Theory of Semiotics
General Purpose: The purpose of semiotics is to interpret both verbal and nonverbal signs.
Specific Purpose: This theory can explain how meaning is a social production of forming sign systems. It looks at how cultures produce meaning in a system of signs, and it explains the connotations that words and symbols carry.
Key terms, concepts, and definitions:
Major terms include the sign, the signifier, and signified. While the signifier is the physical form we can see, and the signified is the meaning we associate with the sign, the sign is the combination of the signifier and the signified. A sign is something that stands for something else. Signs are all part of a larger system that we learn through our culture. Symbols are signs that are arbitrarily related to their referents. All of these terms are linked in the semiotic triangle.
What does the theory do?
This theory can be used in the field of linguistics, and it can also be used when examining the cultural meanings that words and symbols carry. Major people who have developed the field of semiotics include Ferdinand de Saussure, Roland Barthes, and C.S. Peirce. This theory illustrates that cultures create meaning and reality through signs, and that there is no inherent reality.
Where can it be applied?
Semiotics is used in the field of linguistics and also in literary criticism.
Summary source:
Barthes, R. (1967). Elements of Semiology. (A. Lavers & C. Smith, Trans.). London, England:
Cape.
Peirce, C.S. (1991). Peirce on Signs: Writings on Semiotic. J. Hoopes (Ed.). Chapel Hill, NC:
University of North Carolina.
Saussure, F.D. (2011). A Course in General Linguistics. (W. Baskin, Trans.). P. Meisel & H.
Saussy (Eds.). New York, NY: Columbia University.
Exemplar article:
Fiorini, D. & Socolovsky, P. (2014). Argentinian myths: Semiotics and cultural identity. Society,
52(1), 27-30. doi: 10.1007/s12115-013-9732-3
Menchik, D.A. & Tian, X. (2008). Putting social context into text: The semiotics of e-mail
interaction. American Journal of Sociology, 114(2), 332-370. doi: 10.1086/590650
Virkkula-Räisänen, T. (2010). Linguistic repertoires and semiotic resources in interaction.
Journal of Business Communication, 47(4), 505-531. doi: 10.1177/0021943610377315
Specific Purpose: This theory can explain how meaning is a social production of forming sign systems. It looks at how cultures produce meaning in a system of signs, and it explains the connotations that words and symbols carry.
Key terms, concepts, and definitions:
Major terms include the sign, the signifier, and signified. While the signifier is the physical form we can see, and the signified is the meaning we associate with the sign, the sign is the combination of the signifier and the signified. A sign is something that stands for something else. Signs are all part of a larger system that we learn through our culture. Symbols are signs that are arbitrarily related to their referents. All of these terms are linked in the semiotic triangle.
What does the theory do?
This theory can be used in the field of linguistics, and it can also be used when examining the cultural meanings that words and symbols carry. Major people who have developed the field of semiotics include Ferdinand de Saussure, Roland Barthes, and C.S. Peirce. This theory illustrates that cultures create meaning and reality through signs, and that there is no inherent reality.
Where can it be applied?
Semiotics is used in the field of linguistics and also in literary criticism.
Summary source:
Barthes, R. (1967). Elements of Semiology. (A. Lavers & C. Smith, Trans.). London, England:
Cape.
Peirce, C.S. (1991). Peirce on Signs: Writings on Semiotic. J. Hoopes (Ed.). Chapel Hill, NC:
University of North Carolina.
Saussure, F.D. (2011). A Course in General Linguistics. (W. Baskin, Trans.). P. Meisel & H.
Saussy (Eds.). New York, NY: Columbia University.
Exemplar article:
Fiorini, D. & Socolovsky, P. (2014). Argentinian myths: Semiotics and cultural identity. Society,
52(1), 27-30. doi: 10.1007/s12115-013-9732-3
Menchik, D.A. & Tian, X. (2008). Putting social context into text: The semiotics of e-mail
interaction. American Journal of Sociology, 114(2), 332-370. doi: 10.1086/590650
Virkkula-Räisänen, T. (2010). Linguistic repertoires and semiotic resources in interaction.
Journal of Business Communication, 47(4), 505-531. doi: 10.1177/0021943610377315