Required reading

Question 1

How does language represent the world?

Answer 1

• reflective -> language reflects a meaning which already exists in the world
• intentional -> language only expresses what the speaker intended to say
• constructivist/constructionist -> language constructs meaning in and through itself

Question 2

What is representation?

Answer 2

the production of meaning through language

encoded through use of language, signs and images which represent things

also: “Representation means using language to say something meaningful about, or to represent, the world meaningfully to other people.”

Question 3

What are the two approaches in representation?

Answer 3

• represent as in depict/describe
• represent as in symbolise/substitute

Question 4

What does representation do?

Answer 4

gives us the concepts in our mind meaning (for other people) through language

bc we can think of people who aren’t there but only the concept of them!

Representation is the production of the meaning of the concepts in our minds through language

Question 5

What are the systems of representation?

Answer 5

• mental representation (Everything in our mind is sorted into a system of concepts)
• language (can only happen if members share a language + shared map of concepts)

categories help us interpret the world e.g. objects & abstracts

members of a culture share conceptual maps that make them similar to communicate;
sings represent the concepts we carry in our head as part of mental representation

Question 6

What make up the meaning-system of our culture?

Answer 6

mental representation and sign system of a language

Question 7

What are signs?

Answer 7

• Words
• Sounds
• Images

that carry meaning tho!

signs carry meaning and have to be interpreted
Object - concept - sign

Question 8

What are visual signs?

Answer 8

iconic signs

Question 9

what are written/spoken signs?

Answer 9

indexical

Indexical signs/words don’t look like the thing they refer -> they are arbitrary; explains why there are different words for the same concept in different languages

Question 10

What is Culture?

Answer 10

• shared conceptual maps
• shared language systems
• shared codes that govern the relationship between them

we learn these codes of meaning as we grow up

codes make sure that we can communicate intelligibly -> both associate the same concept with a specific sign -> varies between cultures e.g. Western culture and Inuits have different vocab for snow

Question 11

What can happen with the meaning of a word?

Answer 11

• change over time (or fall out of use)
• vary depending on social context
• vary/vanish depending on the language

cultural codes mean language/meaning can never be fully fixed

Question 12

What are the theories of representation?

Answer 12

• Reflective approach
• Intentional approach
• Constructivist/constructionist approach

Question 13

What does the reflective approach describe?

Answer 13

the meaning lies in the object, idea, person -> language reflects or imitates the truth of the world (mimetic theory)

pro: we have a system of mental represent.; con: some things dont exist?

Question 14

What does the intentional approach describe?

Answer 14

Words mean what the author/speaker intends them to mean

meaning comes solely from speaker

pro: we refer back to individual experience to communicate; con: without shared code it’s impossible to communicate with others

Question 15

What does the constructionist/constructivist approach describe?

Answer 15

meaning is constructed using the representational systems (signs and concepts)

more focus on social character of language

The meaning is therefore not delivered through the thing itself but through the (language) system we use to communicate concepts
The sign assigned to a concept symbolises or represents it – it signifies it

Question 16

What are important models in the constructionist approach?

Answer 16

• Semiotic approach by De Saussure
• Discursive approach by Foucault

Question 17

What does the semiotic approach describe?

Answer 17

• language is a system of signs
• to communicate ideals we need shared convention/system/code
• language is arbitrary
• meanings can shift
• there is no true meaning
• interpretation is an essential part of communication
• language is always somewhat imprecise

Question 18

What is the signifier & signified?

Answer 18

• signifier: the word, art, music, text
• signified: the concept the signifier references

Question 19

What is langue and parole?

Answer 19

• langue: the structure of language that enables communication
• parole: action acts of communication

language is social part of language, parole indiv. act of communication

meaning is created from dynamics between concepts and their differences but also binary oppositions e.g. day vs. dark -> but grey? -> critique to Saussure’s theory

Question 20

What is a huge critique point to de Saussure’s work?

Answer 20

his attempt of structuralism is incompatible with the constantly moving nature of language, also he concentrated too much on formal aspects of language & only focused on signifier & signified instead of referent too

Question 21

What is semiotics?

Answer 21

study of signs -> all cultural objects convey meaning, so they must use signs

Roland Barthes, Lévi-Strauss are representatives here

broader, cultural examples

Question 22

What is a Denotation?

Answer 22

simple, agreeable meaning; descriptive level

by Roland Barthes

Question 23

What is a Connotation?

Answer 23

associated meanings

First layer: signifer + signified
Second layer: sign + signification (=myth)
e.g. Signifier 1 = French flag; signified 1 = colored piece of cloth this becomes a signifier which means being French (symbol of national identity, secondary sign is the connotation to it)

Question 24

What are some critiques to the semiotic approach?

