Arbitrariness: Saussure emphasized that the relationship between the linguistic signifier and signified is arbitrary: the link between them is not necessary, intrinsic or 'natural'. He was denying extralinguistic influences (external to the linguistic system). Philosophically, the relationship is ontologically arbitrary: initially, it makes no difference what labels we attach to things, but of course signs are not socially or historically arbitrary(after a sign has come into historical existence we cannot arbitrarily change signifiers). Saussure focused on linguistic signs, whilst Peirce dealt more explicitly with signs in any medium, and noted that the relationship between signifiers and their signifieds varies in arbitrariness - from the radical arbitrariness of symbolic signs, via the perceived similarity of signifier to signified in iconic signs, to the minimal arbitrariness of indexical signs. Many semioticians argue that all signs are to some extent arbitrary and conventional (and thus subject to ideological manipulation).
Articulation of codes: Articulation refers to structural levels within semiotic codes. Semiotic codes have either single articulation, double articulationor no articulation. A semiotic code which has 'double articulation' (as in the case of verbal language) can be analysed into two abstract structural levels: a higher level called 'the level of first articulation' and a lower level - 'the level of second articulation'.
Bar: 'The bar' is a term used by some theorists to refer to a) the horizontal line in Saussure's model of the sign which acts as a boundary marker between the levels of the signifier and the signified and/or b) the virgule - a punctuation mark (in computer jargon called a 'forward slash') in the form of a slanted line linking and dividing paired terms in binary oppositions (e.g. active/passive). Poststructuralist theorists criticize the clear distinction which the Saussurean bar seems to suggest between the signifier and the signified. Note that in Saussure's model the signified is shownover the signifier but that Jacques Lacan placed the signifier over the signified with the intention of highlighting the primacy of the signifier. Some writers represent binary oppositions using a colon thus: old : new (rather than old/new).
Binarism/dualism: The ontological division of a domain into two discrete categories (dichotomies) or polarities. 'Binarism' is a more loaded term which critics have applied to what they regard as the obsessive dualism of structuralists such as Lévi-Strauss and Jakobson. Hjelmslev argued against binarism. Derridean deconstruction demonstrates the inescapability of binary logic.
Binary oppositions (or digital oppositions): Pairs of mutually-exclusive signifiers in a paradigm set representing categories which are logically opposed and which together define a complete universe of discourse (relevant ontological domain), e.g. alive/not-alive. In such oppositions each term necessarily implies its opposite and there is no middle term.
Bricolage: Lévi-Strauss's term for the appropriation of pre-existing materials which are ready-to-hand (and in the process contributing to the construction of one's own identity) is widely-used to refer to the intertextual authorial practice of adopting and adapting signs from other texts.
Codes: One of the fundamental concepts in semiotics. Semiotic codes are procedural systems of related conventions for correlating signifiers andsignifieds in certain domains. Codes provide a framework within which signs make sense: they are interpretative devices which are used byinterpretative communities. They can be broadly divided into social codes, textual codes and interpretative codes. Some codes are fairly explicit; others (dubbed 'hermeneutics' by Guiraud) are much looser. Within a code there may also be 'subcodes': such as stylistic and personal subcodes (oridiolects).
Commonsense: 'Commonsense' represents the most widespread cultural and historical values, attitudes and beliefs within a given culture. It is generated by ideological forces operating through codes and myths. Myths serve to ensure that certain familiar assumptions and values are taken-for-granted and unquestioned by most members of the culture, and seem entirely 'natural', 'normal' and self-evident. For instance, in western cultures, a widepread assumption is that of naive realism, which regards reality as independent of the signs which refer to it. The transmission model of communication reflects commonsensical notions of what communication is. Individualism also presents itself as commonsense in insisting that 'I' am a unique individual with a stable, unified identity and with original ideas and intentions of my own. Queer theorists argue that 'heteronormativity' is the gender regime which maintains the fundamental assumption that heterosexuality is natural, universal and monolithic. Such myths are powerful since they seem to 'go without saying' and appear not to need to be deciphered or demystified. Commonsense does involve incoherences, ambiguities, paradoxes, contradictions and omissions; the role of ideology is to suppress these in the interests of dominant groups. Semiotics seeks to demonstrate that commonsense meanings are not givens, but are shaped by ideological forces.
Cultural relativism/relativity: Cultural relativism is the view that each culture has its own worldview and that none of these can be regarded as more or less privileged or 'authentic' in its representation of 'reality' than another. Cultural worldviews are historically-situated social constructions. Cultural relativists tend also to be linguistic relativists, arguing that dominant cultural worldviews are reflected in ontologies which are built into the language of that culture. Cultural relativism is a fundamental assumption involved in Whorfianism. Anthropologists and others who study signifying practices within a culture can be seen as cultural relativists insofar as they seek to understand each culture in its own terms. However, as withepistemological relativism (with which it is closely associated), the label is often used as a criticism, being equated with extreme idealism or nihilism.
Digital signs: Digital signs involve discrete units such as words and numerals, in contrast to analogical signs. Note, however, that digital technology can transform analogical signs into digital reproductions which may be perceptually indistinguishable from the 'originals', and that texts generated in a digital medium can be 'copies without originals' (e.g. a word-processed text).
Functionalism: Functionalism in the broadest sense is a perspective on society and culture which emphasizes the interdependent functions of all of the parts in relation to the whole system. It was established by the sociologists Herbert Spencer and Émile Durkheim and was later adopted by the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski and the sociologists Talcott Parsons and Robert K Merton. It has been criticized for failing to account for conflict and change. In linguistics functionalism is the view that the structure of language is determined by the functions that it serves. Consequently, functionalist linguists focus on the function of linguistic forms. Linguists within this tradition include the Russian formalists (including Propp, Volosinov and Bakhtin), the Prague school linguists (including Jakobson), Louis Hjelmslev, André Martinet, Sapir and Whorf, M A K Halliday and Teun van Dijk. Functionalism has been criticized for neglecting social change and as being ahistorical. It is closely allied with structuralism which has been criticized for being functionalist in its emphasis on internal structures at the expense of social relations.
