Semiotics

Semiotics seems to be cropping up everywhere at the moment, which is probably a good thing with the amount of fancy words used in it. This lecture was interesting in seeing how semiotics is within everyday life and why it has a certain significance as a tool for analysis.

Meaning is shared and is shown through particular signs.

Previously it was assumed that:

• There is an external 'objective' word 'out there'
• Language describes this external world
• The word 'table' refers to real tables 'out there'
• Externalism

FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE - 1857-1913 ( he challenged this) - his insights were developed by Levi Strauss, Barthes, Narratologists (Structuralism).

• Language is not just a way of classifying objects in an external world
• Language is more complicated than that
• Systems of shared meaning
• Meaning are not fixed
• Words only have meaning as part of systems eg: languages

'DOG' - 'Chien' (in French) & 'Kula' (in Urdu) --> each word works within its system and you have to know the system to understand the word.

--> Saussure asked the question - "why does a word mean what it means?" this is some deep stuff and it links to a shared meaning between everyone which allows us to understand what the word means, items have names so that people understand what is being spoken about or referred to. You must learn the meaning before being able to understand and use it yourself...

Semiology is the study of signs made up of the SIGNIFIER (sound, image or marks on the paper), the SIGNIFIED (the concept) and the REFERENT (the real item). 

More key terms...

LANGUE and PAROLE.

- langue refers to the system or language

- parole refers to the actual utterance of words (when we select words from langue and use them by speaking or writing.)

Signs are ARBITRARY - "The arbitrary nature of the sign" - Saussure.

• Signs only have meaning within a particular system of meaning
• The same symbols may have very different meanings within different systems
• The principle of semiology apply to all systems of meaning - not just written or spoken languages
• All signs are relationships. 

Did you know if a chimp is smiling, it is not good. The poor thing is absolutely bricking it, really really nervous.   This guy from the PG tips advert is in reality a very unhappy monkey :( 

This shows that different signs have different meanings in some situations - meanings are not fixed. 

Levels of meaning

• the level of denotation
• signs acquire new secondary meanings through cultural practice
• the level of connotation
• for example - a heart denotes a vital organ, but it now connotes a romantic love through secondary meanings (deeper level of connotation) 

C.S PIERCE - 1839 - 1914

• he was interested in signs and perception
• distinguishes three types of sign: 1. symbolic 2. iconic 3. indexical

Symbolic signs - are signs in which the relationship between the sign and its meaning are totally arbitrary. 

(red=stop - culturally known)

Iconic signs - are signs that resemble their meaning in some way.

(picture of the Queen on a coin)

Indexical signs - are signs that indicate what they stand for by some kind of casual link.

(smoke signifies fire & daffodils signify spring)

that is all for now.