Media, Information and Technoculture 2200F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Roland Barthes, Linguistic System, Integrability Conditions For Differential Systems

• School: Western University
• Department: Media, Information and Technoculture
• Course: Media, Information and Technoculture 2200F/G
• Professor: Sasha Torres

Document Summary

Nature of the linguistic sign & myth today. Studied language at uni of geneva, then university of leipseich. Began teaching a course in general linguistics. Reading from today is compiled by students from his class. He revolutionized our understanding of what language is and how it works. The basic unit of language (p. 67) Signi er = a form linked to an idea: that form can be many things. Ex. the word cat (sign: cat or a pic of a cat, or a clipart cat (all of these function as a signi er) Signi ed = an idea or concept linked to a signi er (our mental image of a cat) Saussure said : the sign is the union of the signi er and the signi ed. Linked as if they are each the side of a paper (2 sides make a whole) Signs are the basic form of a linguistic system.