SEMIOTICS - Study of the life of signs (initially just the study of words, but is now expanded to include all sign systems)
FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE: THE BIRTH OF SEMIOTICS
Structuralism - the approach/method of focusing on the relationships among parts
Signified - The first component of a sign. The Concept for which the signs stands
Signifier - The second component of a sign. The sound/image that represents the concept.
The relationship between the signified and the signifier is arbitrary - depends on cultural consensus.
Langue and Parole - Language is a dynamic system in which meaning is constantly subject to the structural relationships within the system
The meaning of any single word depends on its horizontal position in relation to the other words in the sentence. The set of rules governing that position or SYNTAX is grammar.
DIACHRONIC - One word follows another in the sentence in spoken or written time.
The assault on Syntax - Sergei Eisentstein - Collision Montage
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti - blew apart traditional linear structures of layout - interest in "speed, simultaneity, and sensation."
Associative Axis - menu of possible words with associated meanings that could have been used at a particular point within a sentence but were not.
Vernacular - everyday language of ordinary people that is characteristic of a region/culture - visual language produced by people who are not trained in design and contains connotations of a particular culture, place, or use.
CHARLES SANDERS PEIRCE: A PRAGMATIST'S APPROACH
Signification - Consumption of signs - mental process in which meaning is actively determined and resides in the mind of the interpreter, not in objects themselves
Semiosis - to create meaning by interpreting signs.
Icon - A sign that factually resembles a concept or thing for which it stands - require no formal learning on the part of the audience
Index - A sign in which the relationship between the sign and what it stands for is causal. They are a bit more elusive. Ex: Smoke is an index for fire
Symbol - A sign in which the relationship between the sign and what it stands for must be learned - is governed by a code of cultural convention.
ROLAND BARTHES: A BRIDGE TO POST-STRUCTURALISM
Myth - how bourgeois society imposes its values on others.
Myth is a vehicle of the Petite Bourgeoisie - lower-middle social classes
