28th July 2017
Definition
What is Semiotics?
Semiotics is also known as semiotic studies.It is the study of meaning-making,the study of sign process (semiosis) and meaningful communication.It is not to be confused with the Saussurean tradition called semiology which is a subset of semiotics.This includes the study of signs and sign processes,indication,designation,likeness,analogy,allegory,metanoymy,metaphor,symbolism,signification,and communication.
Semiotics is an investigation into how meaning is created and how meaning is communicated. Its origins lie in the academic study of how signs and symbols (visual and linguistic) create meaning.
It is a way of seeing the world, and of understanding how the landscape and culture in which we live has a massive impact on all of us unconsciously.
Our actions and thoughts – what we do automatically – are often governed by a complex set of cultural messages and conventions, and dependent upon our ability to interpret them instinctively and instantly.
For instance, when we see the different colours of a traffic light, we automatically know how to react to them. We know this without even thinking about it. But this is a sign which has been established by cultural convention over a long period of time and which we learn as children, and requires a deal of unconscious cultural knowledge to understand its meaning.
Viewing and interpreting (or decoding) this sign enables us to navigate the landscape of our streets and society.
Semiotics Examples
Elements of Semiotics
Abstract
Semiotics is the academic field dedicated to the study of signs. A sign (for example, the word "ship") may be recognized by the presence of its constituent parts, which in semiotic theories based on Saussure's, at least, are the signifier (the container, or the sign's perceptible form: the letters s-h-i-p) and the signified (the meaning or content; the notion conveyed by the signifier: 'a vessel of considerable size for deepwater navigation'). With these concepts, general semiotics allows us to describe any system of signs: texts, images, performances, multimedia productions, traffic signals, fashion, daily life, etc. There are specific semiotic systems (for text, images, multimedia, and so on) that take into account the specifics of each system of signs.
Theory
In a nutshell, semiotics (or semiology) is the field of study that is concerned with signs and/or signification (the process of creating meaning). For several years now, the field of semiotics has been gaining momentum, due to the growth of multimedia, among other things.
Semiotics is not a single theory. There are, in fact, several semiotic theories. Some prominent people are associated with semiotics, including de Saussure, Peirce, Morris, Hjelmslev, Jakobson, Barthes, Greimas, and Eco (the famed author of the novel The Name of the Rose, upon which the movie of the same name is based). Some of the concepts of semiotics are also well known: signifier, signified, referent, paradigm, poetic function, isotopy, actantial model, semiotic triangle, semiotic square, open text, etc. Here and on other pages of Signo, you will find these names and concepts, as well as others. For supplemental reading, we have the excellent introductions to semiotics written by Eco (1988), Everaert-Desmedt (1990), Courtés (1991), and Klinkenberg (2000).
The notion of the sign can be described in several ways. Some definitions are functional: For example, the broadest definition, and one of the oldest, defines the sign as something that is used in place of something else (the something else may be interpreted as a signified or a referent, as we will see later). For instance, black is worn at a funeral not just for its own sake; it also signifies death, at least in our culture. Other definitions are based on the presence of the constituent elements of the sign, which vary from one theory to another.
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