A note to ComS 169 students…. Don’t worry if you feel challenged by Vande Berg’s treatment of semiotics and semiology in the text. Frankly I feel challenged as well! That’s one reason why we will be welcoming a guest lecturer tonite. We will work to help straighten things out during the second half of class. The first half will be given over to the peer review of the first assignment.

Semiotics and TV Criticism ComS 169 Professor Nick Burnett Guest Lecturer: Professor David Zuckerman

Semiotics and Semiology: A Bit of History In the United States, C.S. Pierce In Europe, Ferdinand de Saussere Beginning of the 20 th century As a coherent field of study not really embraced until the 1970s with the work of: Umberto Eco (Italy) Roland Barthes (France)

Some definitions Semiology is the study of signs Unfortunately that may not be helpful because the definition of a sign is not what you think it is. A better definition might be to consider semiology/semiotics as the study of meaning Key equation for this approach: Signified + Signifier = Sign

So what’s a signifier? A signifier exists is the material world. We experience signifiers by means of our senses—we see, feel, smell, hear signifiers. Signifiers are objects, words, images or sounds before they are given meaning. There is no inherent connection between signifiers and the signifieds.

Ok, then what’s a signified? The signified has no material presence at all. It exists purely in our minds. The signified is what we think or feel in response to a signifier. Because the signified and signifier exist in two different realms, they can never be permanently attached. We LEARN how to make meanings by interpreting signs.

How is this related to TV? Because in the mass media, the producer of a program cannot know exactly who her audience is or how they will be responding to a series of signs and because that producer cannot interact with the audience (as in interpersonal communication), using signs to make meaning through the media is uniquely challenging.

Interpreting signs A signs meaning is dependent on the context in which it is presented. What does a car mean? To a teenager, perhaps freedom. To an ELF member, pollution and death. To a auto dealer, an asset. To a chauffeur, work. To a celebrity rapper, a validation of lifestyle. To an SUV owner, a girlie man!

Frames Eco suggests that the media uses frames to help give meaning to signs. Frames are larger contexts which give us clues to interpreting signs. Consider the supermarket frame, the work frame, the classroom frame, the bar frame, etc. How does a signifiers connection with a frame change the signified and hence the sign?

Types of signs Symbolic or unmotivated signs: language, Morse code, semaphore signals (arbitrary relationship between the signified and the signifier Non-lingistic signs: images and objects have a less arbitrary relationship…a banana and a picture of a banana have a pretty close relationship to our mental image (the signified) in our heads of “banana”

Barthes and “myth” In this case, myth is NOT used to represent fables or legends, but the juxtaposition of signs to create meanings. This meaning making is not causal or logical, but powerful nonetheless. Example: carmakers use a beautiful women in a car ad to create a meaning for potential buyers, or beer is shown in ads being consumed by attractive young people having a good time