragmatics studies the practical use and effects of signs
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) Linguist (French)
ldquoSemiologyrdquo
ldquoA science which studies the life of signs at the heart of social liferdquo
bull We come to know the world through language
Saussure Semiology
Signs are bull Psychological bull Construct reality bull Reflects the system bull Arbitrary but follow laws of
tradition bull The relationship between
the signsignifier is not a matter of personal choice
A sign is anything that makes meaning
a sign is anything that can be used to tell a lieldquo
Umberto Eco
What is sign
Signsbull Gestures bull Facial
expressions bull poetry bull rituals bull clothes bull food
bull music
bull Morse code
bull marketing bull Advertisements bull film bull Etc
bull Car falling in water
bull Riverbank bull Quayside
bull Donrsquot know
bull Greek letter sigma bull Sum of
bull Smiley
bull Mobile or computer icon
bull Acid house music
bull Drugs
DOG
kukur
hund
kutta
canis
eg This word DOG represents the idea of an animal the letters used are arbitrary but our shared cultural understanding means that most of us in the room know what is meant when we see those three letters
SIGNIFIED - the idea being represented
SIGNIFIER - the word doing the representingThe sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified
SIGNIFIED
SIGNIFIER
SignSignifier
bull Any physical thing
ndashwords on a page ndasha facial
expression ndasha picture ndashgraffiti
Signifiedbull Concept that a
signifier refers to
The First level of signification
Stop means Stop
Apple means Apple
Crown means Crown
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Digital image of the painting
More precisely a digital image of a photograph of the painting
An image of a thing is not the thing itself
This is not a cow
What is semiotics Semiotics is the study of signs
Greek Semion - ldquoSignrdquo Semeiotikos - ldquointerpreter of signsrdquo
Three areas bull Semantics - what a sign stands for ndash Dictionaries - semantic reference books
bull Syntactics is the relationships among signs ndash Signs are part of a larger sign system ndash Codes - organised rules designating what signs stand
for bull Pragmatics - practical use and effects of signs
Semantics - what a sign stands for Dictionaries are semantic reference books they tell us what a sign means Syntactics is the relationships among signs Signs rarely stand alone They are almost always part of a larger sign system referred to as codes Codes are organized rules that designate what different signs stand for Pragmatics studies the practical use and effects of signs
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) Linguist (French)
ldquoSemiologyrdquo
ldquoA science which studies the life of signs at the heart of social liferdquo
bull We come to know the world through language
Saussure Semiology
Signs are bull Psychological bull Construct reality bull Reflects the system bull Arbitrary but follow laws of
tradition bull The relationship between
the signsignifier is not a matter of personal choice
A sign is anything that makes meaning
a sign is anything that can be used to tell a lieldquo
Umberto Eco
What is sign
Signsbull Gestures bull Facial
expressions bull poetry bull rituals bull clothes bull food
bull music
bull Morse code
bull marketing bull Advertisements bull film bull Etc
bull Car falling in water
bull Riverbank bull Quayside
bull Donrsquot know
bull Greek letter sigma bull Sum of
bull Smiley
bull Mobile or computer icon
bull Acid house music
bull Drugs
DOG
kukur
hund
kutta
canis
eg This word DOG represents the idea of an animal the letters used are arbitrary but our shared cultural understanding means that most of us in the room know what is meant when we see those three letters
SIGNIFIED - the idea being represented
SIGNIFIER - the word doing the representingThe sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified
SIGNIFIED
SIGNIFIER
SignSignifier
bull Any physical thing
ndashwords on a page ndasha facial
expression ndasha picture ndashgraffiti
Signifiedbull Concept that a
signifier refers to
The First level of signification
Stop means Stop
Apple means Apple
Crown means Crown
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
More precisely a digital image of a photograph of the painting
An image of a thing is not the thing itself
This is not a cow
What is semiotics Semiotics is the study of signs
Greek Semion - ldquoSignrdquo Semeiotikos - ldquointerpreter of signsrdquo
Three areas bull Semantics - what a sign stands for ndash Dictionaries - semantic reference books
bull Syntactics is the relationships among signs ndash Signs are part of a larger sign system ndash Codes - organised rules designating what signs stand
for bull Pragmatics - practical use and effects of signs
Semantics - what a sign stands for Dictionaries are semantic reference books they tell us what a sign means Syntactics is the relationships among signs Signs rarely stand alone They are almost always part of a larger sign system referred to as codes Codes are organized rules that designate what different signs stand for Pragmatics studies the practical use and effects of signs
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) Linguist (French)
