This document provides an overview of semiotics and several key theorists in the field. [1] It defines semiotics as the study of signs and symbols and how they are used to communicate and develop interpretations. [2] It discusses Ferdinand de Saussure's distinction between the signifier (physical form of the sign) and signified (what it represents). [3] It also covers theorists Roland Barthes, Stuart Hall, and their contributions around how signs represent cultures/ideologies and how audiences interpret media messages.

1. Digital Media Foundations
Arfa Shah
K1109528
SEMIOTICS

2. What is “Semiotics”?
Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols. It
looks how signs and symbols are used to
communicate and develop interpretations.

3. Ferdinand de Saussure
• Saussure was a Swiss linguist who created the term
“semiotics”. Saussure distinguished between the signifier
and signified. The “signifier” is the physical form which the
sign takes, the “signified” is what we understand the form
to represent. Therefore, for a sign to be considered a sign,
it must both be the signifier and the signified. He was as
also concerned with the arbitrariness of language and
language itself as signs.
• Saussure argued that words are verbal signifiers that are
personal to whoever is interpreting them so for example,
there is nothing physical about the rose that determines it
must be called a “Rose”- this is why different languages
have different spellings for words such as “tree” and “rose”.
Furthermore, when you see the written word “rose”, this
acts as an arbitrary signifier leading the individual to think of
any rose they wish whether it be red, pink or yellow.
• However, a signifier can have many different
representations which can turn it into a different sign. For
example, the word ‘open’ becomes a completely different
signified when it states “push to open the door”. Another
example is where it states on the top of a juice bottle to
“open this end”- this highlights that the same form (signifier)
can have different meanings (signified).

4. Roland Barthes
• Barthes was a French literary
theorist, critic and like Saussure,
was also interested in semiotics.
Barthes semiotic theory focuses
on how signs and photographs
represent different cultures and
ideologies in different ways.
These messages are established
in two ways, through:
Denotation: The literal meaning
of the sign
&
Connotation: The suggested
meaning of the sign, the cultural
conventions associated with the
sign.

5. • For example, Harry Potter denotes a
storybook character, it connotes to
wizards, witches, spells, Hogwarts, magic
and spells. A rose denotes a flower,
however it’s connotations could be
passion, love, romance.
• The term “myth” refers to the collective,
unconscious meaning created as the
result of a semiotic process.
• Barthes theorised that a myth is a chain
of semiotic events which, when
experienced or seen by members of
society, creates a subconscious meaning.
For example, when members of society
come across the signs of McDonalds,
Burger Kind, KFC, Pizza Hut, the literal
meaning is that they are restaurants
whereas the myth would be consumerism,
capitalism, obesity which society
members will not register on a conscious
level.

6. Stuart Hall
• Stuart Hall is a cultural theorist and
sociologist.
• Hall’s encoding/decoding model is a part of
the reception theory that looks at how
audience interpret and respond to a particular
medium whether it be a newspaper or
television show.
• Hall theorised that broadcasters, producers,
institutions such as newspapers and
magazine encode a particular media
message which creates a new form of
communication. Hall argued that the
audience then decode (receive) this meaning
using their own methods of logical
interpretation.
• Hall argued that the meaning of media
messages is not fixed by the institution that is
encoding the message and that those
receiving the message are not passive when
it comes to interpreting meaning.

7. • Hall also argued that the meaning of the text is
relative to the person//audience interpreting it.
The producer (encoder) can fix the meaning of
the message in a specific way but they cannot
control how the audience decode the message
and this is dependent on their personal
background, economic situation and cultural
background.
• For Hall, the denotation and connotation process
is an analytical tool He also argues that it is very
rare for signs to signify their literal meaning in
the world and that most signs will combine both
the denotative and connotative process and work
simultaneously together to create meaning.

8. • Hall went onto argue that for those decoding
readings, there can be a number of unlimited
readings and that the decoding process is
“polysemic”- meaning that one text can have a
number of meanings. Hall stated that whilst these
various meanings do exist, they will eventually give
way to a “dominant or preferred meaning”.
• The next slide gives an example of Hall’s
communication model.

9. The magazine editor is encoding
the message of the latest fashion
on the catwalk on this cover of
“Elle” magazine. The reader may
decode the message as either a)
the latest fashion on the catwalk
b) this is what “beauty” is and that
this is what all women should look
like or
c) in order to make it into the
modelling industry, you have to
starve yourself to the point where
there is nothing left of you.
The way you interpret (decode)
this magazine cover will depend
on your social, economic and
cultural background amongst
other interests.