This Means This, This Means That: A User's Guide to Semiotics

193 Pages·2012·117.437 MB·English

by  Sean Hall

THIS
MEANS
THIS.
THIS
MEANS
THAT.
A USER’S GUIDE
TO SEMIOTICS
Second Edition
SEAN HALL
LAURENCE KING PUBLISHING
Published in 2012 by Dedicated to
Laurence King Publishing Ltd Walter, Shirley, and Natasha Hall
361–373 City Road
London EC1V 1LR
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
email: [email protected]
www.laurenceking.com
Copyright © 2012 Sean Hall
First published in Great Britain in 2007
Second Edition published 2012 by
Laurence King Publishing
Sean Hall has asserted his right under the Copyright,
Designs, and Patent Act 1988, to be identified as the
Author of this Work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopy,
recording, or any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
A catalog record for this book is available from the
British Library.
ISBN 13: 978 1 85669 735 4
Commissioning Editor: Helen Evans
Original design concept: Pentagram
Design: Mark Holt
Cover: Two Sheds Design
Picture research: Peter Kent
Illustration (pp. 127–28, 135–38): Jason Ribeiro
Printed in China
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 5
3
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 20 CONCEPTUAL STRUCTURES 69
Truth and Falsity 71
1 Sameness and Difference 73
SIGNS AND SIGNING 21
Wholes and Parts 75
Signifier and Signified 23
Subjectivity and Objectivity 77
Sign 25
Appearance and Reality 79
Icon 27
Continuity and Discontinuity 81
Index 29
Sense and Reference 83
Symbol 31
Meaningful and Meaningless 85
Sender 33
Problem and Solution 87
Intention 35
Message 37
4
Transmission 39 VISUAL STRUCTURES 89
Noise 41 Viewer and Image 91
Receiver 43 Ideal and Real 93
Destination 45 Given and New 95
Feedback 47 Center and Margin 97
Foreground and Background 99
2 Proximity and Presence 101
WAYS OF MEANING 49
Before and After 103
Simile 51
Past, Present, and Future 105
Metaphor 53
Fast and Slow 107
Metonym 55
Synecdoche 57
5
Irony 59 TEXTUAL STRUCTURES 109
Lies 61 Readers and Texts 111
Impossibility 63 Words and Images 113
Depiction 65 Functions 115
Representation 67 Forms 117
CONTENTS
Placing 119 Stereotypes 157
Prominence 121 Institutions 159
Voices 123 Ideologies 161
Intertextuality and Intratextuality 125 Discourses 163
Paratext and Paralanguage 127 Myths 165
Paradigms 167
6
MATTERS OF INTERPRETATION 129
8
Concepts and Conceptions 131 STORIES AND STORYTELLING 169
Connotation and Denotation 133 Fact and Fiction 171
Langue and Parole 135 Narratives 173
Combinations and Substitutions 137 Legends 175
Tokens and Types 139 Characters and Personas 177
Rule-following 141 Viewpoints 179
Conventions 143 Mysteries 181
Classifications 145 Tensions 183
Understanding and Turning points 185
Misunderstanding 147 Resolutions 187
7
FRAMING MEANING 149 CONCLUSION 189
Semantic Units 151 BIBLIOGRAPHY 190
Genres 153 PICTURE CREDITS 192
Styles 155
INTRODUCTION
5
This means this. This means that. will guide you through Let us suppose that we see a word saying “Stop,” an
the morass of meanings that our culture creates. image of an apple, and an object that happens to be a
Seventy-six sets of basic semiotic concepts will be crown. In order to make sense of the signs “Stop,”
explored through a variety of objects, images, and texts. “Apple,” and “Crown” we have to ask: what do these
Each set will be presented with a question. Readers can signs mean? In doing this, we have to be careful because
then consider their own answer before turning the page signs can easily be misunderstood. The word “Stop”
to find the author’s answer. In this way, the reader is might tell us that there is danger ahead, or it may
challenged to think about how meanings are made, indicate a place from which you can take a mode of
interpreted, and understood. transportation, like a bus stop; the image of an apple
may suggest that there is something healthy to eat, or it
Semiotics is mentioned regularly in newspaper articles, may be a symbol of youth or beauty; and our object,
in magazines, and on radio and television. But what is which is a crown, may indicate the presence of a
semiotics, and why is it important? Semiotics is defined monarch, or it may tell us that there is someone nearby
as the theory of signs. The word “semiotics” comes from who is about to attend a fancy dress party.
the Greek word semeiotikos, which means an interpreter
of signs. Signing is vital to human existence because it Signs are important because they can mean something
underlies all forms of communication. other than themselves. Spots on your chest can mean
that you are seriously ill. A blip on the radar can mean
Signs are amazingly diverse. They include gestures, impending danger for an aircraft. An X on a map can
facial expressions, speech disorders, slogans, graffiti, mean that there is buried treasure. Reading messages
road signs, commercials, medical symptoms, marketing, like these seems simple enough, but a great deal
music, body language, drawings, paintings, photography, depends on the context in which they are read. Spots on
poetry, design, architecture, film, landscape gardening, the chest need to be judged in a medical context; a blip
Morse code, clothes, food, heraldry, rituals, and primitive on the radar needs to be read within the context of
symbols—and these are just some of the many things aviation; and an X on a map needs to be judged in the
that fall within the subject of semiotics. context of cartography. Signs are not isolated; they are
dependent for their meaning on the structures that help
To see how signs work, consider the following: to organize them, along with the contexts in which they
are read and understood. Semiotics, then, is (among
Stop means Stop other things) about the tools, processes, structures,
Apple means Apple and contexts that human beings have for creating,
Crown means Crown interpreting, and understanding meaning in a variety of
different ways.
Now compare this:
To get a sense of the enormous range of semiotic
Stop means Danger phenomena that relate to human life, I have constructed
Apple means Healthy two diagrams (see pages 6 and 9). The first diagram
Crown means King helps to locate what is called “anthroposemiotics” (the
INTRODUCTION
THE SEMIOTIC FIELD
6
Human Beings
(Anthroposemiotics)
Animals
(Zoosemiotics)
Biological Life
(Biosemiotics)
Plants
(Phytosemiotics)
Microorganisms
(Microsemiotics)
[e.g., Bacteria/Viruses/Fungi]
Natural Life
(Semiotics of Nature/Ecosemiotics)
The Universe
Galaxies
Nonbiological Life

