Week 6, Semiotics and Structuralism Flashcards
Structuralism
Ferdinand de Saussure
Structure makes meanings possible.
What is the underlying structure and how does it make particular meanings possible?
What are the two components of sign?
Signifier and the signified
Signifier
Form of the sign, has to mean something.
Ex. The literal word for “cat”.
Signified
Meaning.
Ex. if the signifier is cat then the signified is a four legged, feline creature we often keep as a house pet and that Kara would like to adopt.
The relationship between the signifier and the signified is
arbitrary, but culturally agreed upon.
Language can be divided into
langue and parole.
Langue
Structure.
System of language, rules and conventions that organize language in institution.
The rules of chess.
Parole
Performance.
Individual utterance/use of language.
The game of chess itself.
Semiotics
The study of signs and the meanings they produce.
Roland Barthes.
Roland Barthes applied semiotics to a range of media texts in order to make visible
“what goes without saying”, or, the ideological meanings embedded within media images.
Roland Barthes treated popular culture objects and media texts as
signs that can be read for meaning.
Saussure’s model only provides ___ signification and Barthes argues that a ___ signification is needed.
Saussure’s model only provides primary signification and Barthes argues a secondary signification is needed.
Primary signification
Denotation
Secondary signification
Connotation
Social knowledge is necessary.
Where ideological meanings are formed.
Barthe’s concept of Myth
To understand how meanings are produced by popular culture.
Ideology is understood as a body of ideas and practices, which, defend the prevailing structures of society.
Myth is produced in connotation, in Barthe’s second level of signifier-signified model.
