Mid-Term

 Can you explain the different traditions in communication theory and what they generally focused on?  Socio-psychological  Cybernetic  Rhetorical  Semiotic  Socio-cultural  Phenomenological  Ethical Communication Theory

  Process School : communication as (linear) transfer, transmitting of a message (information)  Semiotic School : communication of a message (text) as production and exchange of meanings (signification)  One other, third ‘school’ = communication as constructing reality Two Major Schools

 Recap: all models where can it go wrong?

 1.Anything that hinders communicating 2.Anything that orients or affects the communication in specific way with undesirable outcome Communication Problems ‘ Noise ’

 Lasswell’s model Effectiveness First School

 Shannon and Weaver’s model Possible problems could be: Technical (transmission) Semantic (desired meaning) Effectiveness (desired behavior) First School

 Sender Receiver Codes a message Decodes it Message Medium Feedback Noise 2-way interaction model Linear transmission (transactional model) Message Listeners (Decoding) Speaker (Coding) 1-way interaction model First School

 In this model, what is …  Noise  Channel  Medium  Code  Feedback ( does feedback destroy linearity? )  Convention  Redundancy / Entropy ? Definitions, please!

 Constructing Social Reality Gerbner’s Model Horizontal dimension : the perceptual = filtering of human perception & meaning Vertical dimension : means & control = when percept is turned into signal

 event E – percept of event E – statement about event SE – percept of statement about SE Problems on horizontal dimension Problems on vertical dimension Problems of access and availability Constructing Social Reality

 Newcomb’s model What is the editorial-communicating function ? How can it, in its turn, create noise and perhaps, communication failures?

 A = communicator B = receiver X = any part of the social environment C = editorial-communicating function Communication problems induced by power or personal interest Westley & MacLean’s model

 Communication failure  On a technical level? (explain ‘the probable’ based on experience of convention…)  On a social level? (explain phatic communication) What can go wrong in this model?

 Jakobson’s 6 constitutive factors correspond to different functions: Towards signification Referential (Context) Poetic (Message) Emotive (Addresser)_______ Conative (Addressee) Phatic (Contact) Metalingual (Code) Can you give examples of each of them? See also: Jakobson’s model

 Which functions of language can be found in this conversation?

 Problems of understanding, when culture or code is not shared! Towards signification

 Second School: Signification  Semiotics is the study of signs.  A sign is something that stands for something other than itself.  Signification is the act of making meaning (‘signifying’).

 What is a fundamental difference between F. de Saussure and C.S. Peirce with regard the external reality?

paradigmatic syntagmatic 2 dimensions in the organisation of signifiers

 Paradigms and Syntagms Selective/associative (or paradigmatic) dimension (metaphor) Combinative/syntagmatic dimension (metonymy)

 Paradigms and Syntagms

Indexical Iconic Symbolic Representation Iconic representation - here the car is an image which directly resembles the real thing Indexical representatio n – the image suggests the presence of a car Symbolic – a sign that bears no obvious relation to the thing that is signified 3 Main Categories of Signs

Symbol/symbolic : a mode in which the signifier does not resemble the signified but which is fundamentally arbitrary or purely conventional - so that the relationship must be learnt: e.g. language in general (plus specific languages, alphabetical letters, punctuation marks, words, phrases and sentences), numbers, morse code, traffic lights, national flags Icon/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 cartoon, a scale-model, onomatopoeia, metaphors, 'realistic' sounds in 'programme music', sound effects in radio drama, a dubbed film soundtrack, imitative gestures Index/indexical : a mode in which the signifier is not arbitrary but is directly connected in some way (physically or causally) to the signified - this link can be observed or inferred: e.g. 'natural signs' (smoke, thunder, footprints, echoes, non-synthetic odours and flavours), medical symptoms (pain, a rash, pulse-rate), measuring instruments (weathercock, thermometer, clock, spirit-level), 'signals' (a knock on a door, a phone ringing), pointers (a pointing 'index' finger, a directional signpost), recordings (a photograph, a film, video or television shot, an audio-recorded voice), personal 'trademarks' (handwriting, catchphrase) and indexical words ('that', 'this', 'here', 'there').

 Look at the following signs and explain why they are iconic.







 Signs & Cultural Differences  How we read a sign depends on our culture! EXAMPLE: In Europe/USA/Turkey, people associate the colour white with innocence, purity, weddings In China, white is the colour of mourning and is worn at funerals

  The only alphabet in the world that contains iconic letters is the one used by Japanese and Chinese people.  The letters are called kanji and there are over 2,000 of them!  Each kanji looks like the word it represents. Alphabets generally consists of symbols… (they must be learned)

  Copy out each kanji.  This one is naka, it means middle. You can see the line in the middle.

  This one is gawa and means river.

  This is yama and means mountain.

  This is ta and means rice field.

 Another kind of sign is indexical.  Indexical signs have some kind of direct connection to what is being shown.  Example: A tear running down someone’s cheek can be an indexical sign for sorrow.

 This is an indexical sign. What do you think it is for?

 It is an old sign for a school. It is supposed to represent the light of learning! Now we use an iconic sign to represent this.

 In contrastive pairs:  Analogue/Digital Codes  Representational/Presentational Codes (incl. Non- Verbal Communication)  Elaborated/Restricted Codes  Broadcast/Narrowcast Codes  Arbitrary / Conventional Codes (incl. Aesthetic Codes & Conventionalisation) Different Codes Do you know all the differences?

  Aberrant Decoding : a message that has been encoded according to one code is decoded by means of another Again: what can go ‘wrong’? Wizard of Oz is a Gay Pride?

 2 Main Orders of Signs

How do paradigmatic and syntagmatic associations work here? Discuss denotation and connotation – what are the signifiers and signified? Find other examples in advertising and other media texts. If you’re struggling with this concept, think about what you would normally associate with the hook. What is the effect of substituting the head? This substitution or intrusion of another generic category is a ‘shock’ or subversive paradigmatic signifier