Analyzing Structure Meaning arises from the differences between signifiers Differences: syntagmatic (positioning) and paradigmatic (substitution/associative) Syntagmatic is horizontal, while paradigmatic is vertical Syntagm: Combination of this and this and this Paradigm: selection of this or this or this

Syntagm and Paradigm Syntagm: possibilities of combination Paradigm: functional contrasts involving differentiation Syntagm: intratextual and co-present Paradigm: intertextual to signifiers absent from the text

Value of the Signs Determined by paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations Syantagm and paradigms provide a structural context within which the signs make sense Paradigmatic operation: signifiers or signified A paradigm: a set of associated signifiers which are all members of defining category but in which each is significantly different. Grammatical paradigms: verbs, nouns, adjectives,

Paradigmatic Relations The use of one signifier shapes the preferred meaning Contrastive Associative Mental association of form (homophones) and meaning (synonyms) Include visual mode

Syantagm Orderly combination of interacting signifiers which form a meaningful whole within a text. A sentence is a syntagm of words Syntagmatic relations:

Conceptual relation Expository (topic, introduction, body, paragraph, conclusion) Masculine Masculine: tight, orderly, logical arguments leading to the main point, defensive, excludes the woman’s way of knowing Say what you are going to say, then say it, then say what you have already said Semiotician: try to find elementary constituent segment within a text: its syntagm. Narrative is based on sequential relation Film and TV: causal relationship Semioticians: search for grammar leaks, seams, and scaffolding and for what has been denied, hidden, or excluded. About before and after

Spatial relation Syntagmatic and includes: -above/below -In front/behind -Close/distant -Left/right -north/south/west/east -Inside/outside (center/periphery) -Top/bottom -Center/margin -Orientational metaphors are linked to culture.

Sequential significance Left hand/right hand visual image: sense of before and after. Left hand/right hand are related to “Given” and “new” Given: already given, a familiar, well- established and agreed upon point of departure, assumed and self-evident. New: not yet known, more surprising, problematic, and contestable.

Compositional axis Up: goodness, virtue, happiness, consciousness, health, life, the future, high status, having control or power, and rationality. Down: badness, depravity, sickness, death, low status, being subject to control or power, and with emotion. Men tend to be located higher than woman in ads symbolically reflecting the routine subordination of women to men in society. Vertical axis: upper = the ideal, abstract and generalized possibilities: lower = the real, factual detail, down-to- earth Upper: what might be, lower: what is (more informative and practical.

Center VS Margin Center: nucleus information Margin: ancillary, dependent element Center=figure, margin = ground Dominant shape = figure and located centrally

Sequential relation Narrative: left/right spatial structure Has beginning and ending Narrative syntagm: equilibrium-disruption- equilibrium (beginning, middle, end) Causation and goal-turn story Give structure, predictability and coherence. To naturalize the content of narrative itself

Structural Reduction Stories: the villain, the donor, helper, sought for person, dispatcher, hero, the false hero. A myth: can be reduced to a small number of simple types. Message from our ancestors about humankind our relationship to nature. Myth is a language Mythemes: breaking myths into the shortest possible sentences (morpheme) Mythemes: functions

Greimas (Paris School) Grammar or narrative: 3 Narrative syntagms Performanciels (task and struggle) Contractuel: the establishment or breaking contract Disjonctionel: departure and arrival Actions and character types: actant