ldquoSemiologyrdquo
ldquoA science which studies the life of signs at the heart of social liferdquo
bull We come to know the world through language
Saussure Semiology
Signs are bull Psychological bull Construct reality bull Reflects the system bull Arbitrary but follow laws of
tradition bull The relationship between
the signsignifier is not a matter of personal choice
A sign is anything that makes meaning
a sign is anything that can be used to tell a lieldquo
Umberto Eco
What is sign
Signsbull Gestures bull Facial
expressions bull poetry bull rituals bull clothes bull food
bull music
bull Morse code
bull marketing bull Advertisements bull film bull Etc
bull Car falling in water
bull Riverbank bull Quayside
bull Donrsquot know
bull Greek letter sigma bull Sum of
bull Smiley
bull Mobile or computer icon
bull Acid house music
bull Drugs
DOG
kukur
hund
kutta
canis
eg This word DOG represents the idea of an animal the letters used are arbitrary but our shared cultural understanding means that most of us in the room know what is meant when we see those three letters
SIGNIFIED - the idea being represented
SIGNIFIER - the word doing the representingThe sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified
SIGNIFIED
SIGNIFIER
SignSignifier
bull Any physical thing
ndashwords on a page ndasha facial
expression ndasha picture ndashgraffiti
Signifiedbull Concept that a
signifier refers to
The First level of signification
Stop means Stop
Apple means Apple
Crown means Crown
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
An image of a thing is not the thing itself
This is not a cow
What is semiotics Semiotics is the study of signs
Greek Semion - ldquoSignrdquo Semeiotikos - ldquointerpreter of signsrdquo
Three areas bull Semantics - what a sign stands for ndash Dictionaries - semantic reference books
bull Syntactics is the relationships among signs ndash Signs are part of a larger sign system ndash Codes - organised rules designating what signs stand
for bull Pragmatics - practical use and effects of signs
Semantics - what a sign stands for Dictionaries are semantic reference books they tell us what a sign means Syntactics is the relationships among signs Signs rarely stand alone They are almost always part of a larger sign system referred to as codes Codes are organized rules that designate what different signs stand for Pragmatics studies the practical use and effects of signs
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) Linguist (French)
ldquoSemiologyrdquo
ldquoA science which studies the life of signs at the heart of social liferdquo
bull We come to know the world through language
Saussure Semiology
Signs are bull Psychological bull Construct reality bull Reflects the system bull Arbitrary but follow laws of
tradition bull The relationship between
the signsignifier is not a matter of personal choice
A sign is anything that makes meaning
a sign is anything that can be used to tell a lieldquo
Umberto Eco
What is sign
Signsbull Gestures bull Facial
expressions bull poetry bull rituals bull clothes bull food
bull music
bull Morse code
bull marketing bull Advertisements bull film bull Etc
bull Car falling in water
bull Riverbank bull Quayside
bull Donrsquot know
bull Greek letter sigma bull Sum of
bull Smiley
bull Mobile or computer icon
bull Acid house music
bull Drugs
DOG
kukur
hund
kutta
canis
eg This word DOG represents the idea of an animal the letters used are arbitrary but our shared cultural understanding means that most of us in the room know what is meant when we see those three letters
SIGNIFIED - the idea being represented
SIGNIFIER - the word doing the representingThe sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified
SIGNIFIED
SIGNIFIER
SignSignifier
bull Any physical thing
ndashwords on a page ndasha facial
expression ndasha picture ndashgraffiti
Signifiedbull Concept that a
signifier refers to
The First level of signification
Stop means Stop
Apple means Apple
Crown means Crown
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
This is not a cow
What is semiotics Semiotics is the study of signs
Greek Semion - ldquoSignrdquo Semeiotikos - ldquointerpreter of signsrdquo
Three areas bull Semantics - what a sign stands for ndash Dictionaries - semantic reference books
bull Syntactics is the relationships among signs ndash Signs are part of a larger sign system ndash Codes - organised rules designating what signs stand
for bull Pragmatics - practical use and effects of signs
Semantics - what a sign stands for Dictionaries are semantic reference books they tell us what a sign means Syntactics is the relationships among signs Signs rarely stand alone They are almost always part of a larger sign system referred to as codes Codes are organized rules that designate what different signs stand for Pragmatics studies the practical use and effects of signs
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) Linguist (French)
ldquoSemiologyrdquo
ldquoA science which studies the life of signs at the heart of social liferdquo
bull We come to know the world through language
Saussure Semiology
Signs are bull Psychological bull Construct reality bull Reflects the system bull Arbitrary but follow laws of
tradition bull The relationship between
