Intro Flashcards
how does the media construct our reality for us
uses certain language
why do we need semiotics
useful as it can help us make a sense of visual and media contexts
- advertising
- news and current affairs
- fashion
- music
- politics
- celebrities
what is the difference between semiotics and discourse
- semiotics teaches us the way to identify signs and to deconstruct codes to reveal meaning in the deeper structure of text
- discourse examines the power relations at work in seemingly innocent media texts and enables us to identify the ideology at work.
what is semiotics
the general science of signs: the production of meaning
what is semiosis
the study of the human activity and the production and interpretation of signs by human beings
what is semiotics closely tied to
linguistics: the study of language as a formal system: semantics (how words have meaning) and syntax (grammar): how units of meaning arranged in the bigger structures (Eg a sentence)
what does semiotics include
verbal language as well as other patterned human communication (e.g. images, clothes, cultural artefacts.
what can texts be
anything that conveys meaning
what is a sign
any word, symbol, visual imagine, bodily movement, gesture, facial expression which can be used to indicate and convey thoughts, information, ideas, commands etc.
give example of a literal sign
shop sign indicating ‘open’
give example of a word sign
some words may refer to things eg ‘tree’, ‘river’; ideas - ‘justice’, ‘fairness’.
give example of a visual sign
persons, bodies, shapes, colours
give example of bodily sign
gestures, facial expressions: smiles, tears, handshakes, bows
what are the pan-cultural basic emotions
- anger
- fear
- happiness
definition of signs
union of something which signifies, the signifier and n idea/thing which it signifies the signified
when thinking about the sign
the signifier and the signified do not separate. word and concept are inseparable
what is the signified
mental concept of something - concept
what is the signifier
ability to communicate - sound image
how do signs get their meaning
must look at linguistic theory. two main linguistic traditions
- saussure
- pierce
what did saussure propose
that general science of signs, ‘semiology’ of which linguistics was to be one special branch.
what are the two different ways of looking at language
- how it is used (in practice - sociolinguistics) eg. regional variations
- how it has developed (history)
when is a system of language shaped by a community
in structuralism
saussures theory of language
langue and parole
what is langue
langue is the system of language, the system of forms an individual assimilates where he/she learns a language.
-langue is the structure used to create meaning
what is parole
parole is the actual speech acts made possible by the structure of language (micro structure) how it is used by individuals.
-parole is language practice
what is the point of saussures division of language into langue and parole
we are separating what is social from what is individual and what is essential from what is ancillary or accidental (saussure)
creates meaning by distinguishing one sign from another
what is the relationship between the signifier and the signified dependent on
facts related to the linguistic system, not facts about reality itself
what are the five basic principles of semiotics
- we make meaning through our shared use of signs, including language as a sign system.
- what signs mean is not inevitable. it is based on socio-political and cultural agreement and conventions
- meaning cannot be divorced from (social/cultural) context.
- meaning is relational. we make sense of signs in relation to other signs (difference)
- we engage in the processes of meaning making and decoding meaning largely subconsciously.
