DOCSLIB.ORG

What Do Images Mean in Visual Semiotics?

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
What Do Images Mean in Visual Semiotics? Aydın Sanat Yıl 2 Sayı 3 (2016) (1 -13) What Do Images Mean in Visual Semiotics? Veysel Kılıç1 Zekiye Sarıkartal2 ABSTRACT “There can be no words without images.” (Aristotle) We all live in a visually surrounded world. We are intensively surrounded by exciting and moti- vating images. This is visual communication, which doesn’t include language codes in a sense. The production of meaning from visual objects can be evaluated and examined with the help of semiotics. Images mean everything. Commercials and visual objects mean lots of things without using language codes. This paper offers a kind of analytical perspective for under- standing and producing meaning from visual objects with a special reference to semiotics. Keywords: Semiotics, Code, Icon, Index, Image, Visual Semiotics Görsel Göstergebilimde İmgelerin Anlamı Nedir? ÖZET “Hiçbir sözcük imgesiz olamaz.” (Aristoteles) Görsel bir dünyada yaşıyoruz. Yoğun olarak hoş ve ilham verici imgeler tarafından çevriliyiz. Bu, bir bakıma dil kodlarını içermeyen görsel iletişim. Görsel nesnelerden anlam üretimi gösterge- bilim yardımıyla değerlendirilebilir ve incelenebilir. İmgeler herşeyi ifade eder. Reklamlar ve görsel nesneler dilsel kodları kullanmadan pek çok mana barındırabilir. Bu makale, görsel nesneleri anlama ve anlam üretme üstüne, göstergebilimi referansalara analilitik bir bakış açısı sunmaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Göstergebilim, Kod, Ikon, Index, Imge, Görsel Göstergebilim 1 (Prof. Dr.), Mardin Artuklu Üniversitesi, Güzel Sanatlar Fakültesi 2 (Prof. Dr.), Mardin Artuklu Üniversitesi, Güzel Sanatlar Fakültesi, [email protected] 1 What Do Images Mean in Visual Semiotics? “One picture is worth a thousand words. Yes, but only if you look at the picture and say or think the thousand words.” William Saroyan Introduction Communication is an act. It is the act of It has got unique properties of which the transferring meaningful signs from one communication models lack. According to party to another. Apparently, there are vari- George Yule, a natural language has some ous forms, means and categories of com- unique properties. These properties distin- munication. A message, speaker’s intention guish human language from other commu- nication systems. They are: is sent through a proper channel to receiv- er’s ear. Speaker first thinks of his message, Displacement: Language is independent his intention then he chooses appropriate from time and place. Human language re- grammatical rules and vocabulary–lan- fers to the present, past and future. We can guage codes and articulates them. The re- also communicate with people those who ceiver receives this message; he first tries are thousands of miles far from us. to detect the sounds and then language codes in order to comprehend the mes- Productivity/Creativity: Human beings sage. In other words; speaker encodes the are continually creating new expressions message and receiver decodes it. Effective and novel utterances by manipulating their communication is the one, which minimiz- linguistic resources to describe new objects es potential misunderstanding. In the era of and situations. This property is described as information, we have to send, receive and productivity or creativity. process lots of messages everyday via dif- ferent channels. When we send messages, If we internalize the rules and the basic vo- we don’t only send language codes; we add cabulary of our mother tongue, we can pro- our emotion to the messages as well. In an duce infinite number of sentences, which effective communication we are supposed we have not heard before, and we can ut- to understand the emotion of the sender ter sentences which we have not uttered behind the message. According to Baudril- before, because language is open-ended. It lard successive phases of the image are; “It also can create new words when the situa- is the reflection of basic reality. It makes any tion demands. perverts as basic reality. It bears no relation to any reality. Whatever it is, its own pure simu- Cultural Transmission: We learn every- lacrum.” (Baudrillard, 1988: 170) thing from our ancestors via language. Although we may have inherited physical Among various communication tools hu- features from our parents, we do not inherit man language-natural language is the their language. On the contrary, we acquire most effective and sophisticated means of language in a cultural situation with other communication. Human language is differ- speakers. This process, whereby, a language ent from other communication models or handed down from on generation to next is means because it is unique. described as cultural transformation. 