Genre: Conventional definitions of genres tend to be based on the notion that they constitute particular conventions of form and content which are shared by the texts which are regarded as belonging to them. However, an individual text within a genre rarely if ever has all of the characteristic features of the genre and texts often exhibit the conventions of more than one genre. Semiotic redefinitions of genre tend to focus on the way in which the formal features of texts within the genre draw on shared codes and function to 'position' readers using particular modes of address.Postmodernist theorists tend to blur distinctions between genres.
Iconic: A mode in which the signifier is perceived as resembling or imitating the signified (recognizably looking, sounding, feeling, tasting or smelling like it) - being similar in possessing some of its qualities (e.g. a portrait, a diagram, a scale-model, onomatopoeia, metaphors, 'realistic' sounds in music, sound effects in radio drama, a dubbed film soundtrack, imitative gestures) (Peirce).
Imaginary, The: 'The Imaginary' is Lacan's term for a realm in which the construction of the Self as subject is initiated. Initially the infant has no centre of identity and there are no clear boundaries between itself and the external world. Lacan argues that in 'the mirror phase' (at the age of six- to eighteen-months, before the acquisition of speech), seeing one's mirror image induces a strongly-defined illusion of a coherent and self-governing personal identity. In the realm of images, we find our sense of self reflected back by an Other with whom we identify (who is paradoxically both Self and Other). For Althusserian theorists, the 'imaginary' refers to representations which mask the historical and material conditions of existence (e.g. the heterosexual imaginary naturalizes heterosexuality and conceals its constructedness, making homosexuality a marked category).
Imaginary signifier: This term was used by Christian Metz to refer to the cinematic signifier. The term is used in more than one sense. The cinematic signifier is 'imaginary' by virtue of an apparent perceptual transparency which suggests the unmediated presence of its absent signified - a feature widely regarded as the key to the power of cinema. Whilst 'imaginary' in the usual sense alludes to the fictional status of what is signified, the term is also related to Lacan's term, 'the Imaginary' - which refers to a phase in the experience of the 'subject' which is dominated by identification - the cinematic signifier is theorized as inducing identifications similar to those of 'the mirror stage'.
Interpretant: In Peirce's model of the sign, the interpretant is not an interpreter but rather the sense made of the sign. Peirce doesn't feature the interpreter directly in his triad, although he does highlight the interpretative process of semiosis.
Interpretative community: Those who share the same codes are members of the same 'interpretative community' - a term introduced by the literary theorist Stanley Fish to refer to both 'writers' and 'readers' of particular genres of texts (but which can be used more widely to refer to those who share any code). Linguists tend to use the logocentric term, 'discourse community'. Thomas Kuhn used the term 'textual community' to refer to epistemic (or epistemological) communities with shared texts, interpretations and beliefs. Constructivists argue that interpretative communities are involved in the construction and maintenance of reality within the ontological domain which defines their concerns (see Discourse). The conventions within the codes employed by such communities become naturalized amongst its members. Individuals belong simultaneously to several interpretative communities.
Markedness: The concept of markedness introduced by Jakobson can be applied to the poles of a paradigmatic opposition (e.g. male/female). Pairedsignifiers (such as male/female) consist of an 'unmarked' form (in this case, the word male) and a 'marked' form (in this case the word female). The 'marked' signifier is distinguished by some special semiotic feature (in this case the addition of an initial fe-). A marked or unmarked status applies not only to signifiers but also to their signifieds. With many of the familiarly paired terms, the two signifieds are valorized - accorded different values. The marked form (typically the second term) is presented as 'different' and is (implicitly) negative. The unmarked form is typically dominant (e.g. statistically within a text or corpus) and therefore seems to be 'neutral', 'normal' and 'natural'. The concept of markedness can be applied more broadly than simply to paradigmatically paired terms. Whether in textual or social practices, the choice of a marked form 'makes a statement'. Where a text deviates from conventional expectations it is 'marked'. Conventional, or 'over-coded' text (which follows a fairly predictable formula) is unmarked whereas unconventional or 'under-coded' text is marked.
Mass communication: In contrast to interpersonal communication ('one-to-one' communication), this term is typically used to refer to 'one-to-many' communication, although this dictinction tends to overlook the importance of communication in small groups (neither 'one' nor 'many'). Whilst mass communication may be 'live' or recorded, it is primarily asynchronous - live two-way communication through a mass medium occurs only in such special cases as radio or television 'phone-ins' (which involve interpersonal communication which is then broadcast). Mass communication is conducted through verbal text, graphics and/or audio-visual media (e.g. film, television, radio, newspapers, magazines etc.).
