Semiotics

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(New page: '''Semiotics''' ''In proces by Harmen Bouter'' Study of signs and sign-using behaviour, especially in language. In the late 19th and early 20th century the work of Ferdinand de Saussure ...)
 
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'''Semiotics'''
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Semiotics is the practice of writing, ‘language’, and reading [[signs]] (Knox & Marston, 2010). [[Ferdinand de Saussure]] (1857-1913) is regarded as the ‘father of linguistics’ (Hall, 1997). In the late 19th and early 20th century his model of language, together with Charles Sanders Peirce, led to the emergence of semiotics as a method for examining phenomena in different cultural fields, including aesthetics, anthropology, communications, psychology, and [[semantics]] (N.D., n.d. & Hall, 1997). Interest in the structure behind the use of particular signs links semiotics with the methods of [[structuralism]] and [[post-structuralism]] (N.D., n.d.). In the Twentieth century there has become more and more attention for language and communication in social sciences and so for semiotics. It has become a key in social and philosophical writing and is used by many influential thinkers (Purvis, Hunt, 1993).
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''In proces by Harmen Bouter''
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Semiotics is not concerned with the relations between signs and things but with the interrelationships between signs themselves, within their structured systems or codes of signification (1). The semiotic approach to literary works stresses the production of literary meanings from shared conventions and codes. But the scope of semiotics goes beyond spoken or written language to other kinds of communicative sign systems such as cinema, advertising, clothing, gesture et cetera (Chandler, 2001).
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Study of signs and sign-using behaviour, especially in language. In the late 19th and early 20th century the work of Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sanders Peirce led to the emergence of semiotics as a method for examining phenomena in different fields, including aesthetics, anthropology, communications, psychology, and semantics. Interest in the structure behind the use of particular signs links semiotics with the methods of structuralism. Saussure's theories are also fundamental to poststructuralism.[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/534099/semiotics]
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These signs and symbols are social constructions formed by arbitration and conventions and is transferred via social interaction (Helmhout, Jorna, Gazendam, 2009). An actor should give a meaning to the signs and signals formed by social constructions to become a semiotic actor. Through [[social constructs]] a semiotic actor can infer the meaning of conditions or actions (ibid.). These social constructs are formed and become normative if perceptions are shared between people. This can be within a community but on larger scale is possible as well. Therefore semiotic actors construct the social world together (Helmhout, Jorna, Gazendam, 2009).
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There are different kinds of semiotics. A difference can be made between ‘social’ and ‘structural’ semiotics in respect to signs and language. ‘Structural semiotics’ is about the system and structure of signs and codes. Structural semioticans are interested how semiotic rules and structures make people. They are inspired by writings of for example Saussure and Mauss (Vannini, 2007). ‘Social semiotics’ is more focused on the origin of meaning and the motives and goals (Ibid.). Structural semiotics doesn’t concern so much for individuals and their attitude or behavior if they’re not symbolized in a system (Vannini, 2007). Social semoiticans find inspiration in for example Pierce, Volosinov and Foucault (Ibid.). There is a difference between ‘specific’ and ‘general’ semiotics as well. ‘General semiotics’ is nothing else but a ‘good’ philosophy of language are concerned with all the semiotic questions in literature and the world. ‘Specific semiotics’ have effect on specific sets of knowledge. Sometimes they contribute them to enrich them or borrow their ideas from general semiotics (Eco, 1976).
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In respect of geography, semiotics can be applied on the landscape, [[space]], [[place]] and messages. Geographers can 'read' this by researching the signs and finding meanings in it. These meanings are for every individual different (Knox & Marston, 2010).
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== A geographical example ==
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Semiotics or semiology, the systematic study of signs, or, more precisely, of the production of meanings from sign‐systems, linguistic or non‐linguistic. As a distinct tradition of inquiry into human communications, semiotics was founded by the American philosopher C. S. Peirce (1839–1914) and separately by the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913), who proposed that linguistics would form one part of a more general science of signs: ‘semiology’. Peirce's term ‘semiotics’ is usually preferred in English, although Saussure's principles and concepts—especially the distinctions between signifier and signified and between langue and parole—have been more influential as the basis of structuralism and its approach to literature. Semiotics is concerned not with the relations between signs and things but with the interrelationships between signs themselves, within their structured systems or codes of signification (see paradigm, syntagm). The semiotic approach to literary works stresses the production of literary meanings from shared conventions and codes; but the scope of semiotics goes beyond spoken or written language to other kinds of communicative systems such as cinema, advertising, clothing, gesture, and cuisine. A practitioner of semiotics is a semiotician. The term semiosis is sometimes used to refer to the process of signifying. For a fuller account, consult Terence Hawkes, Structuralism and Semiotics (1977).
