OUGD401 - Semiotics Part 2

Sign = Signifier + Signified 

Roland Barthes' theory of 
Denotations are the literal meaning of an image or object 
Connotations are a learned associated

Denotations can lead to connotations.


Mediated meanings

The heroic figure meaning associated with Superman is an example of mediated meaning.  Mediated meaning is a signifier that has been recycled by the media - a recycled set of signs that represent the same things - e.g. superman (a superhero).

Types of signs

- icon (literally what it is)
e.g. painting of the queen, photo of something, smells, written words

- index (a sign that stands for something)
e.g. a sign that points to something else, smoke = fire, related issues/assumptions

- symbol (something that stands for something)
e.g. logos, M for mcdonalds, + for pharmacy, certain colours, 'peace' sign made with hands

Symbols are all established by social convention, so cannot be figured our directly.

Coded meanings

Codes are organisational systems and grids.  They can be highly formal (maths) or highly flexible (greeting people).  Formal codes are set rules whereas flexible codes can vary depending on each individual.

There are rules that are followed but some aspects can be changed.  E.g. a sandwich - use bread and a filling, but you can choose and change the filling to whatever you like.  The end result will vary according to who is making the sandwich, but all results are still recognisable as being a sandwich.

Cultural codes frame semiotics and create meaning - a socially agreed recipe to create meanings from.  Knowledge of codes is culture-specific, as proved by Carl Jung, the great Swiss psychoanalyst, who was fond of recounting how codes had the power to affect even what one sees.  He exposed a tribal culture to illustrated magazines, and he found that the people of that culture were unable to recognise that the illustrations in the magazines were visual representations of human beings.  They instead perceived them as smudges on a surface.  Jung understood that their different interpretations of the illustrations were not due to bad eyesight or lack of intelligence but because they had acquired a different signifying order that prevented them from perceiving the pictures as visual signs as people living in the Western culture would have seen them as.

What is a text?

- painting
- letter
- story

The meaning of a text can be changed and conditioned by its context.  For example, ice cream, when put into different contexts can change the meaning.  An ice cream upside down on the floor connotes sad feelings, whereas an ice cream in the hands of a smiling child connotes happiness.

Texts are composite signifiers - fashion is a text (subcultural codes of meaning).  The stories written about Superman's adventures are composite signifiers, which all signify the 'superman code', involving solving crisis' with powers, flirting with a woman, having an alter ego, etc.

Context is made up of physical, psychological and social situations.  Seeing a comic book thrown in the bin in the street would show a different interpretation than if it was framed in an art gallery or museum.  The object's physical context of occurrence and social context of reference will determine how someone will interpret it.


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In groups of 5 we worked on different sections of a piece of text about semiotics.  We then presented what we had learnt to the rest of the group, which was a good way to learn in depth about this topic.