Materiality of the sign: Although signs may be discerned in the material form of words, images, sounds, acts or objects, such things have no intrinsicmeaning and become signs only when we invest them with meaning. Signs as such have no material existence: only the sign vehicle has material substance. Whilst nowadays the 'signifier' is commonly interpreted as the material (or physical) form of the sign (something which can be seen, heard, touched, smelt or tasted), this is more materialistic than Saussure's own model. For Saussure, both the signifier and the signified were 'form' rather than substance. However, the material form of the sign can itself be a signifier - the same written text might be interpreted somewhat differently depending on whether it was handwritten or word-processed, and it might even generate different connotations if it were in one typeface rather than another. So too, whether the text was an 'original' or a 'copy' might affect the sense made of the text (see tokens and types) - not everyone would appreciate a photocopied love-letter! The basic material properties of the text may be shaped by constraints and affordances of the mediumemployed, which may also generate connotations. Some 'reflexive' aesthetic practices foreground their 'textuality' - the signs of their production (the materials and techniques used) - thus reducing the transparency of their style. For instance: 'painterly' painters draw our attention to the form and texture of their brushstrokes and to the qualities of the paint; poetry involves being playful with words; and music (without words) can only offer us sounds rather than propositions or arguments. In texts reflecting such practices, signifiers refer intratextually and intertextually to other signifiers more than to extratextual signifieds. In 'art for art's sake', 'the medium is the message'. However, when our prime purpose is instrumental (i.e. when we use the sign, text or medium as a means to an end) we are seldom conscious of the materiality of the sign, which retreats to transparency as weforeground the plane of content rather than the plane of expression (or more specifically, rather than the substance of expression).
Narration or narrative voice: Narration is the act and process of producing a narrative. Modes of address differ in their narrative point-of-view. Written narratives may employ third-person ominiscient narration ('telling') or first-person 'subjective' narration ('showing'). In television and film, camera treatment is called 'subjective' when the camera shows us events as if from a particular participant's visual point of view (encouraging viewers to identify with that person's way of seeing events or even to feel like an eye-witness to the events themselves). In academic writing, third person narrative has traditionally been regarded as more 'objective' and 'transparent' than first-person narrative; critics note that this style obscures authorial agency - 'facts' and events appear to 'speak for themselves'.
Naturalism: In some contexts naturalism is regarded as a reductionist form of realism which offers detailed but superficial representations of theappearance of things (verisimilitude), in contrast to a mode which reflects a deeper, more profound understanding of their 'essential' nature (less specific and more 'typical'). However, another use of the term (originating in the late nineteenth century) refers to a focus on psychological or 'inner' reality. 'Photo-realism' or 'photographic naturalism' is the dominant contemporary form of visual naturalism for which modality judgements tend to be based on standards derived from 35mm colour photography.
Nominal realism: Jean Piaget uses this term to refer to the way in which young children sometimes appear to have difficulty in separating the labels which we give to things from the things themselves, as if such signifiers were an essential part of their referents. Even with adults, certain signifiers are regarded by some as far from 'arbitrary', acquiring almost magical power - as in relation to 'graphic' swearing and issues of prejudice - highlighting the point that signifiers are not socially arbitrary. As Korzybski declared, 'the word is not the thing' (the signifier is not the referent), a reminder which is particularly apposite with reference to visual rather than linguistic signs.
Commonsense: 'Commonsense' represents the most widespread cultural and historical values, attitudes and beliefs within a given culture. It is generated by ideological forces operating through codes and myths. Myths serve to ensure that certain familiar assumptions and values are taken-for-granted and unquestioned by most members of the culture, and seem entirely 'natural', 'normal' and self-evident. For instance, in western cultures, a widepread assumption is that of naive realism, which regards reality as independent of the signs which refer to it. The transmission model of communication reflects commonsensical notions of what communication is. Individualism also presents itself as commonsense in insisting that 'I' am a unique individual with a stable, unified identity and with original ideas and intentions of my own. Queer theorists argue that 'heteronormativity' is the gender regime which maintains the fundamental assumption that heterosexuality is natural, universal and monolithic. Such myths are powerful since they seem to 'go without saying' and appear not to need to be deciphered or demystified. Commonsense does involve incoherences, ambiguities, paradoxes, contradictions and omissions; the role of ideology is to suppress these in the interests of dominant groups. Semiotics seeks to demonstrate that commonsense meanings are not givens, but are shaped by ideological forces.
Cultural relativism/relativity: Cultural relativism is the view that each culture has its own worldview and that none of these can be regarded as more or less privileged or 'authentic' in its representation of 'reality' than another. Cultural worldviews are historically-situated social constructions. Cultural relativists tend also to be linguistic relativists, arguing that dominant cultural worldviews are reflected in ontologies which are built into the language of that culture. Cultural relativism is a fundamental assumption involved in Whorfianism. Anthropologists and others who study signifying practices within a culture can be seen as cultural relativists insofar as they seek to understand each culture in its own terms. However, as withepistemological relativism (with which it is closely associated), the label is often used as a criticism, being equated with extreme idealism or nihilism.
Digital signs: Digital signs involve discrete units such as words and numerals, in contrast to analogical signs. Note, however, that digital technology can transform analogical signs into digital reproductions which may be perceptually indistinguishable from the 'originals', and that texts generated in a digital medium can be 'copies without originals' (e.g. a word-processed text).
Functionalism: Functionalism in the broadest sense is a perspective on society and culture which emphasizes the interdependent functions of all of the parts in relation to the whole system. It was established by the sociologists Herbert Spencer and Émile Durkheim and was later adopted by the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski and the sociologists Talcott Parsons and Robert K Merton. It has been criticized for failing to account for conflict and change. In linguistics functionalism is the view that the structure of language is determined by the functions that it serves. Consequently, functionalist linguists focus on the function of linguistic forms. Linguists within this tradition include the Russian formalists (including Propp, Volosinov and Bakhtin), the Prague school linguists (including Jakobson), Louis Hjelmslev, André Martinet, Sapir and Whorf, M A K Halliday and Teun van Dijk. Functionalism has been criticized for neglecting social change and as being ahistorical. It is closely allied with structuralism which has been criticized for being functionalist in its emphasis on internal structures at the expense of social relations.
