Media, Information and Technoculture 2153A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Semiotics, Media Studies, Hyperreality
10 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
The sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified. The relationship between the signifier and signified is referred to as signification, and this is represented in the sassurean diagram by the arrows. Ferdinand de saussure was studying how we make meaning through language and theorized that there is no relationship between a word and a thing. The horizontal line marking the 2 elements of the sign is referred to as the bar. Signs are a combination of the vehicle used to signify a word or image and that which is signified being the concept or idea. Signifiers are somewhat arbitrary as they have no intrinsic link to the signified while the signified itself can be quite fluid. Representation is not the thing, it"s a message about the thing. The association between the signifier and the signified only becomes meaningful when we use it or apply it.