Answer 24

• treats language as a closed, rather static system
• more concerned with the application of the language model
• subject was removed from the centre of language
• doesn’t focus on knowledge and power

Question 25

What is Discourse in Linguistics?

Answer 25

passages of connected writing or speech

Question 26

What is Discourse for Foucault?

Answer 26

'a group of statements which provide a language for talking about – a way of representing the knowledge about – a particular topic at a particular historical moment’ | Discourse is about language and practice

Question 27

What is Discourse?

Answer 27

- it's about the production of knowledge through language - defines and produces the objects of our knowledge - rules in & out things we can/can't talk, write, think about - constructs the topic

Question 28

How does a thought become a Discourse?

Answer 28

- way of thinking/state of knowledge at one particular time (=episteme) - discourse appears across number of text, is implemented as a code of conduct at institutional sites within society - if these discursive events refer to the same object/share a common strategy/approach to institutions, administrations or politics -> discursive formation | meaning and meaningful practices are constructed in the discourse ## Footnote nothing has meaning outside of discourse -> context of object use!!!

Question 29

Discourse Analysis - Madness and Sexuality

Answer 29

1. statements about madness/sexuality which give us a certain knowledge about them 2. rules which govern the ways of talking or not talking about these topics – at a particular historical moment 3. ‘subjects’ which in some way personify the discourse 4. how this knowledge about a topic acquires authority, comes to embody the ‘truth’ about it 5. the practices within institutions to for dealing with the subjects of the discourse 6. acknowledge that a different episteme or discourse will arise at a later historical moment

Question 30

What does historicising discourse mean?

Answer 30

that meaning and 'truth' of things was only true and meaningful in a specific historical context ## Footnote Knowledge and practices about and within these subjects was both historically and culturally specific – they could not exist outside of their specific discourses Representation is no longer merely a formal theory, it now has a historical and practical context of operatio

Question 31

What does Foucault's research to power and knowledge say?

Answer 31

- Power works within an institutional apparatus and its technologies (techniques) - The apparatus is always part of a play of power - consists in ‘strategies of relations of forces supporting and supported by types of knowledge’ - Knowledge is always intertwined with relations of power, because knowledge is always used in the regulation social conduct in practice

Question 32

Foucault vs. Marx?

Answer 32

Marx saw ideas as reflecting class power and believed in objective truth, while Foucault rejected class reductionism, viewing truth as shaped by shifting discourses of power. | Gramsci had a middle position -> no class reductionism -> hegemony

Question 33

What is hegemony?

Answer 33

certain groups in society—like political parties, religious organizations, or cultural movements—want others to agree with their way of thinking and behaving. To do this, they "struggle" to persuade people to see the world their way.

Question 34

What does knowledge and power have authority over?

Answer 34

to make itself true -> All knowledge, once applied in the real world, has real consequences and effects, and through this, at least, becomes true -> regime of truth ## Footnote Power and knowledge are inseparable; every power relation generates knowledge, and every form of knowledge sustains power relations.

Question 35

What is the power structure?

Answer 35

Power is not solely top-down but circulates through localized mechanisms and tactics, shaping bodies and discourse. It is both restrictive and productive, generating new knowledge, strategies, and forms of control and resistance. ## Footnote micro-physics of power are applied to the body (physical and the one produced in discourse

Question 36

How is the subject treated in Discourse?

Answer 36

De Saussure and Foucault both minimize the role of the subject, seeing discourse as the source of meaning and knowledge. While traditional views see the subject as autonomous and self-originating, Foucault argues that subjects are shaped by discursive formations and regimes of truth. | The discourse produces the subject. ## Footnote Even if other people misunderstand us – we always understand ourselves, because we were the source of the meaning in the first place

Question 37

Where is the individual made subject in?

Answer 37

- subject to someone else's control - tied to one's own identity by a conscience and self-knowledge ## Footnote subject is radically historicised & can't operate outside power/knowledge

Question 38

How are subjects produced in Discourse?

Answer 38

- Figures embodying specific forms of knowledge shaped by historical and cultural context - individuals to adopt a specific viewpoint to engage with the power/knowledge it conveys, while simultaneously being subjected to it ## Footnote figures: e.g., the "hysterical woman" engage with it: women consuming male-oriented pornography

Question 39

What happens in Velasquezs Las Meninas regarding the subject?

Answer 39

subject is destabilized as the viewer, artist, and figures within the painting are entangled. For Foucault, it illustrates how subjects are produced through relations of gaze, representation, and discourse rather than being autonomous

Question 40

What has meaning outside of discourse?

Answer 40

NOTHING