Semiotic Analysis of Texts

Definition
n Semiotics: Study of signs;
 Definition
n Semiotics: Study of signs;
n Science that studies the role of signs as part
of social life;
n
 Definition
n Semiotics: Study of signs;
n Science that studies the role of signs as part
of social life;
n Sign: Anything that carries meaning
n
 Definition
n Science that studies the role of signs as part
of social life;
n Sign: Anything that carries meaning
n Semiotics: Study of signs;
n Text: world of signs;
 “an assemblage of signs (such as words,
images, sounds and gestures) constructed
and interpreted with reference to the
conventions associated with a genre and in
a particular medium of communication”


 Development of
Semiotics
n Developed under Peirce (1839-1914) and
Saussure (1857-1913) but acquired most
significance under Roland Barthes (1915-
1980) for his exploration of the political
dimension of social communication;
 Development of
Semiotics
n Developed under Peirce (1839-1914) and
Saussure (1857-1913) but acquired most
significance under Roland Barthes (1915-
1980) for his exploration of the political
dimension of social communication;
n Politics/Ideology: ‘all social behavior is
political since it reflects some personal or
group interest’.
n
 Development of
Semiotics
n Developed under Peirce (1839-1914) and
Saussure (1857-1913) but acquired most
significance under Roland Barthes (1915-
1980) for his exploration of the political
dimension of social communication;
n Politics/Ideology: ‘all social behavior is
political since it reflects some personal or
group interest’.
n Politics is another name for the clash of
ideologies that takes place in any complex
society where the interests of all those
who belong to it constantly compete with
one another.
 Development of
Semiotics
n Developed under Peirce (1839-1914) and Saussure
(1857-1913) but acquired most significance under
Roland Barthes (1915-1980) for his exploration of
the political dimension of social communication;
n Politics/Ideology: ‘all social behavior is political since
it reflects some personal or group interest’.
n Politics is another name for the clash of ideologies
that takes place in any complex society where the
interests of all those who belong to it constantly
compete with one another.
n Semiotic analysis reveals political values subtly
concealed behind an apparently apolitical façade
of a film.


n
Semiotic Interpretation
n Difference between questions:
 What made Beatles so good vs What made
Beatles so big?

Semiotic Interpretation
n Difference between questions:
 What made Beatles so good vs What made
Beatles so big?
n Meaning of a thing lies largely in its relations
to other things, both in its similarities and
differences
Semiotic Interpretation
n Difference between questions:
 What made Beatles so good vs What made
Beatles so big?
n Meaning of a thing lies largely in its relations
to other things, both in its similarities and
differences.
n By establishing these relationships, one
identifies the system in which a sign
works.
n
Semiotic Interpretation
n Difference between questions:
 What made Beatles so good vs What made
Beatles so big?
n Meaning of a thing lies largely in its relations
to other things, both in its similarities and
differences.
n By establishing these relationships, one
identifies the system in which a sign
works.
n Mythologies: systems of values/beliefs that
govern our behavior in a culture, i.e.,
gender roles, etc.
 Importance of
Studying Semiotics
n Why study semiotics:

A)It helps us not to take ‘reality’ for granted as

having a purely objective existence,
independent of human interpretation;

B)

 Importance of
Studying Semiotics
n Why study semiotics:
 A) It helps us not to take ‘reality’ for granted
as having a purely objective existence,
independent of human interpretation;
 B) Teaches us that reality is a system of signs;
n
 Importance of
Studying Semiotics
n Why study semiotics:
 A) It helps us not to take ‘reality’ for granted
as having a purely objective existence,
independent of human interpretation;
 B) Teaches us that reality is a system of signs;
 C) Assists us to become more aware of reality
as a construction and the roles played by
ourselves and others in constructing it;
n
 Importance of
Studying Semiotics
n Why study semiotics:
A) It helps us not to take ‘reality’ for granted as
having a purely objective existence,
independent of human interpretation;
B) Teaches us that reality is a system of signs;
C) Assists us to become more aware of reality as
a construction and the roles played by
ourselves and others in constructing it;
D) Helps us realize that information or meaning
is not ‘contained’ in the world or in books,
computers or audio-visual media.
n
 Importance of
Studying Semiotics
 E) Helps us understand that meaning is not
‘transmitted’ to us –we actively create it
according to a complex interplay of codes or
conventions of which we are normally
unaware;