(Physiosemiotics)
Planets

Minerals/Rocks
Cybernetic Organisms
[e.g., Cyborgs/Replicants]
Synthetic Organisms
The [e.g., Robots/Androids]
Semiotic Artificial Life
Field Intelligent Machines
Smart Objects and Appliances
Nanotechnology
Benevolent Beings
[e.g., Gods and Angels]
Malevolent Beings
[e.g., Devils/Evil Spirits/Ghosts]
Supernatural Life
Quasi-humans
[e.g., Zombies/Vampires/Mermaids/Fairies/Goblins/Elves]
Quasi-animals
[e.g., Unicorns/Dragons/Griffins]
INTRODUCTION
7
study of meanings as they relate to human beings) within synthesized, often with materials that are nonbiological.
a wider field of semiotic interest; the second diagram Due to this nonbiological element, there may be a debate
concentrates on anthroposemiotics itself, which, for the about whether artificial life is truly “real.” Such things as
most part, is what this book is about. replicants, cyborgs, robots, androids, and intelligent
computers may appear to imitate human behavior, but
We can think of semiotics as applying, in the broadest we may still have doubts about the extent to which these
sense, to life. The reason is simple. All the forms of life forms of life can genuinely think, feel, and have
that we can identify have meaning for us. So, what consciousness in the same way that humans do.
exactly is life? In order to understand what life is we
should first try to categorize it, before going on to say Supernatural life is different again. Supernatural life is
something about the important distinction between not life as we ordinarily know it. Instead, it is a form of
having a life, living a life, and leading a life. life that transcends ordinary human knowledge and
understanding. We come to know about supernatural life
Life can be categorized in various ways. I have chosen either because we imaginatively speculate upon it (as we
to treat it in the broadest sense possible by dividing it do when we envision vampires, mermaids, or unicorns)
into three basic forms: natural life, artificial life, and or because we complement certain acts of faith by
supernatural life. As we shall see, natural life is imagining the qualities that it might have (as we do if we
discovered life; artificial life is invented life; and believe in gods or angels). This form of life is strange to
supernatural life is imagined life. us because natural laws or processes cannot explain it.
However, because gods, angels, zombies, and mermaids
Natural life is apparent to us from our immediate are often represented as having a humanlike form, and
environment. It is life as we ordinarily know it. It is unicorns, dragons, and griffins are often very animallike
such that we can make discoveries about it. Humans, in their appearance, they are apt to seem familiar. (The
animals, plants, and microorganisms, along with the distinctions I have drawn are not hard and fast, and
universe, galaxies, planets, minerals, and rocks, fall into there is not always a strict division or consistency
this category. In fact, anything that we can observe and between what might be counted as a religious, mythical,
study using the theories and methods of the natural or fictional form of life; nor is there any method or rule
sciences (biology, chemistry, and physics) or the human which can tell us which forms of supernatural life, if any,
and social sciences (e.g., psychology, sociology, politics, are real as opposed to imaginary.)
art, design, linguistics, economics, geography,
anthropology, philosophy, communication studies, media Having divided life into these three central forms, we can
studies, and material culture) will count as a form of now discuss the kinds of lives that they might enjoy. To
natural life in the sense that I am using it. do this fruitfully, we need to make a distinction between
things that:
Natural life can be contrasted with artificial life. Artificial