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An example of semiotics is the fact that all the human beings here on earth try to dress themselves (Knox & Marston, 2010). Through their clothes individuals can send signs, messages to each other and the rest of the world. These signs represent who they are and what they value. For example Goths and Punks dress in certain clothes and belong to a certain group. They give signs (clothes, piercings, music, texts et cetera) to show this to each other and the rest of the world. The signs can’t stand by themselves. If you just listen to that kind of music, you don’t necessarily refer it to Punks. But if you see/read it together with the clothes and for example the way of living then you give the signs a certain meaning.
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''(1)'' '''See also''': [[paradigm]] and [[syntagm]]
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== References ==
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''Geography Dictionary:semiotics
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Chandler, D. (2001, Februari 19). Semiotics for beginners. ''Encoding/decoding''. Retrieved Septermber 29, 2010 from[http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem08c.html]
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The ways in which signs and meanings are created, decoded, and transformed. For geographers, these signs may be in the landscape; landscapes may be ‘read’ in different ways, and may become part of the political process. See''
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Eco, U. (1976). ''A Theory of Semiotics''. Bompiani: Indiana University Press.
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Hemhout, M., Jorna, R.J., Gazendam, H.W. (2009). The semiotic actor: From signs to scoially constructed meaning. ''Semiotica'', 175, p335-377.
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Knox, P.L. & Marston, S.A. (2010). ''Human geography. Places and Regions in Global Context'' (5th edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.
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'''STUART HALL'''
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N.D. (n.d.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Semiotics. Retrieved September 29, 2010 from[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/534099/semiotics]
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Hall referred to various phases in the Encoding/Decoding model of communication as moments, a term which many other commentators have subsequently employed (frequently without explanation). John Corner offers his own definitions:
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Purvis, T. Hunt, A. (1993), Discourse, Ideology, Discourse, Ideology, Discourse, Ideology. ''The British Journal of Sociology'' 44 (3) p473-499
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the moment of encoding: 'the institutional practices and organizational conditions and practices of production' (Corner 1983, 266);
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Vannini, P. (2007) Social Semiotics and Fieldwork method and analytics. ''Qualitative inquiry''. 13, p 113-140
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the moment of the text: 'the... symbolic construction, arrangement and perhaps performance... The form and content of what is published or broadcast' (ibid., 267); and
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the moment of decoding: 'the moment of reception [or] consumption... by... the reader/hearer/viewer' which is regarded by most theorists as 'closer to a form of "construction"' than to 'the passivity... suggested by the term "reception"' (ibid.).
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Hall himself referred to several 'linked but distinctive moments - production, circulation, distribution/consumption, reproduction' (Hall 1980, 128) as part of the 'circuit of communication' (a term which clearly signals the legacy of Saussure). Corner adds that the moment of encoding and that of decoding 'are socially contingent practices which may be in a greater or lesser degree of alignment in relation to each other but which are certainly not to be thought of... as 'sending' and 'receiving' linked by the conveyance of a 'message' which is the exclusive vehicle of meaning' (Corner 1983, pp. 267-8).
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Stuart Hall stressed the role of social positioning in the interpretation of mass media texts by different social groups. In a model deriving from Frank Parkin's 'meaning systems', Hall suggested three hypothetical interpretative codes or positions for the reader of a text (Parkin 1972; Hall 1973; Hall 1980, 136-8; Morley 1980, 20-21, 134-7; Morley 1981b, 51; Morley 1983, 109-10):
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== Contributor ==
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dominant (or 'hegemonic') reading: the reader fully shares the text's code and accepts and reproduces the preferred reading (a reading which may not have been the result of any conscious intention on the part of the author(s)) - in such a stance the code seems 'natural' and 'transparent';
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Page published by: unknown
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negotiated reading: the reader partly shares the text's code and broadly accepts the preferred reading, but sometimes resists and modifies it in a way which reflects their own position, experiences and interests (local and personal conditions may be seen as exceptions to the general rule) - this position involves contradictions;
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oppositional ('counter-hegemonic') reading: the reader, whose social situation places them in a directly oppositional relation to the dominant code, understands the preferred reading but does not share the text's code and rejects this reading, bringing to bear an alternative frame of reference (radical, feminist etc.) (e.g. when watching a television broadcast produced on behalf of a political party they normally vote against).
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This framework is based on the assumption that the latent meaning of the text is encoded in the dominant code.
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[http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem08c.html]
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Edited by Mathijs Lammers
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Page edited by Renate van Haaren, --[[User:RenateVanHaaren|RenateVanHaaren]] 12:29, 17 October 2012 (CEST)
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[[Category: Post-structuralism]]