the signsignifier is not a matter of personal choice
A sign is anything that makes meaning
a sign is anything that can be used to tell a lieldquo
Umberto Eco
What is sign
Signsbull Gestures bull Facial
expressions bull poetry bull rituals bull clothes bull food
bull music
bull Morse code
bull marketing bull Advertisements bull film bull Etc
bull Car falling in water
bull Riverbank bull Quayside
bull Donrsquot know
bull Greek letter sigma bull Sum of
bull Smiley
bull Mobile or computer icon
bull Acid house music
bull Drugs
DOG
kukur
hund
kutta
canis
eg This word DOG represents the idea of an animal the letters used are arbitrary but our shared cultural understanding means that most of us in the room know what is meant when we see those three letters
SIGNIFIED - the idea being represented
SIGNIFIER - the word doing the representingThe sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified
SIGNIFIED
SIGNIFIER
SignSignifier
bull Any physical thing
ndashwords on a page ndasha facial
expression ndasha picture ndashgraffiti
Signifiedbull Concept that a
signifier refers to
The First level of signification
Stop means Stop
Apple means Apple
Crown means Crown
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
What is semiotics Semiotics is the study of signs
Greek Semion - ldquoSignrdquo Semeiotikos - ldquointerpreter of signsrdquo
Three areas bull Semantics - what a sign stands for ndash Dictionaries - semantic reference books
bull Syntactics is the relationships among signs ndash Signs are part of a larger sign system ndash Codes - organised rules designating what signs stand
for bull Pragmatics - practical use and effects of signs
Semantics - what a sign stands for Dictionaries are semantic reference books they tell us what a sign means Syntactics is the relationships among signs Signs rarely stand alone They are almost always part of a larger sign system referred to as codes Codes are organized rules that designate what different signs stand for Pragmatics studies the practical use and effects of signs
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) Linguist (French)
ldquoSemiologyrdquo
ldquoA science which studies the life of signs at the heart of social liferdquo
bull We come to know the world through language
Saussure Semiology
Signs are bull Psychological bull Construct reality bull Reflects the system bull Arbitrary but follow laws of
tradition bull The relationship between
the signsignifier is not a matter of personal choice
A sign is anything that makes meaning
a sign is anything that can be used to tell a lieldquo
Umberto Eco
What is sign
Signsbull Gestures bull Facial
expressions bull poetry bull rituals bull clothes bull food
bull music
bull Morse code
bull marketing bull Advertisements bull film bull Etc
bull Car falling in water
bull Riverbank bull Quayside
bull Donrsquot know
bull Greek letter sigma bull Sum of
bull Smiley
bull Mobile or computer icon
bull Acid house music
bull Drugs
DOG
kukur
hund
kutta
canis
eg This word DOG represents the idea of an animal the letters used are arbitrary but our shared cultural understanding means that most of us in the room know what is meant when we see those three letters
SIGNIFIED - the idea being represented
SIGNIFIER - the word doing the representingThe sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified
SIGNIFIED
SIGNIFIER
SignSignifier
bull Any physical thing
ndashwords on a page ndasha facial
expression ndasha picture ndashgraffiti
Signifiedbull Concept that a
signifier refers to
The First level of signification
Stop means Stop
Apple means Apple
Crown means Crown
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Three areas bull Semantics - what a sign stands for ndash Dictionaries - semantic reference books
bull Syntactics is the relationships among signs ndash Signs are part of a larger sign system ndash Codes - organised rules designating what signs stand
for bull Pragmatics - practical use and effects of signs
Semantics - what a sign stands for Dictionaries are semantic reference books they tell us what a sign means Syntactics is the relationships among signs Signs rarely stand alone They are almost always part of a larger sign system referred to as codes Codes are organized rules that designate what different signs stand for Pragmatics studies the practical use and effects of signs
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) Linguist (French)
ldquoSemiologyrdquo
ldquoA science which studies the life of signs at the heart of social liferdquo
bull We come to know the world through language
Saussure Semiology
Signs are bull Psychological bull Construct reality bull Reflects the system bull Arbitrary but follow laws of
tradition bull The relationship between
the signsignifier is not a matter of personal choice
A sign is anything that makes meaning
a sign is anything that can be used to tell a lieldquo
Umberto Eco
What is sign
Signsbull Gestures bull Facial
expressions bull poetry bull rituals bull clothes bull food
bull music
bull Morse code
bull marketing bull Advertisements bull film bull Etc
bull Car falling in water
bull Riverbank bull Quayside
bull Donrsquot know
bull Greek letter sigma bull Sum of
bull Smiley
bull Mobile or computer icon
bull Acid house music
