Signs and Signifiers

What is this?

What if I am a mathematician?

Now what is it?

What is it now?

What does this symbol signify?

Now what does it signify?

What is this telling you to do?

Signs are there to signify things but they have a cultural reference

In other words, they only “make sense” if we understand what they mean. We only understand what they mean because we have a shared knowledge – I know a red light means stop, so do you, so do all other drivers so we all stop at red traffic lights.

What is this?

Actually… It is a Norwegian Pine tree, covered in snow and with a red ribbon on. But it signifies: Christmas Presents Families etc. And this is because we share a cultural knowledge about the use of Norwegian Pine trees (thanks to Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, who brought this German cultural tradition to England in the 1840s!)

We associate certain foods with Christmas – they are signifiers for it. But they need a shared cultural reference – different cultures eat different foods at this time of year (imagine these on a Christmas card!) England = turkey and plum / fruit Christmas pudding Russia = 'meat dumplings' Finland = rice pudding and plum fruit juice Germany = goose or carp (fish) Sweden = ham, brown beans and herring fish Latvia = cooked brown peas with bacon sauce, small pies, cabbage and sausage. Portugal = salted dry cod-fish with boiled potatoes

Colours Colours are often used as signifiers. Think about the connotations of the colour red. What about black? What does white signify?

Yet, in Tudor times, a bride would marry in red; In the seventeenth century a bride would wear her best dress, regardless of colour; By the eighteenth century, affluent brides would marry in silver; Queen Victoria was married (1840) in white – and set a trend which still continues today.

However, these are only Christian / English cultural traditions for appropriate bridal attire… A Hindu bride….. A Sikh bride… A Muslim bride… In China, white is worn for mourning.

What are the implications for Media Studies? Well, the producer of a media text needs to know that the audience will understand the signs in his text and what they signify.

You now know that signs and signifiers have a cultural context. If the audience do not share that culture then they may not understand the sign and what it signifies.

A code brings together signs and signifiers to get meaning across to the audience. Technical codes: camera techniques, framing, depth of field, lighting and exposure Symbolic codes: refer to objects, setting, body language, clothing and colour Written codes: headlines, captions, speech bubbles and language style.