SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS

15th April 2014

Semiotics

Ferdinand de Saussure (“so-SIR”) (1857-1913) “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.”

Although the earliest origins of semiotics can be traced back to Aristotle and Augustine, it didn’t begin to be fully developed until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Semiotics is a broad topic which can be applied to many different fields, including media studies, theatre and music and art.

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Introduction

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There are many different ways to analyse qualitative data

Semiotics is one approach to analysing and interpreting qualitative data

Written Record

Data Analysis Approach

Data Collection Technique

Research Method

Philosophical Assumptions

Semiotics4

Semiotics is primarily concerned with the analysis of signs and symbols and their meaning

Signs and symbols can be studied, not only in language (both written and spoken forms), but also in rituals, culture, images and art – in fact, anything that can be ‘read’ as text

Semiotic researchers do not study signs in isolation, rather they study the conventions governing the use of signs and sign systems

Semiotics defined5

‘Semiotics is concerned with everything that can be taken as a sign’ (Eco, 1976: 7)

Words, images, actions and objects can all be studied as signs, as long as they have been recorded in some way and can be studied (e.g. in writing or on video) 

Nöth (1990) refers to semiotics as the ‘science of meaning’

An approach to semiotic analysis (Hackley, 2003)

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Questions to ask: What does X signify to me?

Why does X signify this to me?

What might X signify for others?

Why might X signify this for others?

Possible sources of X:Objects (visual semiosis): For example, clothes, hairstyles,

make-up styles, the ways objects are used by people . . .

Gesture (bodily semiosis): For example, body types, facial types, expressive gestures, facial expressions, posture, gaze . . .

Speech (verbal semiosis): For example, use of idiomatic expressions, regional or national accent or dialect, use of metaphor/metonymy, tone and volume of speech . . .

Semiotics

Basically, semiotics is the study of signs and their meanings! Signs include words, gestures, images, sounds, and objects.

According to Ferdinand de Saussure, a founder of modern semiotics, sign consists of two parts: the signifier (the form which the sign takes) and the signified (the concept represents).

Symbols

Signifier

Signified

Schoolhouse

Education Education

Semiotics concepts9

1. Signifier and signified2. Sign, object and interpretant3. Icon, index and symbol4. Encoding and decoding5. Pragmatic, semantic and syntactic6. Syntagmatic analysis7. Paradigmatic analysis8. Polysemy

Semiotics

For example, an everyday example is a stop sign. In thisexample, the physical sign is the signifier. The concept of stopping is the signified.

=the signifier

STOP!!! =the signified

Semiotics

However, signfiers can have multiple signifieds. Take the colorred for example:

RED

APPLE

LoveFIRE

Blood

Sign

A sign is an entity which signifies another entity.

We make meanings through our creation and interpretation of signs. Charles Sanders Peirce (“purse”) (1839 –1914)

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Signs13

The meaning of signs is arbitrary. In principle, anything could stand for anything else. It is the cultural context that frames the interpretation of signs with localized meanings (Hackley, 2003: 162)

A sign can mean one thing in one particular cultural context, but mean something quite different in another

Signs can also change their meaning over time Semiotics has been used especially in information

systems, management, marketing and organizational studies

Marketing researchers have used semiotics in research on advertising, brand image and marketing communications (Hackley, 2003)

Sign

Whether something is a sign depends on a sentiment entity ascribing it with meaning.

Nothing is a sign unless it is interpreted as a sign. Anything can be a sign as long as it is interpreted

as signifying something.

Green Leaf Drying

Koko the Gorilla

Koko understands signs

Signifier is physical, sensual

Signified is psychological

Dyadic Model(Saussure)

Signified is psychological

Components of a Sign

•Signified•Signifier

Commonsense dictates that the signified, the concept, is primary. Signified originates in the mind. It is psychological.However, the signifier, the medium of expression is just as important because it is physical. The word “Tree”

Signifier is physical, sensual

Dyadic Model(Saussure)

Signifier and signified18

Saussure distinguished between two things: The signifier is a sign or symbol that can

stand for something else. By definition, all words are signifiers since they always stand for something else (e.g. a thought, a feeling, or a thing). A signifier is used by the person wanting to communicate

The signified is what the sign or symbol represents – what it is interpreted to mean by the receiver of the communication

Sign, object and interpretant

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Peirce distinguished between three things: The sign that stands for something else The object it refers to (what the sign represents) The interpretant (usually a person) who fulfils the

office of an interpreter – this refers to the interpretation placed on the sign

Peirce’s view recognizes that the same sign can have different meanings depending upon the context

the interpretant becomes the representamen for another, interrelated sign

Triadic Model(Peirce)