2 Veysel Kılıç, Zekiye Sarıkartal Duality: Human language is organized at The founders of semiotics are Swiss linguist levels or layers simultaneously. This prop- Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sander erty is called duality. In speech produc- Peirce. Saussure is the founder of linguis- tion, we have a physical level at which we tics and semiotics both as sciences, which produce individual speech sounds like /n/, study the role of signs as a part of social /b/, /i/. As individual sounds, none of these life. Actually the origin of semiotics can be discrete has any intrinsic meaning. In a par- linked to structuralism, which is a method ticular combination, we have meaningful of analysis that looks for deeper structure units such as bin and nib. and meaning behind the surface structure. According to structuralisms’ all phenomena Arbitrariness: There is no logical relation are ruled by some unseen rules. between signifier and signified. The con- nection is quite arbitrary; the aspect of re- American linguist Chomsky says that every lationship between linguistic signs and ob- sentence has got two structures; surface jects in the world is called arbitrariness. In structure and deep structure. In order to other words, there is no logical connection get the meaning of a sentence, we have to between what comes out of our mouths reveal the meaning from deep structure, and what they refer to in the world. so structuralism tries to reveal the hidden rules, which organize anything from how Semiotics: Semiotics or semiology is con- people interact in particular social context. cerned with meaning. In other words; how The structural semiotics is more concerned meaning is represented in its broadest with the relation of elements to each other. sense, it generates meanings or processes “Semiotics studies how this referring results meaning by which readers or viewers com- from previously established social conven- prehend or attribute meaning. Representa- tion.” (Eco, 1976: 16) tion of meaning is realized by language, im- ages and objects. Semiotics can also offer a Semiotics is often employed in the analysis useful perspective about formalist analysis. of the text. Text doesn’t necessarily mean Semiotic analysis can be applied to liter- written language. In the broadest sense, ary texts as well as visual objects. Semiotic anything has got a message can be defined analysis, in effect, acknowledges some vari- as text. Furthermore; written language, able relationships. It is the study of signs movies, films, pictures etc. are texts, shortly and signifying practices. “Semiotics studies a text can exist in any medium verbal and how this referring results from previously es- non-verbal. tablished social convention.” (Eco, 1976: 16) A sign can be defined basically as an entity Some other approaches to textual analysis such as words, images and objects. A sign other than semiotic approach are rhetori- refers to something else other than itself. cal analysis, discourse analysis and content Signifying practices simply refers to how analysis. Semiotics is also very closely affili- rather than what meaning is produced and ated with cultural studies; content analysis finally the social convention with meaning is rather well established within the main- is called a code. stream tradition of social science research. Aydın Sanat Yıl 2 Sayı 3 (2016) (1 -13) 3 What Do Images Mean in Visual Semiotics? Although content analysis concerns a tween signifier and signified is arbitrary. -Ar quantitative approach to the analysis of bitrariness is one of the unique properties manifest contents of media texts, semiotics of language. The arbitrariness of the sign is is rarely quantitative and often involves a a radical concept because it proposes the rejection of such approaches. autonomy of language in relation to reality. A social semiotic would also emphasize the There is no one-to-one link between sig- importance of the significance, which read- nifier and signified; signs have multiple ers attach to signs within a text. Saussure meanings rather than single meanings. Sig- saw linguistics as a branch of semiotics be- nifiers change from culture to culture. Con- cause semiotics is concerned to stress the vention is the social dimension of signs; it is social aspect of signification, its practical, the agreement among the users about the aesthetic or ideological use in interper- appropriate uses of and responses to sign. sonal communication; there meaning is The relationship between one’s concept of constructed as semantic value produced fishers and the physical reality of fish is sig- through