Genre: Conventional definitions of genres tend to be based on the notion that they constitute particular conventions of form and content which are shared by the texts which are regarded as belonging to them. However, an individual text within a genre rarely if ever has all of the characteristic features of the genre and texts often exhibit the conventions of more than one genre. Semiotic redefinitions of genre tend to focus on the way in which the formal features of texts within the genre draw on shared codes and function to 'position' readers using particular modes of address.Postmodernist theorists tend to blur distinctions between genres.
Iconic: A mode in which the signifier is perceived as resembling or imitating the signified (recognizably looking, sounding, feeling, tasting or smelling like it) - being similar in possessing some of its qualities (e.g. a portrait, a diagram, a scale-model, onomatopoeia, metaphors, 'realistic' sounds in music, sound effects in radio drama, a dubbed film soundtrack, imitative gestures) (Peirce).
Imaginary, The: 'The Imaginary' is Lacan's term for a realm in which the construction of the Self as subject is initiated. Initially the infant has no centre of identity and there are no clear boundaries between itself and the external world. Lacan argues that in 'the mirror phase' (at the age of six- to eighteen-months, before the acquisition of speech), seeing one's mirror image induces a strongly-defined illusion of a coherent and self-governing personal identity. In the realm of images, we find our sense of self reflected back by an Other with whom we identify (who is paradoxically both Self and Other). For Althusserian theorists, the 'imaginary' refers to representations which mask the historical and material conditions of existence (e.g. the heterosexual imaginary naturalizes heterosexuality and conceals its constructedness, making homosexuality a marked category).
Imaginary signifier: This term was used by Christian Metz to refer to the cinematic signifier. The term is used in more than one sense. The cinematic signifier is 'imaginary' by virtue of an apparent perceptual transparency which suggests the unmediated presence of its absent signified - a feature widely regarded as the key to the power of cinema. Whilst 'imaginary' in the usual sense alludes to the fictional status of what is signified, the term is also related to Lacan's term, 'the Imaginary' - which refers to a phase in the experience of the 'subject' which is dominated by identification - the cinematic signifier is theorized as inducing identifications similar to those of 'the mirror stage'.
Interpretant: In Peirce's model of the sign, the interpretant is not an interpreter but rather the sense made of the sign. Peirce doesn't feature the interpreter directly in his triad, although he does highlight the interpretative process of semiosis.
Interpretative community: Those who share the same codes are members of the same 'interpretative community' - a term introduced by the literary theorist Stanley Fish to refer to both 'writers' and 'readers' of particular genres of texts (but which can be used more widely to refer to those who share any code). Linguists tend to use the logocentric term, 'discourse community'. Thomas Kuhn used the term 'textual community' to refer to epistemic (or epistemological) communities with shared texts, interpretations and beliefs. Constructivists argue that interpretative communities are involved in the construction and maintenance of reality within the ontological domain which defines their concerns (see Discourse). The conventions within the codes employed by such communities become naturalized amongst its members. Individuals belong simultaneously to several interpretative communities.
Markedness: The concept of markedness introduced by Jakobson can be applied to the poles of a paradigmatic opposition (e.g. male/female). Pairedsignifiers (such as male/female) consist of an 'unmarked' form (in this case, the word male) and a 'marked' form (in this case the word female). The 'marked' signifier is distinguished by some special semiotic feature (in this case the addition of an initial fe-). A marked or unmarked status applies not only to signifiers but also to their signifieds. With many of the familiarly paired terms, the two signifieds are valorized - accorded different values. The marked form (typically the second term) is presented as 'different' and is (implicitly) negative. The unmarked form is typically dominant (e.g. statistically within a text or corpus) and therefore seems to be 'neutral', 'normal' and 'natural'. The concept of markedness can be applied more broadly than simply to paradigmatically paired terms. Whether in textual or social practices, the choice of a marked form 'makes a statement'. Where a text deviates from conventional expectations it is 'marked'. Conventional, or 'over-coded' text (which follows a fairly predictable formula) is unmarked whereas unconventional or 'under-coded' text is marked.
Mass communication: In contrast to interpersonal communication ('one-to-one' communication), this term is typically used to refer to 'one-to-many' communication, although this dictinction tends to overlook the importance of communication in small groups (neither 'one' nor 'many'). Whilst mass communication may be 'live' or recorded, it is primarily asynchronous - live two-way communication through a mass medium occurs only in such special cases as radio or television 'phone-ins' (which involve interpersonal communication which is then broadcast). Mass communication is conducted through verbal text, graphics and/or audio-visual media (e.g. film, television, radio, newspapers, magazines etc.).
Materiality of the sign: Although signs may be discerned in the material form of words, images, sounds, acts or objects, such things have no intrinsicmeaning and become signs only when we invest them with meaning. Signs as such have no material existence: only the sign vehicle has material substance. Whilst nowadays the 'signifier' is commonly interpreted as the material (or physical) form of the sign (something which can be seen, heard, touched, smelt or tasted), this is more materialistic than Saussure's own model. For Saussure, both the signifier and the signified were 'form' rather than substance. However, the material form of the sign can itself be a signifier - the same written text might be interpreted somewhat differently depending on whether it was handwritten or word-processed, and it might even generate different connotations if it were in one typeface rather than another. So too, whether the text was an 'original' or a 'copy' might affect the sense made of the text (see tokens and types) - not everyone would appreciate a photocopied love-letter! The basic material properties of the text may be shaped by constraints and affordances of the mediumemployed, which may also generate connotations. Some 'reflexive' aesthetic practices foreground their 'textuality' - the signs of their production (the materials and techniques used) - thus reducing the transparency of their style. For instance: 'painterly' painters draw our attention to the form and texture of their brushstrokes and to the qualities of the paint; poetry involves being playful with words; and music (without words) can only offer us sounds rather than propositions or arguments. In texts reflecting such practices, signifiers refer intratextually and intertextually to other signifiers more than to extratextual signifieds. In 'art for art's sake', 'the medium is the message'. However, when our prime purpose is instrumental (i.e. when we use the sign, text or medium as a means to an end) we are seldom conscious of the materiality of the sign, which retreats to transparency as weforeground the plane of content rather than the plane of expression (or more specifically, rather than the substance of expression).