Object

Signified by the Interpretant

Signifier

Icon, index and symbol21

An icon is a sign that signifies its meaning by qualities of its own; it is like the thing it represents (e.g. the icon of a trash can on Apple and Windows computers)

A sign can also act as an index: An indexical sign points to or indicates something else. For

example, a wavy line on a road might ‘point to’ bends in the road a few hundred yards ahead. A picture of a silhouette of a man on a door might ‘point to’ or indicate that a men’s bathroom is right here behind this door (Hackley, 2003: 167)

 A symbol is something that stands for or is symbolic of something else

Arbitrary or purely conventional100% needs to be learnedlanguage in general, alphabet, punctuation marks,

numbers, Morse code, traffic lights

Symbol

What are some Symbols?

Wordswords words

– Resembling or imitating the signified– similar in some quality– portrait, cartoon, onomatopoeia, metaphors,

sound effects imitative gestures

Icons

What are some Icons?

“Chirp chirp”“miu miu”“vroooom”

– existential connection to the signified– evidence, smoke, footprints, pain,

thermometer, clock, knock on a door, photograph, handwriting

Index

What are each of these?

Icon of a real-world symbol(street sign): Index

Symbol

Symbols

Icons

Icon: Road Sign

Symbol: The letters on it

Index: The picture of it

Icon, Symbol and Index. Signs can be one, two or all three of these at once.

Semiotics is about a System of Meaning

Signs don’t have an essential or intrinsic connection to nature.

Meaning is structural and relational rather than referential.

Signs refer primarily to each other. Signs only make sense as part of a

formal, generalized and abstract system.

Semiotics is about a System of Meaning

The word “cat” only makes sense in relation to other words: “dog” “animal” “pet” “owner” “cute” “purr” “lick” “hunt”

The word “cat” has more in common with other words than it does an actual cat

purr

lick

dog

animal

pet

owner

hunt

cute

Semiotic Terms

Semantics: the relations of signs to their contexts and to what they signify.

Syntactics: the kinds of signs, their ordering, and their relations to one another.

Pragmatics: the ways in which signs are used and interpreted.

The Semiotic Square

Opposites give each other meaning. For example, black & white, love & hate.

Binary Opposition: One signifier (A) vs. another signifier (B) For example, good guy vs. bad guy.

Semiotic Square: A visual representation of the logical articulations of any semantic category.

http://www.increpare.com/square/semiotic1.php

approximatelyexactly

approximately not exactly

not approximatelyexactly

not approximatelynot exactly

Semiotic square

Structure Relationship Type

Relationship Elements

Complex Contrary S1 + S2

Neutral Contrary ~S2 + ~S1

Schema 1 Contradiction S1 + ~S1

Schema 2 Contradiction S2 + ~S2

Deixes 1 Implication ~S2 + S1

Deixes 2 Implication ~S1 + S2

S1 = positive semeS2 = negative semeS = complex axis (S1 + S2)~S = neutral axis (neither S1 nor S2)

The Greimas Square is a model based on relationships:

The Semiotic Square

Example

The Semiotic square - also known as Greimas' rectangle or semantic rectangle - is a way of classifying concepts which are relevant to a given opposition of concepts, such as feminine-masculine, beautiful-ugly, etc. and of extending the relevant ontology. It has been put forth by Lithuanian linguist and semiotician Algirdas Julien Greimas, and was derived from Aristotle's logical square or square of opposition.Starting from a given opposition of concepts S1 and S2, the semiotic square entails first the existence of two other concepts, namely ~S1 and ~S2, which are in the following relationships:S1 and S2: oppositionS1 and ~S1, S2 and ~S2: contradictionS1 and ~S2, S2 and ~S1: complementarityThe semiotic square also produces, second, so-called meta-concepts, which are compound ones, the most important of which are:S1 and S2neither S1 nor S2For example, from the pair of opposite concepts masculine-feminine, we get:S1: masculineS2: feminine~S1: not-masculine~S2: not-feminineS1 and S2: masculine and feminine, i.e. hermaphrodite, bi-sexualneither S1 nor S2: neither masculine nor feminine, asexual

Semiotic Square

The semiotic square diagrams the ways in which, starting from any given term, a complete meaning system can be derived through exhaustion of logical possibilities. This is accomplished by developing the traditional logical concepts of contradictory (diagonal arrows) and contrary (horizontal arrow)

Language is Binaristic and NegativeThings are defined not by what they are, but by what they are not.

Cat vs. Dog Man vs. Woman Nature vs. Culture Good vs. Evil Yes vs. No Black vs. White 0 vs. 1 Life vs. Death Gay vs. Straight Up vs. Down Pretty vs. Ugly

• Cold vs. Hot• Happy vs. Sad• Sleep vs. Awake• Free vs. Pay• Pretty vs. Ugly• West vs. East• Paper vs. Plastic• Republican vs.