actually shared codes. nification; it is one’s way of giving meaning to the world of understanding it. Signs The study of signs is the study of construc- Peirce classified signs in terms ofsymbol, tion and maintenance of reality. “We only icon and index. Signs can be classified in think in signs.” (Peirce, 1931: 58) Signs take terms of these three modes without refer- the form of words, images, sounds, odors, ence to the purpose of their users within flavors, acts or objects, but such things particular context. A sign may consequent- have no intrinsic meaning and become ly be treated as symbolic by one person, as signs only when we invest them with iconic by another and as indexical by the meaning. No sign makes sense on its own third. but only in relation to other signs, because the value of signs is determined by the re- sense lationships between the sign and other signs within a system as a whole.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Semiotic Analysis of RTÉ Television News
    Critical Social Thinking: Policy and Practice, Vol. 2, 2010 School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork, Ireland Whose Frame Is It Anyway? A Semiotic Analysis of RTÉ Television News Mark Cullinane, BSocSc Abstract This article serves as an exploration of the extent, if at all, to which RTÉ Television News disproportionately embodies the attitudes, beliefs and assumptions of particular worldviews. Using a multiplicity of theoretical paradigms, the project sought to examine to what extent RTÉ News output could be considered ‘system-maintaining’ or ‘system-challenging’, and to detail the means by which the ‘preferred meaning’ of news- if one exists- is generated. Informed by the framework of framing/agenda- setting theory and semiotics, a combination of analyses were chosen and applied to uncover latent meanings embedded within news texts. A small selection of news texts concerning the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank in January 2009 comprised the data sample. The textual analyses revealed a strong preponderance of system- maintaining frames; frequent editorialising; an absence of competing discursive positions; and a heavily episodic orientation that focused on personalities and near- term sequences of events rather than broader systems-level analysis. Keywords: mass communications; semiotics; framing; television news. Critical Social Thinking: Policy and Practice, Vol. 2, 2010 Introduction 'Communication is too often taken for granted when it should be taken to pieces' (Fiske, in Hartley, 1982, p.xiii) The idea that the mass media possesses power over its audiences is not a new one, indeed, it has become a cliché. Identifying the precise nature of this power, however, is not an easy process.
    [Show full text]
  • Addressing Complexities in Early Childhood Education and Care: the Relationships Among Paradigms, Policies, and Children’S Rights to Participate
    Addressing Complexities in Early Childhood Education and Care: The Relationships among Paradigms, Policies, and Children’s Rights to Participate by Darya (Dasha) Shalima A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto © Copyright by Darya (Dasha) Shalima 2017 ADDRESSING COMPLEXITIES in EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE: THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG PARADIGMS, POLICIES, AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS TO PARTICIPATE Doctor of Philosophy Darya (Dasha) Shalima Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development University of Toronto 2017 Abstract This dissertation contributes to the field of Early Childhood Education and Care studies by providing the in-depth theoretical, document, and empirical analyses. The three types of analysis aim to build a case for the practical utilization of the critical paradigm. The critical paradigm is understood as a driving force for early childhood pedagogy which empowers educators, policy- makers, and academic scholars to apply a practical change in the field while acknowledging and sustaining the young children’s right to actively participate in matters related to their education and well-being. In this venue, the thesis provides (i) a thorough and productive analysis of the paradigmatic discussions presently available in the field of early childhood education; (ii) an argument for the practical application of the critical paradigm; (iii) an application of the paradigmatic debates to early childhood curricular and policy documents; (iv) and an empirical evidence from the field which has not been documented before and which gives insights to changes needed in policy directions and the preparation of pre-service early childhood educators.
