1. Metaphors of globalization Lesson 5

2. Signs SIGN: something that stands for something else (De Sassure, inventor of “semiologie”) Unity of signifier (word, object, image..) and signified (cultural content or meaning) Denotation: literal meanings (front-stage) Connotation: cultural meanings (back-stage)

3. Reality and Imagination Signs are embedded in social relations and in a natural world. Baudrillard: Real, Imaginary, Symbolic. Durkheim: “We all live in a state of hallucination” (collective consciousness). C.S. Peirce (inventor of semiotics): sign-object relation Icons: resemblance (see) Indexes: connection with the real thing (figure out) Symbols: conventions and habits (learn)

4. Symbols and fakes Example: blondness In America: coldness, lack of emotion but also fun lovers. In Italy ? U.Eco: you can lie with signs (people who dye hair). ambivalence Signifier/signified: arbitrary, conventional relation (lost in translation) Symbols (sub-category of signs): tied to nature and experience

5. Power of metaphors Power of metaphors: Gerard Zaltman (Harvard Businness School): marketers use metaphors to discover what motivates people. Metaphors reflect unconscious beliefs and attitudes: when consumers are invited to use metaphors as they talk about a product, researchers can reveal hidden cognitive processes and shed light on codes, rules and values. Advertisement can adapt to those rules and codes.

6. Metaphors of Globalization What metaphors of Globalization are discussed in the articles? (Favell, Urry & Sheller) What are the symbols of Globalization? What are the problems with these metaphors?