The Importance Of Semiotics To The Cultural Aspects Of Philosophy

2009. A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Analyze a symbol in George Orwell's 1984, and write an essay demonstrating how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

Semiotics is the study of meaning. There are many aspects that go into developing a semiotic analysis. They include signs, a signifier and signified, codes, opposition, code confusion, intertexuality, paradigms, and syntagyms. Before delving into the analysis, the meaning of each of these terms and their relation to semiotics must be made clear. A sign could be anything that stands for something else. A signifier is the physical object that represents something else, while the signified is the image the object relays. Codes are a set of rules that govern everything. Opposition, or binary opposition, which is used in this analysis, is when two things or people are used as opposites

Most people are used to symbols being something that is simple for them to notice and point out while reading literature. But symbols can actually be very tricky to discover, especially when the author makes them hard to find. But even when an author makes them difficult to spot, he still wants us to find them because they add a deeper meaning to the story. They help us piece together what the story is actually meant to be about and not just what it appears to be about. But even though symbols are incredibly important to understanding the story, we should still remain cautious about what we’re calling symbols. We must remain perceptive and tactful when naming symbols, we can’t just run around trying “to find symbols everywhere and read into the details of a story all sorts of fanciful meanings not legitimately supported by it” (Arp 305). Otherwise, we’d find ourselves in a red herring situation where we’d think we found the answer, when in reality, we did not.

Symbols are created to eliminate confusion, ambiguity to provide direction, and anchor hope and faith.

In the text, Visual Methodologies, author, Gillian Rose uses semiotics as a way to make sense of an image. She defines semiotics as the study of signs and their use or interpretation, or, “how images make meaning” (pg. 75). Under close inspection of Mark Klett’s “Under

A symbol is “a visible object or action that suggests some further meaning in addition to itself” (Kennedy, 683). In literature, a symbol has many layers of meaning if it is not a conventional symbol, is often concealed at first, and is “representative of several other aspects, concepts or traits than those that are visible in the literal translation alone” (literary-devices.com). But, as a reader, we can miss the value of a symbol is we think it can mean anything we want it to represent (Kennedy, 683). A literary symbol is usually not something abstract and terms such as truth, love, death, and justice cannot work as symbols unless they are personified (Kennedy, 685).

A symbols can be interpreted as representational, not possessing the same qualities of the holy but representing it, or presentational. Presentational symbols are a part of what they are symbolizing, they make the holy present. The association or meaning of these symbols varies across culture.

A symbol can be an article of any kind that represents an idea or conveys a message. With that being said, a symbol does not necessarily have to be a solid object. A symbol can be a dream or a thought that comes to mind. Every symbol has it’s own meaning, but that does not mean that it can only be interpreted in one way. When it comes down to it a symbol can have a thousand different meanings, and every individual being has their own way of seeing the important directive behind it. In America today symbols can make an impact because they can represent both the country and its people. The overall significance that a symbols connotation conveys can say many distinct things that are relevant and can associate with what is happening in our world

The Oxford English Dictionary defines semiotics as ‘’[the] science of communication studied through interpretation of signs and symbols as they operate in various fields, especially language.” Semiology is characterized as ‘’the science of signs which studies the life of signs within society.’’ Signs include, among others, sounds, images, words, odors, objects; they are concepts that stand for something else in a system of signification. They allow us to communicate a concept or an idea while it is physically absent.

, the linguistic practice of signifyin’ deploys figurative language, indirectness, doubleness and wordplay as a means of conveying multiple layers of meaning, serves as a powerful resource for the performance

Colour is one of the dominant symbolic aspects of representation; another is the use of words. Expand upon the use of both in the construction of meaning.

Barthes then explains that the sign itself can be the signifier and makes the new sign presenting specific ideologies through the secondary level of interpretation. While the first level of interpretation gives the simple recognition of the image, the second level of interpretation gives particular values and ideologies, which are called myth (Barthes 53). From the second level, Barthes suggests that the basic level is there to signify something else which reinforces the present socio-political values in society. For example, based on the view of first level of interpretation, the signifier is the shape of the photo and the signified is the recognition of the mother and her kid covered by a blanket in this photo. This is called primary signification (Jackson). In the second level of interpretation, viewer takes the signified of the primary signification (the mother and her kid) and invokes culturally spread ideologies such as motherhood, gender, and purity. This refers to secondary signification, which

It focuses on the interactions of two or more people and the role that symbols play in communication. Symbol is defined as anything that meaningfully represents something else, such as gestures, written language, values which are shared, as well as signs. It is the interaction that which happens when individuals communicate using symbols. These interactions could include, facial gestures, tonality of one’s voice, a person’s posture. A good example of symbolic-interaction is mentioned in our readings, where if someone yells “fire!”

a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole.

“I shall. . . connect sign and significance [sign-significance], symbol and meaning [symbol-meaning], respectively, with each other, in order to have terms to designate two different kinds of representative capacity. Linguistically, the choice of terms is more or less arbitrary, although sign and significance have a common verbal root. This consideration is of no importance, however, compared with the