Latest revision as of 09:52, 24 October 2012

Semiotics is the practice of writing, ‘language’, and reading signs (Knox & Marston, 2010). Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) is regarded as the ‘father of linguistics’ (Hall, 1997). In the late 19th and early 20th century his model of language, together with Charles Sanders Peirce, led to the emergence of semiotics as a method for examining phenomena in different cultural fields, including aesthetics, anthropology, communications, psychology, and semantics (N.D., n.d. & Hall, 1997). Interest in the structure behind the use of particular signs links semiotics with the methods of structuralism and post-structuralism (N.D., n.d.). In the Twentieth century there has become more and more attention for language and communication in social sciences and so for semiotics. It has become a key in social and philosophical writing and is used by many influential thinkers (Purvis, Hunt, 1993).

Semiotics is not concerned with the relations between signs and things but with the interrelationships between signs themselves, within their structured systems or codes of signification (1). The semiotic approach to literary works stresses the production of literary meanings from shared conventions and codes. But the scope of semiotics goes beyond spoken or written language to other kinds of communicative sign systems such as cinema, advertising, clothing, gesture et cetera (Chandler, 2001).

These signs and symbols are social constructions formed by arbitration and conventions and is transferred via social interaction (Helmhout, Jorna, Gazendam, 2009). An actor should give a meaning to the signs and signals formed by social constructions to become a semiotic actor. Through social constructs a semiotic actor can infer the meaning of conditions or actions (ibid.). These social constructs are formed and become normative if perceptions are shared between people. This can be within a community but on larger scale is possible as well. Therefore semiotic actors construct the social world together (Helmhout, Jorna, Gazendam, 2009).

There are different kinds of semiotics. A difference can be made between ‘social’ and ‘structural’ semiotics in respect to signs and language. ‘Structural semiotics’ is about the system and structure of signs and codes. Structural semioticans are interested how semiotic rules and structures make people. They are inspired by writings of for example Saussure and Mauss (Vannini, 2007). ‘Social semiotics’ is more focused on the origin of meaning and the motives and goals (Ibid.). Structural semiotics doesn’t concern so much for individuals and their attitude or behavior if they’re not symbolized in a system (Vannini, 2007). Social semoiticans find inspiration in for example Pierce, Volosinov and Foucault (Ibid.). There is a difference between ‘specific’ and ‘general’ semiotics as well. ‘General semiotics’ is nothing else but a ‘good’ philosophy of language are concerned with all the semiotic questions in literature and the world. ‘Specific semiotics’ have effect on specific sets of knowledge. Sometimes they contribute them to enrich them or borrow their ideas from general semiotics (Eco, 1976).

In respect of geography, semiotics can be applied on the landscape, space, place and messages. Geographers can 'read' this by researching the signs and finding meanings in it. These meanings are for every individual different (Knox & Marston, 2010).

A geographical example

An example of semiotics is the fact that all the human beings here on earth try to dress themselves (Knox & Marston, 2010). Through their clothes individuals can send signs, messages to each other and the rest of the world. These signs represent who they are and what they value. For example Goths and Punks dress in certain clothes and belong to a certain group. They give signs (clothes, piercings, music, texts et cetera) to show this to each other and the rest of the world. The signs can’t stand by themselves. If you just listen to that kind of music, you don’t necessarily refer it to Punks. But if you see/read it together with the clothes and for example the way of living then you give the signs a certain meaning.

(1) See also: paradigm and syntagm

References

Chandler, D. (2001, Februari 19). Semiotics for beginners. Encoding/decoding. Retrieved Septermber 29, 2010 from[1]

Eco, U. (1976). A Theory of Semiotics. Bompiani: Indiana University Press.

Hemhout, M., Jorna, R.J., Gazendam, H.W. (2009). The semiotic actor: From signs to scoially constructed meaning. Semiotica, 175, p335-377.

Knox, P.L. & Marston, S.A. (2010). Human geography. Places and Regions in Global Context (5th edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.

N.D. (n.d.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Semiotics. Retrieved September 29, 2010 from[2]

Purvis, T. Hunt, A. (1993), Discourse, Ideology, Discourse, Ideology, Discourse, Ideology. The British Journal of Sociology 44 (3) p473-499

Vannini, P. (2007) Social Semiotics and Fieldwork method and analytics. Qualitative inquiry. 13, p 113-140

Contributor

Page published by: unknown

Edited by Mathijs Lammers

Page edited by Renate van Haaren, --RenateVanHaaren 12:29, 17 October 2012 (CEST)

Retrieved from "http://geography.ruhosting.nl/geography/index.php?title=Semiotics"
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