    [Show full text]
  • Hypertext Semiotics in the Commercialized Internet
    Hypertext Semiotics in the Commercialized Internet Moritz Neumüller Wien, Oktober 2001 DOKTORAT DER SOZIAL- UND WIRTSCHAFTSWISSENSCHAFTEN 1. Beurteiler: Univ. Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Wolfgang Panny, Institut für Informationsver- arbeitung und Informationswirtschaft der Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Abteilung für Angewandte Informatik. 2. Beurteiler: Univ. Prof. Dr. Herbert Hrachovec, Institut für Philosophie der Universität Wien. Betreuer: Gastprofessor Univ. Doz. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Veith Risak Eingereicht am: Hypertext Semiotics in the Commercialized Internet Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktors der Sozial- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften an der Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien eingereicht bei 1. Beurteiler: Univ. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Panny, Institut für Informationsverarbeitung und Informationswirtschaft der Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Abteilung für Angewandte Informatik 2. Beurteiler: Univ. Prof. Dr. Herbert Hrachovec, Institut für Philosophie der Universität Wien Betreuer: Gastprofessor Univ. Doz. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Veith Risak Fachgebiet: Informationswirtschaft von MMag. Moritz Neumüller Wien, im Oktober 2001 Ich versichere: 1. daß ich die Dissertation selbständig verfaßt, andere als die angegebenen Quellen und Hilfsmittel nicht benutzt und mich auch sonst keiner unerlaubten Hilfe bedient habe. 2. daß ich diese Dissertation bisher weder im In- noch im Ausland (einer Beurteilerin / einem Beurteiler zur Begutachtung) in irgendeiner Form als Prüfungsarbeit vorgelegt habe. 3. daß dieses Exemplar mit der beurteilten Arbeit überein
    [Show full text]
  • Semiotics of Strategy Graeme Carswell Macleod Smith MA. Dipm
    Knowledge Management through Storytelling and Narrative – Semiotics of Strategy Graeme Carswell MacLeod Smith MA. DipM. PGCLTHE. MCIM. FIDM. AFHEA School of Business, Law and Communications Solent University Southampton A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Nottingham Trent University and Solent University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of Solent University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 2019 i Copyright Statement This work is the intellectual property of Graeme Smith. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights. ii Acknowledgments The author wishes to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of the following people whose contribution, advice and encouragement have done so much to bring this work to fruition. To Professor Steven Henderson, my former Director of Studies, whose advice, interest and expertise was always inspiring. You instilled in me so many research skills, such as critical thinking and helped to guide me away from many a youthful folly. And Professor Deborah Blackman who set me on this road of discovery in the field of knowledge management. To Emeritus Professor Mike Wilkinson, who stepped in as Director of Studies and instilled some ‘management’ rigour to the project and immediately saw merit in this whole endeavour.
    [Show full text]
  • Charles Sanders Peirce - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia 9/2/10 4:55 PM
    Charles Sanders Peirce - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 9/2/10 4:55 PM Charles Sanders Peirce From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Charles Sanders Peirce (pronounced /ˈpɜrs/ purse[1]) Charles Sanders Peirce (September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American philosopher, logician, mathematician, and scientist, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Peirce was educated as a chemist and employed as a scientist for 30 years. It is largely his contributions to logic, mathematics, philosophy, and semiotics (and his founding of pragmatism) that are appreciated today. In 1934, the philosopher Paul Weiss called Peirce "the most original and versatile of American philosophers and America's greatest logician".[2] An innovator in many fields (including philosophy of science, epistemology, metaphysics, mathematics, statistics, research methodology, and the design of experiments in astronomy, geophysics, and psychology) Peirce considered himself a logician first and foremost. He made major contributions to logic, but logic for him encompassed much of that which is now called epistemology and philosophy of science. He saw logic as the Charles Sanders Peirce formal branch of semiotics, of which he is a founder. As early as 1886 he saw that logical operations could be carried out by Born September 10, 1839 electrical switching circuits, an idea used decades later to Cambridge, Massachusetts produce digital computers.[3] Died April 19, 1914 (aged 74) Milford, Pennsylvania Contents Nationality American 1 Life Fields Logic, Mathematics, 1.1 United States Coast Survey Statistics, Philosophy, 1.2 Johns Hopkins University Metrology, Chemistry 1.3 Poverty Religious Episcopal but 2 Reception 3 Works stance unconventional 4 Mathematics 4.1 Mathematics of logic C.
