Assignment 1: Signs, Icons, Symbol

 Explanation of semiotics

Semiotics comes from the Greek Semios for sign and so is the study of signs. The concept of the sign is something that stands for something else. The study focuses more technically on looking at the the Signifier, such as the written or spoken word, which corresponds to a culturally determined meaning. This meaning is known as the signified. Modern semiotics is most heavily influenced by Ferdinand De Saussure and Charles S Pierce. (Berger, 2010,4)

Sign

According to Saussure the sign has two parts. The signifier and the signified. It is stressed that the relationship between these two terms, such as what a signifier signifies is not a natural or arbitrary and is based on social and cultural convention. Therefore signs can change their meaning over time as culture and convention change. The fact that signs are totally social constructed means that they can differ depending on a persons culture.  Signs can be studied in two ways, synchronically at a given point in time or diachronically as they develop with culture over time. A signs meaning depends heavily on ideas of opposition, something is defined by what it is not. (Berger, 2010, 5)

icon

An icon is one of the three types of Peirce’s definitions of signs. Icons signify by resemblance. Unlike a symbol  they do not need to be learned. A photograph of a car is iconic of a car as it resembles what it is trying to represent. The icon is not arbitrary as it must show what it is trying to represent and is based less so on cultural conventions making it differ from the symbol r the index. The signifier corresponds to the signified such as genedered airport signs or smoking area signs.  (Branston, Gill,  2003, 13)

 

Image result for iconic signs Bathroom signs  are iconic as they provide a resemblance to the thing they are attempting to signify.

Symbol

According to Saussure symbols are never completely arbitrary. They depend on the learning of the cultural meaning behind them in order for them to be understood. For example the colours green and red have no reason to be naturally attributed to stop and go. However they have been attributed cultural meaning so that when we see traffic lights we understand the symbolic significance of green meaning ‘Go’ and red meaning ‘Stop’.  Due to the historical and cultural importance of symbols they play a heavy role in shaping our behaviours. (Berger, 2010, 15)

 

Image result for symbolic signs stop A stop sign is symbolic of the action of the action of stopping. The word ‘STOP’ must be learned as referring to the action of stopping

Index

Indexical signs differ from the symbol and the icon as there is a casual link. There is no smoke without fire. when we see smoke we know it must have been caused by a fire. When we see someone sneeze we recognise the causal relationship between a sneeze and sickness. These relationships are not arbitrary unlike symbols.

 

Image result for footprints in the sand Footprints in the send are indexical as they indicate that a person has walked across the beach. We can infer the causal relationship between footprints and someone walking.

 

 Illustrate their differences

To summarise the differences between the symbol, the index and the icon. The symbol is a culturally learned arbitrary connection with the object it represents. The icon resembles the thing it is trying to represent and can be understood without cultural knowledge. The Index indicates a causal relationship that is not arbitrary but can be seen and understood.

 How semiotics may be used as a research method according to Berger as well as Branston and Stafford.

According to Branston and Stafford  Signs can be studied in two ways, synchronically at a given point in time or diachronically as they develop with culture over time. The study of semiotics offers an  understanding on how historical meanings have change over time and is used heavily in cultural studies. Semiotics also relates to the study of Marxist theories and psycho-analytics. It offers insights on how people consume media and attribute meaning to objects and signs that they encounter in their everyday lives. The fundamental question of semiotics is how meanings are formed. Therefore it has wide ranging potential for the study of consumption of media and how different cultures can attribute different meanings and why.

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