Week 4

AC-1202 SEMIOTICS.

According Inskip,MacFarlane and Rafferty (2008, p.693) "Semiotics involves the study of signs and formalises an attempt to establish the meaning of these signs". It explains how discourses and ideologies are visually constructed and it helps us study about the culture and laws governing social life. In other words, it is concerned with anything that can mean something else.

In this post,7 areas of Semiotics will be covered which will be assist by using examples to explain each area.

First, the SIGNIFIER.

Signifier refers to the 5 senses we have; Sight,Smell,Touch,Sound and Taste. As stated by Griffin (2009, p.324) it is "The physical form of the sign as we precieve it through our senses; an image". For easier understanding, it could be seen as the words we read on pages or the oral voice we hear. Now, look at 'BARNEY'. Example,the letters "B A R N E Y" is the signifier of what we see with our sight sense.

From Signifier,it leads to SIGNIFIED.

Signified is the mental concept image generated from the Signifier. However, one Signifier can have many Signified. For example when we see "BARNEY", our mental conception can develop as the following;

Barney as the children mascot.

Barney as Barney Stinson

Barney as Barneys New York, an American chain of luxury department store.

When both Signifier and Signified are add together,it equals to SIGN.

Signifier + Signified=Sign.

The letters of 'B A R N E Y S T I N S O N', detected by our sight sense (SIGNIFIER) + the mental image formed by looking at the letters of 'B A R N E Y S T I N S O N' (SIGNIFIED) = the word BARNEY STINSON (SIGN).

There are three types of sign;

1. Symbolic (abstract)

2. Indexical (less abstract)

3. Icon (almost life like)

Fourth is the DENOTATION.

" 'Denotation' tends to be described as the defintional, 'literal', 'obvious', or 'commonsense' meaning of a sign." (Chandler, 2002, p. 140). It literally describe the meaning of signifier or sign.

For example, in this image the dennotation would be; 'A man with blonde hair is wearing a black suit and white shirt. He is holding a glass of wine in his right hand while his left hand is holding a mobile phone to his ear'.

Next is CONNOTATION.

Chandler (2002, p.140) defines "The term 'connotation' is used to refer to the socio-cultural and 'personal' associations (ideological, emotional, etc.) of the sign". It basically means, the representation and concept of the sign.

The picture above, Barney Stinson is the sign. Therefore we connotes that he is 'Confused,Surprised or Worried'.

Then there is the CODES.

Martin Irvine (2004-2005) point out that "We know what they mean if we belong to the learned, rule-governed, shared-code group using one of these kinds and styles of language." In other words,it is the set of rules or cultural codes agreed upon by a community. A simple example would be, a famous quote from "How I Met Your Mother" tv series, "It's going to be legendary!". This quote have been used over and over again in today's every normal conversation. Anyone who watch the series would understand what the quote means or where it comes from. While the others who are not familiar with the series would not understand what the quote is about. Therefore without the knowledge of knowing a cultural code, the interpratation of the sign cannot be understood by others.

Finally, we have reach the last area of Semiotics, the ANCHORAGE.

Anchorage or Anchoring is a very powerful semiotic tool that shapes how we view and see things. It holds down a certain or specific meaning of interpretation, because without it, the interpretation of an image can go in any direction. This is especially very important to the advertising companies.

Can you see the different between the two pictures above? The first picture can be interpreted as anything. It could be intreperted as a photo of fashion magazine,where by the male chracter is posing with the suit to attract consumers.

However, in the second picture, we could see a quote saying "When I'm sad I stop being sad and be AWESOME instead". This can be interperted as a motivational quotes to readers to not dwell on their sadness so much and see a brighter side.

References List;

Chandler, D. (2002). Semiotics: The Basics. New York; Routledge.

Griffin, E. (2009) A first look at communication theory. (7th ed,) Glencoe, IL:McGrawHill.

Inskip, C., MacFarlane, A. & Rafferty, P. (2008). Meaning, communication, music: towards a revised communication model. Journal of Documentation, 64(5), 693.

Irvine,M. (2004-2005). Media Theory and Semiotics: Key Terms and Concepts. Retrieved February, 14, 2012, from http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/theory/Theory-KeyTerms.html