    [Show full text]
  • Eating the Other. a Semiotic Approach to the Translation of the Culinary Code
    UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI TORINO (UNITO) UNIVERSITÀ DELLA SVIZZERA ITALIANA (USI) Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici (UNITO) / Faculty of Communication Sciences (USI) DOTTORATO DI RICERCA (IN CO-TUTELA) IN: Scienze del Linguaggio e della Comunicazione (UNITO) / Scienze della Comunicazione (USI) CICLO: XXVI (UNITO) TITOLO DELLA TESI: Eating the Other. A Semiotic Approach to the Translation of the Culinary Code TESI PRESENTATA DA: Simona Stano TUTORS: prof. Ugo Volli (UNITO) prof. Andrea Rocci (USI) prof. Marcel Danesi (UofT, Canada e USI, Svizzera) COORDINATORI DEL DOTTORATO: prof. Tullio Telmon (UNITO) prof. Michael Gilbert (USI) ANNI ACCADEMICI: 2011 – 2013 SETTORE SCIENTIFICO-DISCIPLINARE DI AFFERENZA: M-FIL/05 EATING THE OTHER A Semiotic Approach to the Translation of the Culinary Code A dissertation presented by Simona Stano Supervised by Prof. Ugo Volli (UNITO, Italy) Prof. Andrea Rocci (USI, Switzerland) Prof. Marcel Danesi (UofT, Canada and USI, Switzerland) Submitted to the Faculty of Communication Sciences Università della Svizzera Italiana Scuola di Dottorato in Studi Umanistici Università degli Studi di Torino (Co-tutorship of Thesis / Thèse en Co-tutelle) for the degree of Ph.D. in Communication Sciences (USI) Dottorato in Scienze del Linguaggio e della Comunicazione (UNITO) May, 2014 BOARD / MEMBRI DELLA GIURIA: Prof. Ugo Volli (UNITO, Italy) Prof. Andrea Rocci (USI, Switzerland) Prof. Marcel Danesi (UofT, Canada and USI, Switzerland) Prof. Gianfranco Marrone (UNIPA, Italy) PLACES OF THE RESEARCH / LUOGHI IN CUI SI È SVOLTA LA RICERCA: Italy (Turin) Switzerland (Lugano, Geneva, Zurich) Canada (Toronto) DEFENSE / DISCUSSIONE: Turin, May 8, 2014 / Torino, 8 maggio 2014 ABSTRACT [English] Eating the Other. A Semiotic Approach to the Translation of the Culinary Code Eating and food are often compared to language and communication: anthropologically speaking, food is undoubtedly the primary need.