bull Drugs
DOG
kukur
hund
kutta
canis
eg This word DOG represents the idea of an animal the letters used are arbitrary but our shared cultural understanding means that most of us in the room know what is meant when we see those three letters
SIGNIFIED - the idea being represented
SIGNIFIER - the word doing the representingThe sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified
SIGNIFIED
SIGNIFIER
SignSignifier
bull Any physical thing
ndashwords on a page ndasha facial
expression ndasha picture ndashgraffiti
Signifiedbull Concept that a
signifier refers to
The First level of signification
Stop means Stop
Apple means Apple
Crown means Crown
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) Linguist (French)
ldquoSemiologyrdquo
ldquoA science which studies the life of signs at the heart of social liferdquo
bull We come to know the world through language
Saussure Semiology
Signs are bull Psychological bull Construct reality bull Reflects the system bull Arbitrary but follow laws of
tradition bull The relationship between
the signsignifier is not a matter of personal choice
A sign is anything that makes meaning
a sign is anything that can be used to tell a lieldquo
Umberto Eco
What is sign
Signsbull Gestures bull Facial
expressions bull poetry bull rituals bull clothes bull food
bull music
bull Morse code
bull marketing bull Advertisements bull film bull Etc
bull Car falling in water
bull Riverbank bull Quayside
bull Donrsquot know
bull Greek letter sigma bull Sum of
bull Smiley
bull Mobile or computer icon
bull Acid house music
bull Drugs
DOG
kukur
hund
kutta
canis
eg This word DOG represents the idea of an animal the letters used are arbitrary but our shared cultural understanding means that most of us in the room know what is meant when we see those three letters
SIGNIFIED - the idea being represented
SIGNIFIER - the word doing the representingThe sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified
SIGNIFIED
SIGNIFIER
SignSignifier
bull Any physical thing
ndashwords on a page ndasha facial
expression ndasha picture ndashgraffiti
Signifiedbull Concept that a
signifier refers to
The First level of signification
Stop means Stop
Apple means Apple
Crown means Crown
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Saussure Semiology
Signs are bull Psychological bull Construct reality bull Reflects the system bull Arbitrary but follow laws of
tradition bull The relationship between
the signsignifier is not a matter of personal choice
A sign is anything that makes meaning
a sign is anything that can be used to tell a lieldquo
Umberto Eco
What is sign
Signsbull Gestures bull Facial
expressions bull poetry bull rituals bull clothes bull food
bull music
bull Morse code
bull marketing bull Advertisements bull film bull Etc
bull Car falling in water
bull Riverbank bull Quayside
bull Donrsquot know
bull Greek letter sigma bull Sum of
bull Smiley
bull Mobile or computer icon
bull Acid house music
bull Drugs
DOG
kukur
hund
kutta
canis
eg This word DOG represents the idea of an animal the letters used are arbitrary but our shared cultural understanding means that most of us in the room know what is meant when we see those three letters
SIGNIFIED - the idea being represented
SIGNIFIER - the word doing the representingThe sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified
SIGNIFIED
SIGNIFIER
SignSignifier
bull Any physical thing
ndashwords on a page ndasha facial
expression ndasha picture ndashgraffiti
Signifiedbull Concept that a
signifier refers to
The First level of signification
Stop means Stop
Apple means Apple
Crown means Crown
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
A sign is anything that makes meaning
a sign is anything that can be used to tell a lieldquo
Umberto Eco
What is sign
Signsbull Gestures bull Facial
expressions bull poetry bull rituals bull clothes bull food
bull music
bull Morse code
bull marketing bull Advertisements bull film bull Etc
bull Car falling in water
bull Riverbank bull Quayside
bull Donrsquot know
bull Greek letter sigma bull Sum of
bull Smiley
bull Mobile or computer icon
bull Acid house music
bull Drugs
DOG
kukur
hund
kutta
canis
eg This word DOG represents the idea of an animal the letters used are arbitrary but our shared cultural understanding means that most of us in the room know what is meant when we see those three letters
SIGNIFIED - the idea being represented
SIGNIFIER - the word doing the representingThe sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified
SIGNIFIED
SIGNIFIER
SignSignifier
bull Any physical thing
ndashwords on a page ndasha facial
expression ndasha picture ndashgraffiti
Signifiedbull Concept that a
signifier refers to
The First level of signification
Stop means Stop
Apple means Apple
Crown means Crown
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Signsbull Gestures bull Facial
expressions bull poetry bull rituals bull clothes bull food
bull music
bull Morse code
bull marketing bull Advertisements bull film bull Etc
bull Car falling in water
bull Riverbank bull Quayside
bull Donrsquot know
bull Greek letter sigma bull Sum of
bull Smiley
bull Mobile or computer icon
bull Acid house music
bull Drugs
DOG
kukur
hund
kutta
canis
