Media and society

1. 1
Media & Society
Course
Lecture for
week #8
Prepared by Dr.
Yolla Ahmed
Social Inequality, Social positions,
and Media Representations
Introduction
In today's lecture, we will cover:
Ø What is a media text?
Ø Analyzing media texts
Ø The theory of signification
(semiotics)

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Introduction
In order to be in grasp of the content of this
lecture, which is dedicated to Representation (with
applied case studies related to inequality later on),
we need to understand what a Media text is. Introduction
What is a Media
text?
Definition
Media texts have a
variety of forms both
within media
(publishing
newspapers to novels)
and across media (the
front page of a
website to the titles
of a TV
programme).
This variety is important when trying to study
the production of meaning and the process of
influence (in media texts).

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Some researchers argue that
spoken and non-verbal forms
should be included along with
written forms, in studying
media texts.
Even a model's smile on a
magazine cover would be
considered as a part of the
media text, because it is a
material signifier.
Example

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In studying media texts,
some researchers
suggest that we should
take into consideration
the reader's prior
knowledge and
expectations.
It is true that the text structures the
meanings that are conveyed through it but
the reader's prior knowledge and
expectations come into play too.
The modern consumer of the media is a
reader of many different kinds of text, which
inter-relate and feed off one another.

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In addition to what has been
Said Previously, it is important
for analysis purposes that you
learn about:
• Semiotics (the theory of
signification)
The objective of
analyzing
signification is to
determine
meaning—or a
set of meanings.

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The two approaches
concerned with
signification are
Semiotics and
Semiology.
Both mean the study of
signs and symbols and
their use or
interpretation.

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Researchers in
semiotics come from
varied areas, such as
communication,
linguistics,
anthropology, film
study, literature,
and marketing etc.
What is a
sign?

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In semiotic theory, a sign
is anything that stands
for something else—that
is, a sign stands for an
object or concept
The Swiss linguist
Ferdinand de Saussure,
who is known as the
father of European
semiology, expressed this
relationship in the
following way:

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This is the marriage
between a sound or
an image—called a signifier
(Sr)—and the concept for
which it stands (or
content)—called
the signified (Sd).
Example: The photo/
image of a hand is
the signifier and the
signified is the
meaning of the hand
(part of the body at
the end of an arm).
Both the signifier and
the signified
constitute the sign.

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The signifier is the
form in which the
content is
expressed—the word,
sound, picture, smell,
or gesture.

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Saussure explained the
closeness of these
relationships with the
metaphor of a sheet of
paper illustrates.
He said the paper
itself was like the
sign—one side of the
sheet being the
signified and the other
side being the signifier.

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At the same time,
around the beginning
of the 20th century,
as Saussure was
developing his ideas of
semiosis (the process
of signification in
language or
literature)…

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American Charles S.
Peirce was working on
his model of
knowledge and the
way reality is
represented in mind
and thought.
For him, the sign is
equivalent to
Saussure's signifier
and the object is
similar to Saussure's
concept (signified).
The interpretant is
the idea evoked in a
person's mind by the
sign.

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An association or
personal experience,
for example,
contributes to my
interpretation of the
word tree.

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I see aspens in the fall
turning gold.
Someone else might
see a new spring
green seedling being
planted …
… a brilliant
red/orange maple in
the fall, or a stand of
evergreens against a
backdrop of snow.

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Saussure's work was
based in linguistics
and is important
to critical analyses of
how meaning
operates in texts.
Peirce's work, which
became known as
semiotics (although
he never used that
term), is even broader
because of its
epistomological focus
(relating to the
theory of knowledge).

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It is marked by a
concern for the
important role signs
play in the way
we know things and
think about things.
The sign
relationship

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Important to both
Saussure and Peirce is
the:
question of how does
something come to
stand for something
else or how is the
signifier connected to
the signified?

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Peirce, for example,
used another triad—
iconic, indexical, and
symbolic—to explain
the nature of the
relationships he
identified for signs:
Peirce's Three Types of Sign Relationships
Nature of Relationship Example
Iconic Resembles by mimesis— i.e.,
"looks like"
A photograph; a
portrait
Indexical An indicator of the existence of
something
Smoke to fire;
symptom to disease
Symbolic "Stands for" is understood
through convention
A flag for a country; a
mascot for a team
Mimesis refers to the attempt to imitate or reproduce reality.

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In the case of the
photo of the singer
Sinead O’connor, the
triad could be
explained as follows:

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Iconic dimension: the
photo depicts the Pope as
he is.
Indexical: His clothes
indicate his religious
status.
Symbolic: He represents a
religious authority. Sinead
is rebelling not against him
but against any kind of
religious authority.
At the heart of a
theory of signs lies
also the difference
between connotative
and
denotative meanings

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Semiologist Roland
Barthes (1968) and
cultural studies
theorist Stuart Hall
(1999) have extended
the concepts of
signified (Sd) and
signifier (Sr) to include
connotation and
denotation.
Denotation is the
direct, specific, or
literal meaning we get
from a sign. It is
a description or
representation of the
signified—that is,
language (or visual)
specifically
about the object.

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Connotation is
meaning that is
evoked by the object,
that is, what it
symbolizes on a
subjective level.
In Barthes' work,
connotation reflects
cultural meanings,
mythologies, and
ideologies.

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It is derived from past
experiences or
repeated associations
between a sign and
its object.
Denotation is the
starting point; as the
understanding of
meaning shifts then
to the second
Level.

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At this point,
connotation takes
over and delivers a
richer experience of
the meaning by
engaging Peirce's
interpretants.
See you next
week!

26. Media and Society Course – Dr. Yolla Ahmed (Material for week #8)
Checklist for lecture of week #8
1- I understand what a media text is, and that there is a variety of media
texts (across, and within media).
 
2- I understand that spoken and non-verbal forms should be taken into
consideration along with the readers’ prior knowledge, and
expectations.
 
3- I understand the aim of the semiotics, and know what the other word
used to describe the same thing as semiotics, is.
 
4- I understand that researchers who have contributed to semiotics come
from different fields of specialization.
 
5- I know how to define signs from Ferdinand de Saussure's perspective,
and what the metaphor of a paper stands for.
 
6- I understand that signifiers refer to words, pictures, smells, and
gestures. Signifiers are all about the form of the content.
 
7- I understand how Charles Pierce defined a sign, and what was the
terminology he used.
 
8- I understand what an interpretant means as Pierce has defined it.  
9-I understand what the three types of sign relationships refer to (iconic,
indexical, and symbolic).
 
10- I understand the difference between denotative and connotative
meanings.
 
Decide whether the following statements are (True) or (False):
1- Media texts are limited to written texts, excluding hence spoken, and non-verbal forms.
( )
2- The modern consumer of the media is a reader of many different kinds of text, which inter-
relate and feed off one another. ( )
3- Semiotics and semiology are useful for the study of signs and symbols and their use or
interpretation. ( )
4- The photo/ image of a hand is the signifier and the signified is the meaning of the hand.
( )
5- The signifier is the word in which the content is expressed, and does not include sound,
picture, smell, or gesture.( )
6- The indexical relationship in a “signification system” is understood through
convention.( )
7- In Roland Barthe’s work, In Barthes' work, connotation reflects cultural meanings,
mythologies, and ideologies. ( )