    [Show full text]
  • Abstracts Iacs-2014
    IACS-2014 © Line Brandt The First Conference of the International Association for Cognitive Semiotics 25-27 September 2014 · CCS · Lund University http://konferens.ht.lu.se/en/iacs-2014 BOOK OF ABSTRACTS Book of Abstracts The First Conference of the International Association for Cognitive Semiotics (IACS-2014) September 25-27, 2014 Lund University 1 Cover art by Line Brandt Copyright © Local Organizing Committee of IACS-2014 Printed in Sweden by Media-Tryck, Lund University Lund 2014 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Welcome to IACS-2014 ......................................................................... 5 2. Conference program ............................................................................. 6 3. Practical Information ........................................................................... 11 4. Plenary lectures .................................................................................... 15 5. Theme sessions .................................................................................... 25 6. General session ................................................................................... 46 7. Poster Session ................................................................................... 179 8. Author Index .................................................................................... 225 9. List of participants and @ ................................................................. 230 10. Members of committees and IACS board ......................................... 234 3 4 1. Welcome to IACS-2014
    [Show full text]
  • Designing Information Systems: a Pragmatic Account
    Designing Information Systems Jonas Sjöström Designing Information Systems A Pragmatic Account Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in Auditorium Minus, Gustavianum, Uppsala, Monday, October 25, 2010 at 13:15 for the degree of Doctor of Phi- losophy. The examination will be conducted in English. Abstract Sjöström, J. 2010. Designing Information Systems. A pragmatic account. 268 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 978-91-506-2149-5. Information technology (IT) plays an increasingly important role for individuals, organiza- tions, markets, and society as a whole. IT systems are artefacts (human made objects) de- signed for various purposes. Given the multiple-purpose characteristics of computers, such artefacts may, for example, support workflows, perform advanced calculations, support hu- man communication and socialization, enable delivery of services and digital products, facili- tate learning, or simply entertain. The diverging application areas for IT present a challenge to designers who, as a consequence, have to address increasingly divergent design situations. There have been numerous arguments suggesting that the IT artefact has been 'taken for granted', and needs to be understood and conceptualized better within information systems (IS) research. This thesis is based on the pragmatist notion that one important value of IT resides in its potential to support human collaboration. Such a belief has implications for the development of (1) knowledge aimed for action, change and improvement; (2) knowledge about actions, activities and practices; and (3) knowledge through action, experimentation and exploration. A view of the IT artefact is outlined, showing it as part of a social and techno- logical context. IT artefact design is explained in relation to the induction of social change.
    [Show full text]
  • ED435623.Pdf
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 435 623 TM 030 220 AUTHOR Verhesscheh, Piet TITLE Narrative Research and the Concern with the Truth. PUB DATE 1999-04-00 NOTE 13p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (Montreal, Quebec, Canada, April 19-23, 1999). PUB TYPE Information Analyses (070) Speeches/Meeting Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Criteria; *Educational Research; *Epistemology; *Research Methodology; *Researchers IDENTIFIERS *Narrative Inquiry; *Truth ABSTRACT Much of the ongoing discussion about the scientific value of narrative research and the criteria for narrative research comes down to conceptions of the aims of educational research and what this means for an interest in the "truth." The growing number of publications about narrative research has resulted in warnings and criticism. One of the leading critics is D. Phillips (1993, 1996), who stresses the importance of ascertaining the correct narrative or narratives and asserts that narrative needs to be "epistemically respectable." Conflict arises from different views of the researcher's "voice" in narrative research and from differing conceptions of the "truth." New narrative research can be said to share the epistemological presuppositions of postfoundationalism, and this postfoundationalism can be distinguished from relativism or subjectivism. J. O'Dea (1994) has developed a notion of truth that can help narrative research gain epistemic respectability. Narrative researchers must render the realities of classroom practice faithfully and precisely. The narrative researcher can be truthful at three levels:(1) situation;(2) practitioner; and (3) researcher. (Contains 23 references.)(SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
    [Show full text]
  • Semiotic Interpretation of Bangla Ligatures: an Introduction
    Semiotic Interpretation of Bangla Ligatures 123 124 Sanjida Afrin The Dhaka University Journal of Linguistics: Vol. 2 No.3 February, 2009 sign, as the notion ‘sign’ lies at the heart of this discipline. Page: 111-124, Published on December 2009 by the Registrar, Dhaka University ISSN-2075-3098 ‘Sign are found in the physical form of words, image, sounds, acts or objects .... Signs things have no intrinsic meaning and become signs only when we invest them with meaning with Semiotic Interpretation of Bangla Ligatures: reference to a recognized code’. (Chandler, 2002 : 241). An Introduction Anything can be a sign as long as someone interprets it as 'signifying' something - referring to or standing for something Sanjida Afrin 1 other than itself. We interpret things as signs largely unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of 1. M. Phil Researcher, Department of Linguistics, University of conventions. Dhaka. In the writing system, alphabets are also signs and therefore we Abstract can assume that they can be interpreted by semiotics. This Semiotics is the study of sign processes emphasizing broad hypothesis has led us to analyze the structure of Bangla signification and communication, signs and symbols of ligatures in the light of this discipline, since it is well known different social phenomena. In the late 19th and early 20th century the works of Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles that one of the distinctive components of Bangla writing Sanders Peirce led to the emergence of semiotics as a system is ligature. In writing and typography, a ligature occurs separate discipline as well as method for examining where two or more letterforms are written or printed as a unit.
