semiotics- introduction
Semiotics is one of the most popular subjects today, especially in relation to media. It is because this subject provides: a clear idea of what to look at when analyzing the meaning of media messages; explains why the media have differential effects; enables the observer to analyze the structure of media messages without ignoring the interpretive processes of the audience.
What is Semiotics?1 The shortest definition is that it is the study of signs2. But that doesn't leave enquirers much wiser. ‘What do you mean by a sign?’ people usually ask next. The kinds of signs that are likely to spring immediately to mind are those which we routinely refer to as ‘signs’ in everyday life, such as road signs, religious signs and public utility signs. If you were to agree with them that semiotics can include the study of all these and more, people will probably assume that semiotics is about ‘visual signs’. You would confirm their notion if you said that signs can also be drawings, paintings and photographs. Further we should know that it also includes words, sounds and ‘body language’.3 “It is... possible to conceive of a science which studies the role of signs as part of social life. It would form part of social psychology, and hence of general psychology. We shall call it semiology (from the Greek semeîon, ‘sign’). It would investigate the nature of signs and the laws governing them.” Thus wrote the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913), a founder not only of linguistics but also of what is now more usually referred to as semiotics (in his Course in General Linguistics, 1916).4 Jensen (1995) adds: Evidence from twentieth-century Philosophy as well as different scientific fields also suggests that signs are the inescapable condition of knowledge. He goes on to say, “Piercean (referring to Charles Sanders Pierce) pragmatism gives us the insight that signs are the media through which we come to know what we can justify saying we know.”5In this paper my primary focus is on how Semiotics can be applied to media content. Usually by the term ‘media’ we mean ‘the media’ – books, newspapers, magazines, television, cinema, radio, social media and so forth. These communications media do make available a wide range3of messages and meanings. But the term ‘media’ refers more widely to all those things which are channels for communicating something and to that extent a large part of our experience of the world involves interaction with media. If this is so, then it is clearly both useful and interesting to find a way of understanding how these media are meaningful to us. In recent times, one of the most powerful and influential ways of thinking about media has been the semiotic approach.We will also try to explain what we mean by ‘media content’ and how semiotics is applied to media content in general. Since the scope of this paper is limited, I will only be looking at just one media content in particular, namely advertisements (that too advertisements in general). Later we will dwell very briefly on the semiotic power of the people. Before going into all that, a few words about the development of Semiotics are in order.
What is Semiotics?1 The shortest definition is that it is the study of signs2. But that doesn't leave enquirers much wiser. ‘What do you mean by a sign?’ people usually ask next. The kinds of signs that are likely to spring immediately to mind are those which we routinely refer to as ‘signs’ in everyday life, such as road signs, religious signs and public utility signs. If you were to agree with them that semiotics can include the study of all these and more, people will probably assume that semiotics is about ‘visual signs’. You would confirm their notion if you said that signs can also be drawings, paintings and photographs. Further we should know that it also includes words, sounds and ‘body language’.3 “It is... possible to conceive of a science which studies the role of signs as part of social life. It would form part of social psychology, and hence of general psychology. We shall call it semiology (from the Greek semeîon, ‘sign’). It would investigate the nature of signs and the laws governing them.” Thus wrote the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913), a founder not only of linguistics but also of what is now more usually referred to as semiotics (in his Course in General Linguistics, 1916).4 Jensen (1995) adds: Evidence from twentieth-century Philosophy as well as different scientific fields also suggests that signs are the inescapable condition of knowledge. He goes on to say, “Piercean (referring to Charles Sanders Pierce) pragmatism gives us the insight that signs are the media through which we come to know what we can justify saying we know.”5In this paper my primary focus is on how Semiotics can be applied to media content. Usually by the term ‘media’ we mean ‘the media’ – books, newspapers, magazines, television, cinema, radio, social media and so forth. These communications media do make available a wide range3of messages and meanings. But the term ‘media’ refers more widely to all those things which are channels for communicating something and to that extent a large part of our experience of the world involves interaction with media. If this is so, then it is clearly both useful and interesting to find a way of understanding how these media are meaningful to us. In recent times, one of the most powerful and influential ways of thinking about media has been the semiotic approach.We will also try to explain what we mean by ‘media content’ and how semiotics is applied to media content in general. Since the scope of this paper is limited, I will only be looking at just one media content in particular, namely advertisements (that too advertisements in general). Later we will dwell very briefly on the semiotic power of the people. Before going into all that, a few words about the development of Semiotics are in order.
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