Narration or narrative voice: Narration is the act and process of producing a narrative. Modes of address differ in their narrative point-of-view. Written narratives may employ third-person ominiscient narration ('telling') or first-person 'subjective' narration ('showing'). In television and film, camera treatment is called 'subjective' when the camera shows us events as if from a particular participant's visual point of view (encouraging viewers to identify with that person's way of seeing events or even to feel like an eye-witness to the events themselves). In academic writing, third person narrative has traditionally been regarded as more 'objective' and 'transparent' than first-person narrative; critics note that this style obscures authorial agency - 'facts' and events appear to 'speak for themselves'.
Naturalism: In some contexts naturalism is regarded as a reductionist form of realism which offers detailed but superficial representations of theappearance of things (verisimilitude), in contrast to a mode which reflects a deeper, more profound understanding of their 'essential' nature (less specific and more 'typical'). However, another use of the term (originating in the late nineteenth century) refers to a focus on psychological or 'inner' reality. 'Photo-realism' or 'photographic naturalism' is the dominant contemporary form of visual naturalism for which modality judgements tend to be based on standards derived from 35mm colour photography.
Nominal realism: Jean Piaget uses this term to refer to the way in which young children sometimes appear to have difficulty in separating the labels which we give to things from the things themselves, as if such signifiers were an essential part of their referents. Even with adults, certain signifiers are regarded by some as far from 'arbitrary', acquiring almost magical power - as in relation to 'graphic' swearing and issues of prejudice - highlighting the point that signifiers are not socially arbitrary. As Korzybski declared, 'the word is not the thing' (the signifier is not the referent), a reminder which is particularly apposite with reference to visual rather than linguistic signs.
Ontology: This philosophical term (from metaphysics) refers to assertions or assumptions about the nature of reality: about what 'the real world' is like and what exists in it. It concerns what Foucault called 'the order of things' - a system of dividing up reality into discrete entities and substances. There are often hierarchical relations within an ontology: certain entities may be assigned prior existence, higher modality or some other privileged status. Ontologies are necessarily defined in words, which in itself transparently assigns a privileged status to words. Furthermore, naive theorists tend to assume that an order of things in the world can be adequately represented in words. Ontologies are tied to epistemological frameworks. The term ontological status is sometimes used to refer to the relationships between signifieds. Semantic oppositions such as between physical and mentalor between form and content are ontological distinctions. The principle of ontological parsimony or economy (also known as 'Ockham's razor') is that the entities posited by a formal ontology should be limited in number to those which are essential for an adequate explanation. Advancing the theory of ontological relativity, Whorfian theorists argue that different languages carve up the world differently and have different in-built ontologies, so that some concepts may not be translatable. Realists deny ontological validity to things which they do not regard as part of the external, objective world. For realists, there is an ontological bond between the signifier and the signified in media which are both indexical and iconic (such as photography, film and television) which are thus seen as capable of directly reflecting 'things as they are'.
Paradigmatic analysis: Paradigmatic analysis is a structuralist technique which seeks to identify the various paradigms which underlie the 'surface structure' of a text. This aspect of structural analysis involves a consideration of the positive or negative connotations of each signifier (revealed through the use of one signifier rather than another), and the existence of 'underlying' thematic paradigms (e.g. binary oppositions such aspublic/private).
Paradigm: A paradigm is a set of associated signifiers which are all members of some defining category, but in which each signifier is significantly different. In natural language there are grammatical paradigms such as verbs or nouns. In a given context, one member of the paradigm set is structurally replaceable with another. The use of one signifier (e.g. a particular word or a garment) rather than another from the same paradigm set (e.g. adjectives or hats) shapes the preferred meaning of a text. Paradigmatic relations are the oppositions and contrasts between the signifiers that belong to the same paradigm set from which those used in the text were drawn.
Photographic signs: Unedited photographic and filmic images are indexical rather than simply iconic - though you could call them 'iconic indexes (or indices)'. A photographic image is an index of the effect of light on photographic emulsion. The indexical character of photographs encourages interpreters to treat them as 'objective' and transparent records of 'reality'. In this medium there is less of an obvious gap between the signifier and itssignified than with non-photographic media. We need to remind ourselves that a photograph does not simply record and reproduce an event, but is only one of an infinite number of possible representations. Representational practices are always involved in selection, composition, lighting, focusing, exposure, processing and so on. Photographs are 'made' rather than 'taken'. Digital photography leaves no trace of any editing, so that a digital photograph may lose its indexical status whilst retaining a compelling illusion of indexicality. Note that in a photograph the syntagms are spatial (or conceptual) relationships rather than sequential ones.
Pragmatics: Morris divided semiotics into three branches: syntactics, semantics and pragmatics. Pragmatics refers to the study of the ways in which signs are used and interpreted. The interpretation of signs by their users can also be seen as levels corresponding to these three branches - the pragmatic level being the interpretation of a sign in terms of relevance, agreement etc.
Representamen: The representamen is one of the three elements of Peirce's model of the sign and it refers to the form which the sign takes (not necessarily material). When it refers to a non-material form it is comparable to Saussure's signifier; whereas when it refers to material form it is what some commentators refer to as the sign vehicle.
