Representation

From Geography

Ferdinand de Saussure gives meaning to his detailed work in linguistics, but also to his general view of representation and the way this model of language shaped the ‘semiotic’ approach to the problem of representation in a wide variety of cultural fields. According to Saussure: ‘Language is a system of signs’. These signs can further be divided into two components named the signifier and the signified. The signifier can be seen as the form of a sign, for example the actual word or the real image. The signified can be seen as the idea or concept that you have in your head about a certain form. So the signified consists of the associations with a certain signifier (Hall, 1997). For example the signifier can be seen as the sound and the signified can be seen as the thought. The earlier mentioned linguistic sign is neither conceptual nor phonic, neither thought nor sound. Rather it is the whole of the link that unites signifier (sound) and signified (thought). The characteristics of the sign are by nature abstract and not concrete. For example Saussure said: “A sign is not a link between a thing and a name, but between a concept and a sound pattern” (Course in general linguistics, p. 66). To produce meaning signifier and signified are both needed, but it is the relation between them, which sustains representation. This representation is changeable because over time the concept of a word can change. For example: through certain experiences people can give other meanings to concepts as before.

References - Saussure, F. de (1983). Course in General Linguistics. Trans. Harris, R. La Salle: Open Court - Hall, S. (1997). Cultural representations and signifying practices. Stage: London.

Inge Schoenmakers & Lotte Brouwer