2. lz411 doing semiotics.ppt
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LZ411 Doing SemioticsTRANSCRIPT
LZ411 – Critical Media Theory
Semiotics: The critical analysis of media
1
Aims today …
1.Introducing semiotics as a structural approach to media analysis2.Applying semiotics to visual and verbal language
LZ411 – Critical Media Theory
Media and meaningQuestions about ‘the text’?(representation, narrative, genre)
According to Carey (2009:19), “communication is a symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired, and transformed”
How does this text create meaning?
Media and meaning
Messages as ‘structured relationships of elements’
Semiotics: the study of these elements and structured relationships.
The study of signs and how they create meaning.
What is it that makes ink on paper (in this example) into something that makes meaning?
Semiotics the study of signs and meanings
Ferdinand de Saussure1857 – 1913 Swiss
Linguist
• Key figure in the study of language
• Work inspired ideas of later writers in film theory, cultural studies and media studies
• Important contribution – recognition of the nature of language as a relational system of signs
Signs and reality
• Question– does language (a sign system) label our reality or does language ‘create’ our reality?
CHILD ADULTBABY
• Sign systems give form and meaning to existence – they shape our reality AND they communicate our reality
TODDLER ELDERLY PERSON
SIGN SYSTEMS
• Linguistic signs are arbitrary therefore used by convention
• Langue and parole
• Language is a system of differences – signs have value when they are recogniseably different from others
Components of the sign
signifier
signified
signification
A sign of a guinea pig
Sign - physical existence (marks on paper, sounds in air, pixels on screen etc.) – anything which is meaningful to someone
Signifier – sensory perception of sign (form)
Signified – concept/meaning evoked by the sign (content)
Signs, signifiers and signifieds
signifier
signified
signification
Sign - physical existence
Signifier – sensory perception of sign (form)
Signified – concept/meaning evoked by the sign (content)
Signs, signifiers and signifieds
signifier
signified
signification
Sign - physical existence
Signifier – sensory perception of sign (form)
Signified – concept/meaning evoked by the sign (content)
An example
• What’s ‘gone wrong’ with this act of communication? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24222992
SLUT
Slovenly, dirty, untidySexually promiscuous woman –
a woman of low character
Codes
• The systems in which signs are organised into groups are called codes
• Codes organise signs into meaningful systems which correlate signifiers and signifieds.
• Slut - sign in the grouping of words for cleanliness? OR a sign in the grouping of words for sexual activity?
CodesCodes organise signs into meaningful systems which correlate signifiers and signifieds.
(Chandler 2002:147)
So in the grouping of linguistic signs (code) for cleanliness, ‘slut’ signifies slovenly or untidy.
In the grouping of linguistic signs (code) for sexual activity ‘slut’ signifies promiscuity with a derogatory meaning.
Godfrey Bloom: mistaken codes or something more insidious? (i.e. an attack on women in politics)
Visual example
Codes organise signs into meaningful systems which correlate signifiers and signifieds.
(Chandler 2002:147)
Visual example
Codes organise signs into meaningful systems which correlate signifiers and signifieds.
(Chandler 2002:147)
Visual example
Codes organise signs into meaningful systems which correlate signifiers and signifieds.
(Chandler 2002:147)
• A syntagm is an ordered array of signs combined according to certain rules Cat sat on the mat
• A paradigm is a set of signs, any of which are conceivably interchangeable within a given context
• Cat sat on the mat• Dog sat on the mat• Cat stood on the mat• Cat sat on the chair• Cat sat under the chair• Cat sat under a chair
Syntagm and Paradigm
syntagmatic
para
digm
atic
Words and images
• Anchorage – the way words are used to ‘tie down’ the meaning of an image
• Relay – the complementary way words and images operate – meaning oscillating back and forth
Analysing signs and codes1. Identify key signs in this
magazine front cover.
1. How do selection (paradigmatic analysis) and combination (syntagmatic analysis) play a role in the generation of meaning?
2. How do words and images work together to create meaning?
3. What codes are in operation such that we ‘get’ the correct signifieds from the signifiers? (i.e. meaning)
Types of signs - iconic
An icon (or iconic sign) bears a resemblance to the referent (the actual thing/person in the world
A symbol (or symbolic sign) has a conventionalised connection between sign and referent.
Analysing visual signs
Denotations – the literal meaning(s) of a sign
Connotations – the cultural meanings of a sign
MythWhat is this article’s way of representing ‘Jordan’?
What wider social meanings are being made here?
What meanings appear to be ‘naturally’ true?
Analysing for Myth
signs Range of possible connotations
What meanings are being taken for granted?
myth
A) What are the denotations of the signs?
B) What ‘second-order’ system is in operation? i.e. what further meanings are being suggested? (connotations)
C) What appears to be denotation but is actually connotation? – meanings naturalised, taken for granted.
Summary
• Semiotics – the study of signs in society
• Sign systems ‘create’ our reality• Originated in language study but now
is applied to lots of other cultural activity – films, magazines etc.
• Signs, codes, arrangment of signs, types of signs
Reading and blogging
• Read pages 227-232 of the chapter by Gemma Penn called ‘Semiotic analysis of still images’. See my blog for guidance.
• We will use the second half of the chapter next week to discuss advertising in the media.
• Seminar – discussing reading, clarifying issues, further analysis, how to reference properly. See my blog.