Saussurean model of the sign: In Saussure's model, the sign consisted of two elements: a signifier and a signified (though he insisted that these were inseparable other than for analytical purposes). This dyadic model makes no direct reference to a referent in the world, and can be seen as supporting the notion that language does not 'reflect' reality but rather constructs it. It has been criticized as an idealist model. Saussure stressed that signs only made sense in terms of their relationships to other signs within the same signifying system (see Value).
Semantics: Morris divided semiotics into three branches: syntactics, semantics and pragmatics. Semantics refers to the study of the meaning of signs(the relationship of signs to what they stand for). The interpretation of signs by their users can also be seen as levels corresponding to these three branches - the semantic level being the comprehension of the preferred reading of the sign.
Semiosis: This term was used by Peirce to refer to the process of 'meaning-making'.
Semiotics, definition of: Loosely defined as 'the study of signs' or 'the theory of signs', what Saussure called 'semiology' was: 'a science which studies the role of signs as part of social life'. Saussure's use of the term sémiologie dates from 1894 and Peirce's first use of the term semiotic was in 1897. Semiotics has not become widely institutionalized as a formal academic discipline and it is not really a science. It is not purely a method of textual analysis, but involves both the theory and analysis of signs and signifying practices. Beyond the most basic definition, there is considerable variation amongst leading semioticians as to what semiotics involves, although a distinctive concern is with how things signify, and with representationalpractices and systems (in the form of codes). In the 1970s, semioticians began to shift away from purely structuralist (Saussurean) semiotics concerned with the structural analysis of formal semiotic systems towards a 'poststructuralist' 'social semiotics' - focusing on 'signifying practices' in specific social contexts.
Sign: A sign is a meaningful unit which is interpreted as 'standing for' something other than itself. Signs are found in the physical form of words, images, sounds, acts or objects (this physical form is sometimes known as the sign vehicle). Signs have no intrinsic meaning and become signs only when sign-users invest them with meaning with reference to a recognized code. Semiotics is the study of signs.
Signification: In Saussurean semiotics, the term signification refers to the relationship between the signifier and the signified. It is also variously used to refer to:
- the defining function of signs (i.e. that they signify, or 'stand for' something other than themselves);
- the process of signifying (semiosis);
- signs as part of an overall semiotic system;
- what is signified (meaning);
- the reference of language to reality;
- a representation.
Signified (signifié): For Saussure, the signified was one of the two parts of the sign (which was indivisible except for analytical purposes). Saussure'ssignified is the mental concept represented by the signifier (and is not a material thing). This does not exclude the reference of signs to physical objects in the world as well as to abstract concepts and fictional entities, but the signified is not itself a referent in the world (in contrast to Peirce'sobject). It is common for subsequent interpreters to equate the signified with 'content' (matching the form of the signifier in the familiar dualism of'form and content').
Signifier (signifiant): For Saussure, this was one of the two parts of the sign (which was indivisible except for analytical purposes). In the Saussurean tradition, the signifier is the form which a sign takes. For Saussure himself, in relation to linguistic signs, this meant a non-material form of the spoken word - 'a sound-image' ('the psychological imprint of the sound, the impression it makes on our senses'). Subsequent semioticians have treated it as the material (or physical) form of the sign - something which can be seen, heard, felt, smelt or tasted (also called the sign vehicle).
Signifying practices: These are the meaning-making behaviours in which people engage (including the production and reading of texts) following particular conventions or rules of construction and interpretation. Social semioticians focus on signifying practices in specific socio-cultural contexts - on parole rather than langue, and tend towards diachronic rather than synchronic analysis - in contrast to structuralist semioticians who focus on the formal structure of sign systems. Realists criticize what they see as the reduction of reality by 'conventionalists' to nothing more than signifying practices.
Simple sign: A sign which does not contain any other signs, in contrast to a complex sign.
Simulacrum: This was Baudrillard's term (borrowed from Plato); 'simulacra' are 'copies without originals' - the main form in which we encountertexts in postmodern culture. More broadly, he used the term to refer to a representation which bears no relation to any reality.
Paradigmatic analysis: Paradigmatic analysis is a structuralist technique which seeks to identify the various paradigms which underlie the 'surface structure' of a text. This aspect of structural analysis involves a consideration of the positive or negative connotations of each signifier (revealed through the use of one signifier rather than another), and the existence of 'underlying' thematic paradigms (e.g. binary oppositions such aspublic/private).
Paradigm: A paradigm is a set of associated signifiers which are all members of some defining category, but in which each signifier is significantly different. In natural language there are grammatical paradigms such as verbs or nouns. In a given context, one member of the paradigm set is structurally replaceable with another. The use of one signifier (e.g. a particular word or a garment) rather than another from the same paradigm set (e.g. adjectives or hats) shapes the preferred meaning of a text. Paradigmatic relations are the oppositions and contrasts between the signifiers that belong to the same paradigm set from which those used in the text were drawn.
Photographic signs: Unedited photographic and filmic images are indexical rather than simply iconic - though you could call them 'iconic indexes (or indices)'. A photographic image is an index of the effect of light on photographic emulsion. The indexical character of photographs encourages interpreters to treat them as 'objective' and transparent records of 'reality'. In this medium there is less of an obvious gap between the signifier and itssignified than with non-photographic media. We need to remind ourselves that a photograph does not simply record and reproduce an event, but is only one of an infinite number of possible representations. Representational practices are always involved in selection, composition, lighting, focusing, exposure, processing and so on. Photographs are 'made' rather than 'taken'. Digital photography leaves no trace of any editing, so that a digital photograph may lose its indexical status whilst retaining a compelling illusion of indexicality. Note that in a photograph the syntagms are spatial (or conceptual) relationships rather than sequential ones.
Pragmatics: Morris divided semiotics into three branches: syntactics, semantics and pragmatics. Pragmatics refers to the study of the ways in which signs are used and interpreted. The interpretation of signs by their users can also be seen as levels corresponding to these three branches - the pragmatic level being the interpretation of a sign in terms of relevance, agreement etc.
