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Semiotics of Roland BarthesChapter 26Making of Myth: Stripping the Sign of its Historyp. 336

1Semiotics of Roland BarthesA sign is the combination of signifier and signified.A sign does not stand on its own: it is part of a system

2Signifier

2.SignifiedConvictedPrison TermRepentantForgivenRelief

Denotative SystemSignWelcome homeYellow Ribbon(forgiveness)

I. SignifierGuided Smart BombsIntercepted Scud MissilesShock and aweToppled SaddamMission accomplishedII. SignifiedYellow RibbonPride in VictoryWelcome-homeII. Sign

Connotative System

Figure 26-1 p. 336 Denotative sign system is a descriptive sign without ideological content. A connotative System is a second-order semiological system built off a preexisting sign system. The sign of the first system becomes the signifier of the second.The transformation of the yellow ribbon symbol has transformed into an ideological sign.Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree was a best-selling pop song of 1972 in the US.

3Sharpen your focusWhat are the signifier and signified of a favorite item of clothing or jewelry?

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Visual_Rhetoric/Semiotics_of_Fashion

Signifier

2.SignifiedWorking ManComfort1853DurabilityMasculinity

SignAmericanIconic brand

Levis: Made in China?The classic American clothing company, Levi Strauss, is shutting its domestic factories and moving all production to China, leaving behind an increasingly anxious U.S. garment industry. Levi 1853: http://collectibles.about.com/od/cowboyheroes/a/joecarolevi.htm History of jeans: http://jeans-history.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html

Can you think of a way that this sign has already been stripped of history?http://www.alternet.org/story/13095/levis%3A_made_in_china/

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