 Importance of
Studying Semiotics
 E) Helps us understand that meaning is not
‘transmitted’ to us –we actively create it
according to a complex interplay of codes or
conventions of which we are normally
unaware;
 F) Becoming aware of such codes is
fascinating and intellectually empowering;
n
 Importance of
Studying Semiotics
 E) Helps us understand that meaning is not
‘transmitted’ to us –we actively create it
according to a complex interplay of codes or
conventions of which we are normally
unaware;
 F) Becoming aware of such codes is
fascinating and intellectually empowering;
 G) By making more explicit the codes by
which signs are interpreted we perform the
valuable semiotic function of
‘denaturalizing’ signs;

 Importance of
Studying Semiotics
E) Helps us understand that meaning is not
‘transmitted’ to us –we actively create it
according to a complex interplay of codes or
conventions of which we are normally
unaware;
F) Becoming aware of such codes is fascinating
and intellectually empowering;
G) By making more explicit the codes by which
signs are interpreted we perform the valuable
semiotic function of ‘denaturalizing’ signs;
H) Deconstructing and contesting the realities of
signs can reveal whose realities are privileged
and whose are suppressed;
n
 Importance of
Studying Semiotics
E) Helps us understand that meaning is not


‘transmitted’ to us –we actively create it according

to a complex interplay of codes or conventions of
which we are normally unaware;

F) Becoming aware of such codes is fascinating and



intellectually empowering;

G) By making more explicit the codes by which signs



are interpreted we perform the valuable semiotic

function of ‘denaturalizing’ signs;

H) Deconstructing and contesting the realities of signs



can reveal whose realities are privileged and whose

are suppressed;

I) To decline such a study is to leave to others the



control of the world of meanings which we

inhabit;
Results of Semiotic
Analysis
n Cultural Values;
n
Results of Semiotic
Analysis
n Cultural Values;
n Personal identity;
n
Results of Semiotic
Analysis
n Cultural Values;
n Personal identity;
n Patterns of behavior;
n

n
Results of Semiotic
Analysis
n Cultural Values;
n Personal identity;
n Patterns of behavior;
n Cultural differences;
n
 Structure of Signs
n Saussure offered a ‘dyadic’ or two-part
model of the sign:
 a ‘signifier’ – the form which the sign
takes;
 the ‘signified’ – the concept it
represents;
 Structure of Signs
n Saussure offered a ‘dyadic’ or two-part
model of the sign:
 a ‘signifier’ – the form which the sign
takes;
 the ‘signified’ – the concept it
represents;
n Signs are arbitrary; makes sense through
their relations to one another, i.e., word
‘tree’ no relation to the actual object;
n
 Structure of Signs
n Saussure offered a ‘dyadic’ or two-part
model of the sign:
 a ‘signifier’ – the form which the sign
takes;
 the ‘signified’ – the concept it
represents;
n Signs are arbitrary; makes sense through
their relations to one another, i.e., word
‘tree’ no relation to the actual object;
n Sign is more than the sum of its parts, i.e.,
the French word ‘mouton’ may mean
‘sheep’ but does not have same value.
Arbitrariness of the
Sign
n Radical concept because it proposes the
autonomy of language in relation to
reality;
Arbitrariness of the
Sign
n Radical concept because it proposes the
autonomy of language in relation to
reality;
n Language does not ‘reflect’ reality; it
constructs it.
n
Arbitrariness of the
Sign
n Radical concept because it proposes the
autonomy of language in relation to
reality;
n Language does not ‘reflect’ reality; it
constructs it.
n Since no one-to one link between signifier
and signified, signs have multiple rather
than single meaning.
n
Arbitrariness of the
Sign
n Radical concept because it proposes the
autonomy of language in relation to
reality;
n Language does not ‘reflect’ reality; it
constructs it.
n Since no one-to one link between signifier
and signified, signs have multiple rather
than single meaning.
n Relationship between signifier and signified
is conventional;
n
Arbitrariness of the
Sign
n Radical concept because it proposes the
autonomy of language in relation to
reality;
n Language does not ‘reflect’ reality; it
constructs it.
n Since no one-to one link between signifier
and signified, signs have multiple rather
than single meaning.
n Relationship between signifier and signified
is conventional;
n Every sign acquires a history which are
familiar to members of the sign-users’
culture;