Representamen: The representamen is one of the three elements of Peirce's model of the sign and it refers to the form which the sign takes (not necessarily material). When it refers to a non-material form it is comparable to Saussure's signifier; whereas when it refers to material form it is what some commentators refer to as the sign vehicle.
Saussurean model of the sign: In Saussure's model, the sign consisted of two elements: a signifier and a signified (though he insisted that these were inseparable other than for analytical purposes). This dyadic model makes no direct reference to a referent in the world, and can be seen as supporting the notion that language does not 'reflect' reality but rather constructs it. It has been criticized as an idealist model. Saussure stressed that signs only made sense in terms of their relationships to other signs within the same signifying system (see Value).
Semantics: Morris divided semiotics into three branches: syntactics, semantics and pragmatics. Semantics refers to the study of the meaning of signs(the relationship of signs to what they stand for). The interpretation of signs by their users can also be seen as levels corresponding to these three branches - the semantic level being the comprehension of the preferred reading of the sign.
Semiosis: This term was used by Peirce to refer to the process of 'meaning-making'.
Semiotics, definition of: Loosely defined as 'the study of signs' or 'the theory of signs', what Saussure called 'semiology' was: 'a science which studies the role of signs as part of social life'. Saussure's use of the term sémiologie dates from 1894 and Peirce's first use of the term semiotic was in 1897. Semiotics has not become widely institutionalized as a formal academic discipline and it is not really a science. It is not purely a method of textual analysis, but involves both the theory and analysis of signs and signifying practices. Beyond the most basic definition, there is considerable variation amongst leading semioticians as to what semiotics involves, although a distinctive concern is with how things signify, and with representationalpractices and systems (in the form of codes). In the 1970s, semioticians began to shift away from purely structuralist (Saussurean) semiotics concerned with the structural analysis of formal semiotic systems towards a 'poststructuralist' 'social semiotics' - focusing on 'signifying practices' in specific social contexts.
Sign: A sign is a meaningful unit which is interpreted as 'standing for' something other than itself. Signs are found in the physical form of words, images, sounds, acts or objects (this physical form is sometimes known as the sign vehicle). Signs have no intrinsic meaning and become signs only when sign-users invest them with meaning with reference to a recognized code. Semiotics is the study of signs.
Signification: In Saussurean semiotics, the term signification refers to the relationship between the signifier and the signified. It is also variously used to refer to:
- the defining function of signs (i.e. that they signify, or 'stand for' something other than themselves);
- the process of signifying (semiosis);
- signs as part of an overall semiotic system;
- what is signified (meaning);
- the reference of language to reality;
- a representation.
Signified (signifié): For Saussure, the signified was one of the two parts of the sign (which was indivisible except for analytical purposes). Saussure'ssignified is the mental concept represented by the signifier (and is not a material thing). This does not exclude the reference of signs to physical objects in the world as well as to abstract concepts and fictional entities, but the signified is not itself a referent in the world (in contrast to Peirce'sobject). It is common for subsequent interpreters to equate the signified with 'content' (matching the form of the signifier in the familiar dualism of'form and content').
Signifier (signifiant): For Saussure, this was one of the two parts of the sign (which was indivisible except for analytical purposes). In the Saussurean tradition, the signifier is the form which a sign takes. For Saussure himself, in relation to linguistic signs, this meant a non-material form of the spoken word - 'a sound-image' ('the psychological imprint of the sound, the impression it makes on our senses'). Subsequent semioticians have treated it as the material (or physical) form of the sign - something which can be seen, heard, felt, smelt or tasted (also called the sign vehicle).
Signifying practices: These are the meaning-making behaviours in which people engage (including the production and reading of texts) following particular conventions or rules of construction and interpretation. Social semioticians focus on signifying practices in specific socio-cultural contexts - on parole rather than langue, and tend towards diachronic rather than synchronic analysis - in contrast to structuralist semioticians who focus on the formal structure of sign systems. Realists criticize what they see as the reduction of reality by 'conventionalists' to nothing more than signifying practices.
Simple sign: A sign which does not contain any other signs, in contrast to a complex sign.
Simulacrum: This was Baudrillard's term (borrowed from Plato); 'simulacra' are 'copies without originals' - the main form in which we encountertexts in postmodern culture. More broadly, he used the term to refer to a representation which bears no relation to any reality.
Social determinism: Social determinism is a stance which asserts the primacy of social and political factors rather than the autonomous influence of the medium (whether this is language or a technology). Social determinists reject the causal priority given to language by linguistic determinists and to technology by technological determinists. Those who emphasize social determination focus on such issues as the circumstances of production, modes of use, values, purposes, skill, style, choice, control and access rather than on the structure of the text or code or the technical features of the medium. An extreme social determinist position relating to the decoding of texts (sometimes called, more specifically, audience determinism) would reduce individual decodings to a direct consequence of social class position. A more moderate stance would stress that access to different codes is influenced by social position. Structuralist semiotics tends to be allied with textual determinism and to ignore social determination.
Social semiotics: Whilst some semioticians have retained a structuralist concern with formal systems (mainly focusing on detailed studies of narrative, film and television editing and so on), many have become more concerned with social semiotics. A key concern of social semioticians is with 'signifying practices' in specific socio-cultural contexts. Social semioticians acknowledge that not all realities are equal, and are interested in 'sites of struggle' in which realities are contested. The roots of social semiotics can be traced to the early theorists. Saussure himself wrote of semiotics as 'a science that studies the life of signs within society'. Signs do not exist without interpreters, and semiotic codes are of course socialconventions. See also: Semiotics, Social determinism
Symbolic capital: Pierre Bourdieu outlined various inter-related kinds of 'capital' - economic, cultural, social and symbolic. 'Symbolic capital' refers to the communicative repertoire of an individual or group, which is related in part to educational background. In semiotic terms, symbolic capital reflects differential access to, and deployment of, particular codes.
