Unveiling Semiotics: Origin, Key Figures & Significance

1. SEMIOTICS

2. OVERVIEW What is it, where did it come from, and who was responsible for it?

3. Overview of Semiotics • What is “semiotics”? Derived from Greek word “semiotikos” meaning “interpreter of signs” • The study of how meaning is constructed and understood through the communication of signs and symbols

4. Overview of Semiotics • Historical figures include: • Henry Stubbes • John Locke • Charles Peirce • Ferdinand de Saussure

5. Prof. Anne-Flore MAMAN LARRAUFIE I) The Key Names of Semiology & Semiotics Comparative linguistics Philosophy of language Saussure Jackobson Lévi-Strauss Hjelmslev Greimas Barthes Peirce Eco

6. Overview of Semiotics • Henry Stubbes • In 1670, he was the first to use the word in English • Used to specify a specific branch of medical science responsible for the interpretation of signs.

7. Overview of semiotics • John Locke • In 1690, his publication, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, identified semiotics as being one of the three total divisions of science. • Explained it as “the doctrine of signs” founded on observation, not principle http://www.xwisee.com | mark.spivey@xwisee.com

8. Overview of Semiotics • Charles Peirce • Abstracted from general semiotics the notion of it’s practical use by intelligent agents capable of learning by experience • Charles Morris extended Peirce’s work beyond human communication to animal learning http://www.xwisee.com | mark.spivey@xwisee.com

9. Overview of Semiotics • Ferdinand de Saussure • Focused on the “social” aspects of semiotics by connecting it to the social sciences • Considered it complimentary to the scientific study of natural language known as “linguistics” http://www.xwisee.com | mark.spivey@xwisee.com

10. Signs According to Ferdinand de Sausurre, the founder of semiotics, a sign is composed of: • The signifier – the form the sign takes • The signified – the concept the sign represents Chandler, Daniel. Semiotics for Beginners. http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html

11. Humans seem to be driven by a desire to make meaning; we are meaning-makers • Signs take the form of words, images, sounds, odors, flavors, acts, or objects. • These have no intrinsic meaning; they become signs when we invest them with meaning. Meaning-Making

12. According to Charles Sanders Pierce . . . • “We think only in signs.” • “Nothing is a sign unless it is interpreted as a sign.” • Anything can be a sign as long as someone interprets it as “signifying” something – referring to or standing in for something other than itself.

14. The famous pipe. How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you stuff my pipe? No, it's just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture "This is a pipe," I'd have been lying! ~Rene Magritte Ceci n’est pas une pipe

15. What one must paint is the image of resemblance -- if thought is to become visible to the world.~Rene Magritte

16. The Arbitrary Nature of Language • “Central to Saussure‘s understanding of the linguistic sign is the arbitrary nature of the bond between signifier and signified.” • A word is really just an arbitrary label that we’ve been taught to use to express a particular concept or idea.

17. ~Lewis Carroll Through the Looking-Glass, Chapter VI: Humpty Dumpty

18. “Don‘t stand chattering to yourself like that,” Humpty Dumpty said, looking at her for the first time, “but tell me your name and your business.” “My name is Alice, but——” “It‘s a stupid name enough!” Humpty Dumpty interrupted impatiently. “What does it mean?” “Must a name mean something?” Alice asked doubtfully. “Of course it must,” Humpty Dumpty said with a short laugh: “my name means the shape I am—and a good handsome shape it is, too. With a name like yours, you might be any shape, almost.”

19. “There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents——” “Certainly,” said Alice. “And only one for birthday presents, you know. There‘s glory for you!” “I don‘t know what you mean by ‘glory‘,” Alice said. Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. “Of course you don‘t—till I tell you. I meant ‘there‘s a nice knock-down argument for you!” “But ‘glory‘ doesn‘t mean ‘a nice knock-down argument‘,” Alice objected. “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”

20. “Central to Saussure‘s understanding of the linguistic sign is the arbitrary nature of the bond between signifier and signified.” • A word is really just an arbitrary label that we’ve been taught to use to express a particular concept or idea. The Arbitrary Nature of Language

21. ~Ferdinand de Sausurre Language and writing are two distinct systems of signs;the second exists for the sole purpose of representing the first.

22. Words and signs can never fully articulate what they mean. • They can only be defined in relation to other words, from which they differ. • Meaning is perpetually deferred through and endless chain of signifiers. According to Jacques Derrida . . .

23. Each word (sign) contains a relation between a material substance (signifier) and a mental concept (signified). • Each word also contains a relation between itself and a system of signs outside itself. • This leads us to explore the notion of connotation . . . Spectrum of Meaning Experiment

24. Denotation – the basic meaning of a word, independent of its emotional coloration or associations • Connotation – the emotional implications and associations that words may carry, as distinguished from their denotative meanings. Denotation vs. Connotation

25. (1) private and personal, the result of individual experience, (2) group (national, linguistic, etc.), or (3) general universal, held by all or most people. Connotations can be . . .

26. Sign Signifier Signified Denotation Connotation

27. Think about a heart. Write down words/phrases/ideas associated with it

28. Blood Pump Muscle Life Red Emotions Feeling Strength Body Love Centre Care Organ Courage Bravery Sincerity Determination

29. But what are we actually thinking about?

30. Sort your words/phrases out into literal associations (actually referring to the heart) and connotations (referring to the idea of the heart – what the heart represents) Denotation Connotation

31. Denotations Connotations Heart

32. Denotations e.g. muscle Connotations Heart

33. Denotations e.g. muscle Connotations e.g. love Heart

34. Denotations e.g. muscle Pump Blood Organ Body Connotations e.g. love Heart

35. Denotations e.g. muscle Pump Blood Organ Body Connotations e.g. love Valentines Feelings Romance Sweet Heart

36. Denotations Connotations Spectacles/Glasses

37. Denotations Sight/Vision Optometry Eyes Long/short sighted Lenses Glass Connotations Spectacles/Glasses

38. Denotations Sight/Vision Optometry Eyes Long/short sighted Lenses Glass Connotations Intelligence Scientist Teacher ‘Boffin’ Physical weakness Spectacles/Glasses

39. Match the two parts of each sign together – pair the signifier (physical image or sound) with the phrase that describes what is signified (the concept being represented) • Sort your sign pairs into groups – see if you can figure out what they have in common with each other – if you need a hint, I will tell you how many different groups you should make Different Types of Signs

40. Icon – a sign that physically resembles what it stands for – a literal sign • Index – a sign which implies some other object or event – an implied sign • Symbol – a sign with a conventional or arbitrary relation to the signified – a learned sign Three Types of Signs