    [Show full text]
  • Syntagmatic Paradigmatic
    Analysing Structure (Summary of Chandler’s “Semiotics: the Basic”) -Semiotics- Ni Wayan Swardhani W. 2012 Semiotics An approach to textual analysis Structural analysis Focuses on the structural relations which are functional in the signifying system at a particular moment of history Involves identifying constituent units in a semiotics system (text or socio-cultural practice), the structural relationship between them (the opposition, correlation, and logical relations) and the relation of the parts to the whole (Chandler p. 83) Horizontal and Vertical Axes • Syntagmatic positioning • Paradigmatic substitution associative relations (Saussure) girl kisses boyfriend Paradigmatic axis Paradigmatic old man punches his friend The young lady calls her parents Syntactic axis cloudy seems raining Paradigmatic axis Paradigmatic sky shows sunny The weather looks stormy Syntactic axis buys book axis Paradigmatic Mother reads newspaper Father writes letters Syntactic axis Source: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html • Semiotics can be applied to: • anything which can be seen as signifying something • to everything which has meaning within a culture. • media texts (including television and radio programmes, films, cartoons, newspaper and magazine articles, posters and other ads) • the practices involved in producing and interpreting such texts. • The task of the semiotician (Saussurean tradition) • to look beyond the specific texts or practices to the systems of functional distinctions operating within them. • to establish the underlying conventions, identifying significant differences and oppositions in an attempt to model the system of categories, relations (syntagmatic and paradigmatic), connotations, distinctions and rules of combination employed. Conducting Semiotic Analysis Identifying the text • Include a copy of the text with your analysis of it (if possible), noting any significant shortcomings of the copy.
    [Show full text]
  • Notes on Semiotics: Introduction
    Notes on Semiotics: Introduction Review of Structuralism and Poststructuralism 1. Meaning and Communication: Some Fundamental Questions a. Is meaning a private experience between individuals? b. Is it determined by the psychological state or intention of the speaker? c. How is meaning communicated? d. What are the limits of our common sense understanding of language? 2. Saussure: Language is a shared system of communication. 3. Saussure's Basic Concepts a. synchronic b. diachronic c. langue d. parole 4. Problem of Denotation a. What do words denote? To what do they refer? b. Objects in the real world? When you consider general nouns ("tree", "hat", "virtue", etc.) and verbs ("ask", "linger", "wait") it becomes clear that a simple word-to-object relation breaks down. (Problem of Reference) 5. This provides one reason for Saussure to bracket the object ("referent") and limit his analysis to the relation between word and concept. 6. Saussure introduced a new terminology: SIGN = SIGNIFIER (SOUND-IMAGE) + SIGNIFIED (CONCEPT) CONCEPT SOUND IMAGE Page 1 of 8 7. What's the nature of the signified (concept)? What is it and how is it distinct from the signifier? PRE-STRUCTURALIST LINGUISTIC MODEL denotes P-E-A-R (word) (object) STRUCTURALIST MODEL SIGNIFIER SIGNIFIED signifies P-E-A-R (word) (concept) 8. Given that the concept of a thing varies, perhaps considerably, from person to person, Saussure had yet another reason for bracketing the real (external) world. This reduces the complexity and makes it easier to develop a workable theoretical model. Page 2 of 8 9. The "Arbitrariness" of the Sign—Conventionalism a.
    [Show full text]