Symbolic order: 'The Symbolic' is Lacan's term for the phase when the child gains mastery within the public realm of verbal language - when a degree of individuality and autonomy is surrendered to the constraints of linguistic conventions and the Self becomes a more fluid and ambiguous relational signifier rather than a relatively fixed entity. Structuralists focus on the Symbolic order rather than the Imaginary, seeing language asdetermining subjectivity.
Text: Most broadly, this term is used to refer to anything which can be 'read' for meaning; to some theorists, 'the world' is 'social text'. Although the term appears to privilege written texts (it seems graphocentric and logocentric), to most semioticians a 'text' is an system of signs (in the form of words, images, sounds and/or gestures). It is constructed and interpreted with reference to the conventions associated with a genre and in a particularmedium of communication. The term is often used to refer to recorded (e.g. written) texts which are independent of their users (used in this sense the term excludes unrecorded speech). A text is the product of a process of representation and 'positions' both its makers and its readers (seeSubject). Typically, readers tend to focus mainly on what is represented in a text rather than on the processes of representation involved (which usually seem to be transparent).
Social semiotics: Whilst some semioticians have retained a structuralist concern with formal systems (mainly focusing on detailed studies of narrative, film and television editing and so on), many have become more concerned with social semiotics. A key concern of social semioticians is with 'signifying practices' in specific socio-cultural contexts. Social semioticians acknowledge that not all realities are equal, and are interested in 'sites of struggle' in which realities are contested. The roots of social semiotics can be traced to the early theorists. Saussure himself wrote of semiotics as 'a science that studies the life of signs within society'. Signs do not exist without interpreters, and semiotic codes are of course socialconventions. See also: Semiotics, Social determinism
Symbolic capital: Pierre Bourdieu outlined various inter-related kinds of 'capital' - economic, cultural, social and symbolic. 'Symbolic capital' refers to the communicative repertoire of an individual or group, which is related in part to educational background. In semiotic terms, symbolic capital reflects differential access to, and deployment of, particular codes.
Symbolic order: 'The Symbolic' is Lacan's term for the phase when the child gains mastery within the public realm of verbal language - when a degree of individuality and autonomy is surrendered to the constraints of linguistic conventions and the Self becomes a more fluid and ambiguous relational signifier rather than a relatively fixed entity. Structuralists focus on the Symbolic order rather than the Imaginary, seeing language asdetermining subjectivity.
Text: Most broadly, this term is used to refer to anything which can be 'read' for meaning; to some theorists, 'the world' is 'social text'. Although the term appears to privilege written texts (it seems graphocentric and logocentric), to most semioticians a 'text' is an system of signs (in the form of words, images, sounds and/or gestures). It is constructed and interpreted with reference to the conventions associated with a genre and in a particularmedium of communication. The term is often used to refer to recorded (e.g. written) texts which are independent of their users (used in this sense the term excludes unrecorded speech). A text is the product of a process of representation and 'positions' both its makers and its readers (seeSubject). Typically, readers tend to focus mainly on what is represented in a text rather than on the processes of representation involved (which usually seem to be transparent).
Transparency: We become so used to familiar conventions in our everyday use of various media that the codes involved often seem 'transparent' and the medium itself seems neutral. The medium is characterized by instrumentalist thinking as purely a means to an end when the text is regarded as a 'reflection', a 'representation' or an 'expression'. The status of the text as text - its 'textuality' and materiality - is minimized. Commonsense tells us that the signified is unmediated and the signifier is 'transparent' and purely denotative, as when we interpret television or photography as 'a window on the world'. The importance accorded to transparency varies in relation to genre and function: as the formalists noted, poetic language tends to be more 'opaque' than conventional prose. In 'realistic' texts, the authorial goal is for the medium, codes and signs to be discounted by readers as transparent and for the makers of the text to retreat to invisibility. Unmarked terms and forms - such as the dominant code - draw no attention to their invisibly privileged status. Semioticians have sought to demonstrate that the apparent transparency of even the most 'realistic' signifier, text, genre or medium is illusory, since representational codes are always involved. Anti-realist texts do not seek to be transparent but are reflexive. See also: Foregrounding, stylistic, Imaginary signifier, Mediation, Mimesis, Naturalization, Non-neutrality of medium, Realism, aesthetic, Reflexivity,Representation, Materiality of the sign
Universalism, cognitive: Structuralists such as Lévi-Strauss argues that there is a universal mental structure based on certain fundamental binary oppositions. This structure is transformed into universal structural patterns in human culture through universal linguistic categories.
Universalism, linguistic: This term refers to the view that, whilst languages vary in their surface structure, every language is based on the same underlying universal structure or laws. In contrast to linguistic relativists, universalists argue that we can say whatever we want to say in any language, and that whatever we say in one language can always be translated into another. Both linguistic universalism and linguistic relativism are compatible with Structuralism.
Universalism, cognitive: Structuralists such as Lévi-Strauss argues that there is a universal mental structure based on certain fundamental binary oppositions. This structure is transformed into universal structural patterns in human culture through universal linguistic categories.
Universalism, linguistic: This term refers to the view that, whilst languages vary in their surface structure, every language is based on the same underlying universal structure or laws. In contrast to linguistic relativists, universalists argue that we can say whatever we want to say in any language, and that whatever we say in one language can always be translated into another. Both linguistic universalism and linguistic relativism are compatible with Structuralism.
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