Democrat • Healthy vs. Sick• Few vs. Many

Things are defined not by what they are, but by what they are not.

Red

Most of the information communicated is actually negative.

Red

Linguistic Signs are Immaterial(Saussure)

Word signifiers have no material value magically embedded in their sounds or appearance. This immateriality is their value. If linguistic signs draw attention to their materiality

this hinders their communicative transparency. New words can be invented or imported as needed

Olympic Style Guide for Beijing Citizens

No wearing pajamas in public

Semiotic Analysis

Semiotic Analysis

Olympic Style Guide for Beijing Citizens No more than three color groups in your clothing. No white socks with black leather shoes No public displays of affection When standing toes should point outwards Handshakes should not last more than 3 seconds

Semiotic Analysis

Man Sexy Healthy / Ripped Calvin Klein brand Comfortable Virility “Package” Inadequacy? Jealousy? Fear?

Semiotic Analysis

Corporate Propaganda Alienated (from brand) Black and white

form and mass rather than color

authenticity

What are potential unintended signifieds?

Matching Meaning

Connotation Figurative Signified Inferred Suggests

meaning Realm of

myth

Denotation Literal Signifier Obvious Describes Realm of

existence

Encoding and decoding48

The only way that messages can be sent from one person to another is via the use of a code

Encoding is the process of transforming any thought or communication into a message

Decoding is the process of reading the message and understanding what it means 

For example, consider the road code - only someone who can read the road signs correctly is allowed to obtain a driver’s license

Syntagmatic analysis49

Syntagmatic analysis involves studying the structure of a text and the relationships between its parts. There are three syntagmatic relationships (Chandler, 2008):

1. Sequential relationships, as found in film and television narrative sequences.

2. Spatial relationships, as found in posters and photographs (where signs and symbols are juxtaposed)

3. Conceptual relationships, such as in an argument

Paradigmatic analysis50

Paradigmatic analysis seeks to identify the various paradigms which underlie the content of texts

A paradigm ‘is a set of associated signifiers or signifieds which are all members of some defining category, but in which each is significantly different’ (Chandler, 2008)

A paradigmatic analysis involves studying ‘the oppositions and contrasts between the signifiers that belong to the same set from which those used in the text were drawn’ (Chandler, 2008)

Polysemy51

Texts and signs can have multiple meanings

Barthes suggests that all images are polysemous. Images imply a ‘floating chain’ of signifieds, with the reader able to choose some and ignore others (Barthes, 1985)

Scott (1994) says that meaning is not static and that the meaning of texts and signs is continually shifting

Intertextuality

Conscious or unconscious Parody

Style Genre

Quote Metaphor

Like or as Metonomy

Implied Association with known image

Nehru Topi Red rose

Codes

Audiences negotiate meaning Intended meaning Negotiated meaning Oppositional meaning

All-pervasive Specific Clear cut Personality, social roles, institutions, ideology Genre, formula Rituals, expectations

How to use semiotics54

The qualitative researcher using semiotics has to study the signs and symbols that are used in a particular domain and identify the conventions of their use

He or she has to decode the meanings conveyed by the signs

The idea is to uncover the rules that govern human behaviour

Critique of semiotics55

Semiotics is potentially a very powerful way of analysing and interpreting qualitative data in business and organizational settings

Semiotics is well-grounded in linguistics and structural anthropology – hence it is relatively easy to justify

One disadvantage of semiotics is its tendency to treat people as somewhat passive

Websites

http://www.chass.utoronto.ca:8080/epc/srb/cyber/cyber.html Cyber Semiotic Institute.

http://the-duke.duq-duke.duq.edu/notes/viz4/intro.htm What is Semiotics? http://www.letsdeviant.com/semioticslink.html Semiotics Links http://www.sla.purdue.edu/semiotics The American Journal of Semiotics http://www.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc_data/semiotics.html Semiotics -

University of Colorado and Denver http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/arts/music/semimusi.htm Bibliographic

sources http://www.aber.ac.uk/~dgc/semind.html Semiotics for Beginners http://www.newcastle.edu.au/department/fad/fi/woodrow/ semiotic.htm Semiotic Analysis of Images. http://www.hum.aau.dk/semiotics/ University of Aarhus Center for Semiotics

Homepage http://www.epas.utoronto.ca:8080/french/as-sa/EngSem1.html Sites of

Significance for Semiotics. http://

semiotics.nured.uowm.gr/docs/readings/Semiotics%20as%20a%20tool%20box.pdf Semiotics as tool box

DR ARCHANA R SINGH

archana@pu.ac.in