When analysing communication one of the most commonly used approaches is the semiotic approach. The semiotic approach is a qualitative method as it explores the qualities of individual texts. According to Berger, semiotic theory offers an explanation of how people find meaning in their everyday lives, and in the media they consume (2010, pg 10). Branston (2003) stresses that within semiotic analysis the audience are called ‘readers’ as a way to emphasise that semiotics is dealing with something constructed, not natural. Semiotic analysis is concerned with exploring the way in which meaning is communicated through signs. The unit of semiotics is a sign, which can be defined as something that represents or stands in for something else.
Saussure offered an insight into the roles of signs in society. He states that signs are composed of two key elements: a ‘signifier’ and a ‘signified’. The signifier is the physical form that the sign takes, for example, a written or spoken word. Whilst the signified is the mental concept triggered by the signifier. For example, the word HOUSE and a drawing of a house have a common signified, because whether you see the word or a picture you are going to think of the same concept. However, the physical form that each sign takes (the signifier) is different. In one, the signifier is a series of letters, whilst on the other hand, it is a series of ink marks arranged to resemble a house. Saussure believed that a sign will not have meaning by itself, and that meaning will depend on the relationship with other signs. Also, Saussure stated that symbols were never completely arbitrary, they have specific and significant historical and cultural meanings. These meanings are learnt through the socialisation process. For Saussure, the cultural meaning stems from a culture which is seen as a collection of codes. Codes play a fundamental role in the communication process. Communication can be understood as a process of encoding and decoding. Codes help us construct and communicate messages and meanings, and they help us to interpret/make sense of the texts we encounter in everyday life. For example, books, films and what we wear all communicate their meanings through a series of codes. Societal codes are a natural part of our experience even though they are, in fact, socially constructed.
Pierce has a different approach to semiotics than Saussure does (Berger, 2010). Pierce identified three different types of sign: icons, in
dexes and symbols. Iconic signs, or icons, are signs which communicate their signified through resemblance, by looking like their signified (or in certain cases, sounding or smelling like their signified). For example, the Coca-Cola advert, as seen here, features and iconic image of a Coca-Cola bottle. Indexical signs or indexes, are signs where there is a direct or natural association between the signifier and the signified. Smoke, for example, is indexical of fire as there is a natural link between smoke and fire. Symbolic signs or symbols are signs where the relationship between signifier and signified is agreed through convention rather than to do with any natural connection or physical resemblance. For example, there is no natural reason why a white dove physically resemble peace. Therefore, a dove is a symbolic sign. Similarly, the hearts that appear in the Coca-Cola advert are symbolic of love; it is commonly agreed that this is what the heart sign means within Western cultures.
The theory of semiotics eventually had a significant impact on the development of cultural studies and media studies. For example, Roland Barthes employed semiology to analyse contemporary cultural practices such as fashion. Modern society can be interpreted as a system of languages, hence semiotics has contributed to the contemporary reformulation of the notion of ideology.
References:
Berger, A. A. (2010).
The objects of affection: semiotics and consumer culture. London: Palgrave Macmillan. (chapter 1: “The Science of Signs, pp. 3-31)
Branston, G., & Stafford, R.
(2003). The media student’s book. London/New York: Psychology Press. (chapter: “Semiotic Approaches”, pp. 11-17)