eg This word DOG represents the idea of an animal the letters used are arbitrary but our shared cultural understanding means that most of us in the room know what is meant when we see those three letters
SIGNIFIED - the idea being represented
SIGNIFIER - the word doing the representingThe sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified
SIGNIFIED
SIGNIFIER
SignSignifier
bull Any physical thing
ndashwords on a page ndasha facial
expression ndasha picture ndashgraffiti
Signifiedbull Concept that a
signifier refers to
The First level of signification
Stop means Stop
Apple means Apple
Crown means Crown
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
bull Car falling in water
bull Riverbank bull Quayside
bull Donrsquot know
bull Greek letter sigma bull Sum of
bull Smiley
bull Mobile or computer icon
bull Acid house music
bull Drugs
DOG
kukur
hund
kutta
canis
eg This word DOG represents the idea of an animal the letters used are arbitrary but our shared cultural understanding means that most of us in the room know what is meant when we see those three letters
SIGNIFIED - the idea being represented
SIGNIFIER - the word doing the representingThe sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified
SIGNIFIED
SIGNIFIER
SignSignifier
bull Any physical thing
ndashwords on a page ndasha facial
expression ndasha picture ndashgraffiti
Signifiedbull Concept that a
signifier refers to
The First level of signification
Stop means Stop
Apple means Apple
Crown means Crown
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
DOG
kukur
hund
kutta
canis
eg This word DOG represents the idea of an animal the letters used are arbitrary but our shared cultural understanding means that most of us in the room know what is meant when we see those three letters
SIGNIFIED - the idea being represented
SIGNIFIER - the word doing the representingThe sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified
SIGNIFIED
SIGNIFIER
SignSignifier
bull Any physical thing
ndashwords on a page ndasha facial
expression ndasha picture ndashgraffiti
Signifiedbull Concept that a
signifier refers to
The First level of signification
Stop means Stop
Apple means Apple
Crown means Crown
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
SIGNIFIED - the idea being represented
SIGNIFIER - the word doing the representingThe sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified
SIGNIFIED
SIGNIFIER
SignSignifier
bull Any physical thing
ndashwords on a page ndasha facial
expression ndasha picture ndashgraffiti
Signifiedbull Concept that a
signifier refers to
The First level of signification
Stop means Stop
Apple means Apple
Crown means Crown
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
SIGNIFIED
SIGNIFIER
SignSignifier
bull Any physical thing
ndashwords on a page ndasha facial
expression ndasha picture ndashgraffiti
Signifiedbull Concept that a
signifier refers to
The First level of signification
Stop means Stop
Apple means Apple
Crown means Crown
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
SignSignifier
bull Any physical thing
ndashwords on a page ndasha facial
expression ndasha picture ndashgraffiti
Signifiedbull Concept that a
signifier refers to
The First level of signification
Stop means Stop
Apple means Apple
Crown means Crown
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
The First level of signification
Stop means Stop
Apple means Apple
Crown means Crown
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Interpretation of a sign
Depends on bullContext bullRelationship to other signs bullEnvironment
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Arbitrary sign There is nothing about the shape colour or any other physical aspect of
the signifier which links it to the signified
Motivated sign There is some aspect or aspects of the signifier that correspond to the
signified The signifier looks like the signified Eg A photograph
Partly motivated Images found on the doors of public toilets
Culture a community of codes A set of ideas about what signs mean and how they may be put together
and shared by a large or small group of people
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
SignSignifier
Rose
Denotation
Signified Love
Valentinersquos day
Passion Beautyhellip
Connotation
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
CodeA code is a rule or convention
that associates a signifier with a certain signified or meaning
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Denotation Connotationbull Denotation - Literal or denoted meaning bull Connotation ndash Meaning in a particular
context ndash Culturally established ndash Codified ndash Shared within a community
bull Association ndash Individual or personal meaning bull Culturally different bull Plolysemic Open to other interpretations
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
The second level of signification
Stop means Danger
Apple means Healthy
Crown means royalty
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
RelationshipsSame signifier with different signified
Signifier Signified Apple Temptation
Apple Healthy
Apple Fruit
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Different signifiers with same signifiedRelationships
Signifier Signified Apple Apple
Pomme Apple
Apfel Apple
