Semiotics Revisited

Week 3 : Semiotics

Q1. Provide examples of signifiers, signified and connotations.

Semiotics is basically called the sciences of signs which are very useful for analyzing visual texts and finding the meanings of the text. According to Strokes (2003), “semiotics is one of the most interpretive of methods for analyzing texts”. Semiotics analysis consist of finding the signifiers, signified which equals to sign. Meanwhile, denotation is the description of the sign and connotation is the mental concept generated from the signifiers.

Signifiers + Signified = Sign.

Mental concept generated from signifiers = connotations.

Signifiers are any material things that signified such as words, image, or facial expressions. Signifiers are formed by five senses which are sight, smell, touch, taste and sound. Meanwhile, signified is a mental image that created from the signifier. For example:

Signifiers has many signified for example for the word of MAGNUM, in my mental image when I see or hear the words all I can think of is ice cream but when I google the word magnum I can see there’s so many pictures that consist on the word of MAGNUM. Some of the images that I found out are:-

Therefore, the signifiers which made up with the word MAGNUM is a sign, signified of the sign is the mental image in your head as an ice cream, a gun, cars and soap opera drama magnum P.I. As according to Strokes (2003),”the key to semiotics: it is how the producer of an image makes it mean something and how we, as readers, get meaning out.”

Meanwhile, connotation is the cultural meaning of the sign which means the representation and concept of the sign which also means that the sign is our mental perception that influence by our culture or other culture as in media perception idea to connote the image that represented which also have dozens of meanings as Barthes (1984) said, “images are polysemic- they have multiple meanings and ate open to diverse interpretations.” For example is the image below:-

The sign is a sport car, when you see the sport car all you see is luxury, money, fast cars and women which all of the above is the connotation of the sport car.  The idea of the car that sets by the culture to your mental image has created a perception that the car is luxury and expensive that can afforded by the rich and wealthy people only and with the define of rich and wealthy automatically our mindset says that the person has a big house with all the butler and maid and also a typical rich girlfriend or wife.

Hence, signifiers is any materials that we signified and signified is a mental image that created by our mind which also influenced by the culture meaning. Every signifier has many signifieds. Meanwhile, connotation is the representation and concept of the sign which also means the cultural meaning of the signs.

References:

·         Luxury lifestyle. Retrieved august 20, 2011 from http://blogs-images.forbes.com/anthonydemarco/files/2011/05/luxury-lifestyle.jpg.

·         Stunning Tuning Sport Car. Retrieved august 20, 2011 from http://good-wallpapers.com/pictures/1449/Stunning-Tuning-Sport-Car.jpg.

·         Magnum. Retrieved august 20, 2011 from http://www.angloamerican.free-online.co.uk/magnum1.JPG.

·         Magnum. Retrieved august 20, 2011 from http://www.imfdb.org/w/images/2/2f/Magnum.jpg.

·         S & W mod. Retrieved august 20, 2011 from http://www.downrangezero.com/s&w_mod500.jpg.

·         Tops knives magnum black. Retrieved august 20, 2011 from http://bekleidungskammer.de/images/Tops%20Knives%20TKCQTM711%20CQT%20Magnum%20711%20Black.jpg.

·         Strokes, J. (2003). How to do Media and Cultural Studies (p. 70-71). London, GBR: Sage Publications, incorporated.

·         Barthes, R. (1984). Rhetoric of the image. In Image, Music, Text (pp. 32-51). Translated by Heath, S. London: Fontana.