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The, The And, And Social Perception

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In this essay I will analyse two different print advertisements, they will be portraying two totally different meanings. A combination of signs are used in adverts to create a recognisable identity for the product or the emotion the advert/poster is trying to communicate to the audience. There are meanings within these signs which are built up from an underlying level to trigger our subconscious understanding and encourage a positive response reflective of the audiences common needs, views or desires.

Roland Barthes is one of the leading and well known theorists of semiotics. His study focusses on meaning making, processes and meaningful communications. I am going to use his theory to create my own understanding and make an analysis of semiotics within in my chosen advertisements narrative.

Semiotics is the study of creating meaning in signs or communications; the analysis of anything that could mean and be understood as something else. Barthes was largely inspired by Saussure’s theory, stating the importance of the distinction between the signifier and the signified. Barthes took Saussure’s theory and turned it around to suggest that semiotics, the science of signs is part of linguistics, whereas Saussure saw linguistics as forming one part of semiotics. Barthes saw semiotics as; ‘the part covering the great signifying unities of discourse,’ (Barthes 1967 [1964]: 10-11; emphasis in original). Barthes’ ideas are created around two significations, denotation and

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