U3 Focus Questions Flashcards
What is the “talking heads” model of communication?
The way Roy Harris refers to Saussure’s general linguistics. A view that communication is a strictly mental process that involves coding (producing of language) and decoding (understanding language)
What is effective semiotics?
“the investigation of effective semiosis or the way signs have meaning by virtue of their actual uses”
Meaning as use: the way we make meaning in our everyday lives
Historicity, community, situational meaning
How does effective semiotics differ from general linguistics?
General linguistics AKA “talking heads” claims that information is sent from one person and received by another, thus making communication a strictly mental process that involves coding and decoding of info, where semiotics sees meaning beyond the mental capacity
What are the implications of effective semiotics with regard to the practice of lit theory and criticism?
To establish key theoretical models that can provide insights so that the connection of the texts to broader meaning structures within literary practices can be better understood. It connects the literary text to the “universe of signs” and thus to the network of sign systems that interact to imbue the text with its particular, historically based meanings
How does McHoul’s approach to language compare to Leith’s social history of English?
Both examine how people construct meaning as use. Semiosis, therefore, becomes the study of meaning-as-use, which is not dissimilar from Leith’s focus on the role of social function in the development of the English language
What are some of the potential implications of McHoul’s approach with respect to (a) understanding communication in everyday life and (b) community formation?
(a) Understanding communication in everyday life: Effective semiotics emphasizes the embodied and context-dependent nature of communication. It recognizes that meaning is not solely derived from linguistic signs but also from non-verbal cues, gestures, and other embodied aspects of communication.
(b) Communication is seen as a social practice that plays a vital role in constructing and sustaining collective identities, shared meanings, and social bonds within a community. It investigates the role of communication in shaping community boundaries, inclusion and exclusion mechanisms, and processes of identity negotiation. By examining the communicative practices within a community, effective semiotics helps us understand the processes through which communities are formed, sustained, and transformed over time.
How might community relevances factor into the analysis of a literary work?
They impact the preconceived ideas the reader has, how/where they read the text, the people they talk to about it, why they read it, etc. Culture and community also shape reception because they determine what is practical to read and what will become popular
How are you situated with respect to the photograph of Sarah Burge at the beginning of “Framing Photographs,” and how does this shape your understanding or use of the text?
Photographs are “taken.” Who is taken, by whom, and with what?
What is the space of the effective, and how might it contribute to understanding your own reading practices?
Looking at things in terms of inside the frame (the syntax of its composition) and outside the frame (the context). It is the space of the frame, of possible geneses and structures, possible referents and institution, and possible reinterpretations
