semiotics: a short introduction
DESCRIPTION
A short introduction in semiotics for media makers, originally taught at Stenden University, LeeuwardenTRANSCRIPT
S J O E R D - J E R O E N M O E N A N D A R ( U N I V E R S I T Y O F G R O N I N G E N )
Guest lecture semiotics
Communication?
Plaque on board of ASA’s Pioneer 10
Communication
sender message receiver
Communication is only possible when sender and receiver speak the same ‘language’
Learning to communicate is learning signs and their meanings
Meaning?
Gustave Doré,The Flood
Renault advertisement
The crash tests show it: the safest cars are manufactured in France
Message (“text”)
Encoding Decoding
Sender(Media companies)
Receiver(audiences)
Making meaning
Meaning
Denotation
Connotation
denotation/connotation
denotation/connotation
denotation/connotation
denotation/connotation
denotation/connotation
denotation/connotation
denotation / connotation
Semiotics
Study of signs
A different field from:
The study of the material aspects of signs (media studies)
The study of the aesthetic aspects of signs (aesthetics)
Semioticians study the relationship between signsand their meaning
A sign represents
Representation
= re-presentation: to make present that which is absent through the use of signs.
Produces meaning within and through a sign system
Sign
object
meaningsign
Semiotictriangle
Three possible relations sing-meaning
Symbolic relation
Indexical relation
Iconic relation
Symbolic relation sing-meaning
Relation is arbitrary (ie: not necessary)
Is created by conventions
Almost all words
Symbolic relation sign-meaning
In advertising
Indexical relation sign-meaning
Relation between sign and meaning is a matter of fact
Sign is a part of the meaning
Smoke-fire
Indexical relation sign-meaning
Is something really indexical?
Iconic relation sign-meaning
Relation because of similarity
Portrait, picture
But: how iconic is a picture really?
Also: A sign is often more or less iconic, indexical AND symbolic at the same time
Iconic?
square/curvy, man/woman?
Meaning
A sign has no meaning in itself
Meaning comes into being in relation to other signs
McSweeney’s Fine Sausages
Vegetarian restaurant The Happy Piglet
Sign relations
Syntactic relations between signs
Semantic relations between sign and meaning
Pragmatic relations between a sign and its use
“The ice is thin!”
Polysemy
A sign can have more than one meaning
There is no such thing as a private sign
Earlier use ‘sticks’ to a sign there is always a ‘dialogue’ going on between texts that use the samesign
“Discourse”
“Pig”
Circulation
Simon Williams,Alpine Review
(2008)
Intertextuality
Vertical intertextuality: direct comment
Film review
Top Gun (1986) in Sleep With Me (1994)
Horizontal intertextuality: ‘texts’ refer to each other, or recycle each other (often this means it’s a comment as well, but implicitly)
Intertextuality
“Strong” intertextuality (intentionally)
“Weak” intertextuality (necessarily)
“Strong” intertextuality
Simon Williams,Alpine Review
(2008)
“Weak” intertextuality
مونندر
Intertextuality
Quoting: an earlier text literally becomes a part of a new text (more recent term: “sampling”)
Referring: a text is referred to in another text
Quoting
Rihanna, “SOS”Soft Cell, “Tainted Love”
Referring
Spiderman Spiderpig
Intertextuality: rhyming images
Intertextuality: rhyming images
Intertextuality: rhyming images
Intertextuality: rhyming images
Semiotics
Questions?