Culture, Power & Politics, Part 1

Making Meaning

----------------------------THERE ARE NO

HIDDEN MEANINGS IN A TEXT

Semiotics

'science of signs'

Ferdinand de SaussureCourse in General Linguistics

(1916)

SIGN

a word (either written or spoken), an image or a sound

(could also be a smell or a texture but we are primarily interested in visual signs)

Texts are a network of signs

DOG

CAT

DOG

D – O - G Four legs

Tail

Barks

Not cat

Not wolf

not bog (or god)

Signifier(Code)

Signified(Concept)

CAT

C-A-T

Signifier(Code)

Signified(Concept)

CAT

C-A-T

Signifier(Code)

Signified(Concept)

The relationship between signifier and signified is arbitrary

There is no necessary relationship between d-o-g and →

❑ Signified and signifier are inseparable

❑ Language means negatively, ie., in terms of what it is not

❑ Signs acquire meaning through difference

❑ Meaning is an agreement between a community of language speakers

❑ Texts are complex networks of signs

Denotative Level of Signification

Signifier (code)

CAT

C – a – t

Signified (concept)

Four legs

Tail

Miaows

Not dog

Not tiger

Not bat

+

Connotative Level of Signification

Denotation ConnotationFeminine

Independent

Stealthy

unlucky (black ones)

Sensuous

Natural enemy of mice

Witches’ familiar

Household Pet

Given to smiling (if Cheshire)

9 lives

Four legs

Tail

Miaows

Not dog

Not tiger

not bat

Connotative Level of Signification

Denotation Connotation

Four legs

Tail

Barks

Not cat

Not wolf

not bog (or god)

Connotative Level of Signification

Denotation Connotation

protective

faithfull

trusting

aggressive

helpful

brave

masculine

Four legs

Tail

Barks

Not cat

Not wolf

not bog

Joseph Kosuth One and Three Chairs 1965

Connotative level of signification characterised by:

Polysemy – there are multiple (and often contradictory) readings

Anchorage – context (network of signs) suggests a preferred reading (but we can choose to analyse it on the basis of a resistant reading)

Intertextuality – Texts borrow meaning from other texts (eg., the bible)

Mythology – Connotations determined by dominant ideology.

Roland Barthes, ‘The Photographic Message’ (1961)• Does documentary photography reveal ‘truth’?• Myth = 'depoliticised speech'• (naturalisation of that which is not natural,

thus hiding effects of power)• For Barthes, semiotics becomes a tool of

political analysis

Robert Mapplethorpe

'Thomas & Dovanna'

1986