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Denotative level a photograph of the movie star Marilyn Monroe
Connotative level (Early Photograph) glamour sexuality beauty
Connotative level (Later Photograph) Depression or drug-taking and untimely death
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ndash1914) Mathematician philosopher
physicist (American)
Coined the term lsquoSemioticsrsquo
ldquoAnything that in some way or other
stands for something else in some respect or capacityhellip Every
thing is signsrdquo
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
All the individuals are meaning-makers signs are individualhellip
Because we interpret things as signs unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions
Peirce 1931
Why
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Object Actual sun in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of sun
Interpretant Interprets the
graphic image as the object
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Object Actual stars in
the sky
Sign Graphical
interpretation of stars
Interpretant bullInterprets the graphic image as the object bullInterprets stars as movie stars
Unlimited Semiosis
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Pierce had many different types of sign but the three most important are
Icon Index Symbol
CAT
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
They resemble the object bullPictorial representation bullPhotograph bullarchitectrsquos model of a building
Icon
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
IndexAn index had a factual or casual connection that points towards its object Smoke signifies fire
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
SymbolbullA symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified bullThe interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge bullSpoken or written words are symbols
CAT
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Metonymya kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated as in the use of the sword for military power
Crown means royalty
Tricolour means India
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Genres as codesGenre is a code that regulates which kinds of signs can be combined in which ways within a certain category or family bullSpaghetti westerns bullFilm noir
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Syntagms and paradigms
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Syntagms and paradigms
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Syntagms and paradigms bull Parasynonymy Words with semi identical
meaning ndash Warm ndash Hot ndash Boiling
bull Antonyms Contradictory words ndash Hot vs cold ndash Dark vs light
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Relay and Anchoragebull Relay Language adds some new element
to the meaning of a picture bull Anchorage points out which of the many
possible meanings is most appropriate The image also anchors the verbal text
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
bull Media texts are encoded by producers and decoded by audiences bull Sometimes the same system of codes is used by both producers and audience bull But sometimes the spectator interprets the text using a completely different system
Encoding amp Decoding
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Stuart Hall (1932-)
Three ways of readingdecoding a text bull dominant bullnegotiated bulloppositional
From Gramscirsquos theory of Hegemony where the lsquopreferredrsquo reading is dominant reading
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Roland BarthesDenotation Literal and common sense meaning of a sign
Connotation Describes the interaction that occurs between the subjective user and their culture
Myths a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations eg the cowboy myth the romance myth
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
The cowboy myth
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
The wedding
myth
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
The wedding
myth
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
The romance myth
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Another variation
of the romance
myth
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
The body image Myth
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Ideologies
Codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power Ideology works largely by creating forms of common sense of the taken-for-granted in everyday life
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Barths
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
BarthsI am at the barbers and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me On the cover a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting with his eyes uplifted probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour All this is the meaning of the picture But whether naively or not I see very well what it signifies to me that France is a great Empire that all her sons without any colour discrimination faithfully serve under her flag and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Unlimited semiosis
Imitation of life
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3