A Brief Introduction to Semiotics

 A Brief Introduction to Semiotics Visual Orthodoxies: Art & Advertising Codes

Referent: The actual thing as it exists in the world (i.e. the chair you are sitting on).
Signifier: Visual or verbal means we use (picture of a chair or the word chair).
Signified: The idea we attach to it (i.e. it’s a place where we sit).

The Sign (the signifier and signified in combination): a textual construction which is used to recreate things/the world in a work of art. Think of the sign as made of two parts which are inseparable– like a piece of paper.

Signs refer to, or create a reference to, real things in the world (referent), but are not the real things things themselves.

Denotative: The mechanical or reductive definition of a sign; a bull is a male bovine.

Connotative: The expanded or associative range of the sign; bull is untruth or hyperbole, to bull one’s way is to be pushy or rude etc.

The denotative and connotative readings of a sign or code are ways to increase the complexity of a work of art, or to expand its definitions based on the contents of the work itself.

The Five Narrative Codes of Roland Barthes:

Symbolic Code: Binary oppositions or themes. The inscription into the text of the antithesis central to the organization of the cultural code.

Cultural or Reference Code: The Cultural Code is anything in the text which refers to an external body of knowledge such as scientific, historical, and cultural knowledge. Identifies knowledge or wisdom. What does it reference?

Hermeneutic or Enigma Code: The Hermeneutic Code contains anything in the text that is mysterious or unexplained, usually leading to questions which the reader needs answered. It is the code of enigmas or puzzles that must be resolved.

Proairetic or Action Code: The Proairetic Code contains sequential elements of action in the text. The code of actions. Any action initiated must be completed. The cumulative actions constitute the plot events of the text.

Semic or Semantic Code: The Semic Code refers to elements of the text that carry referential, extra-literal meaning. It links the narrative to larger assumptions. It is what links the narrative to larger issues outside of the narrative. 

November 10 & 12 Reading:

• Daniel Chandler: Semiotics for Beginners: Codes

• Roland Barthes: The World of Wrestling

• Roland Barthes: The Romans in Films

• Roland Barthes: The Brain of Einstein

• Roland Barthes: Plastic

• Joseph Kosuth: Context/Text