life is not discovered in nature. Instead, it is invented 1. Have a life
by human culture. This kind of life may be wholly or 2. Live a life
partially non-natural. Artificial life is simulated or 3. Lead a life
INTRODUCTION
8
Things that have a life come into existence, persist for a In the case of human beings, signs are shaped by the
certain amount of time, and then cease to be. The lives sources and resources that are used to make them,
of human beings, of animals and plants, of particles, formed by the cultural structures into which they are
galaxies, and planets, robots and intelligent computers, woven, communicated through a series of diverse
material objects, and even of angels, vampires, fairies, channels, and understood in terms of the nature of the
and unicorns all conform to this pattern of birth, life, societies that created them.
and death.
There are many possible ways to help us understand
Things that live a life form a more restricted class. how signs work. For purposes of simplicity, let’s use the
They may engage in reproduction, grow, and develop, headings that I have identified in our second diagram:
undertake autonomous activity, have a certain degree of
complexity, engage in adaptive behavior, and be able to • Sources of Meaning
process chemicals so as to gain energy. Most humans • Ways of Meaning
and animals do these things. In this sense, we want to • Structures of Meaning
say that they are living their lives. • Contexts of Meaning
• Channels of Meaning
Finally, there are things that have a life, live a life, and • Types of Meaning
also lead a life. Leading a life is about making plans
and having projects; it is about decision-making and Sources of Meaning (Where the Message Comes From)
development, fitting means to ends, conducting oneself Signs come from two basic sources: the first is natural; the
according to certain moral codes, being part of a system second is cultural. Natural signs arise from the way in
of values, and trying to make sense of the world in which nature takes its course. Anything that is considered
complex ways. These are the sorts of elements that natural, or to have a natural aspect to it, can be
make up typical human lives. They are the things that considered under this heading. Our immediate
give human life a meaning. In other words, being human environment of animals, vegetables, and minerals all
is having the potential to lead a life. exhibit features that have natural meanings to us as
human beings, as do the further environments of the
Having divided life into its different forms, and having cosmos. (Here anthroposemiotics links with zoosemiotics
said something about the difference between having, and phytosemiotics.) Natural meanings are not invented
living, and leading a life, we can now move on to how by human beings; they are discovered by them. For
things relate to the semiotics of human beings (i.e., example, the appearance of a rat on which there are
anthroposemiotics). To get a sense of how infected fleas such as Xenopsylla cheopsis means that
anthroposemiotics might be understood, consider the there is the possibility of catching the bubonic plague;
diagram opposite: evidence of the fungus Phytophthora infestans on potatoes
means that they have potato blight; and discovering that a
SIGNS AND SIGNING substance has the atomic number 79 means that we are
Signs are everywhere. But how exactly are they shaped, in the presence of gold. In contrast, culturally produced
communicated, and understood? signs depend not on how nature is, but on how we are.
INTRODUCTION
ANTHROPOSEMIOTICS 9
Natural
Sources of Meaning
Cultural
Literal
Ways of Meaning Analogical
Metaphorical
Conceptual Structures
Visual Structures
Textual Structures
Structures of Meaning Auditory Structures
Material Structures
Behavioral Structures
Human Beings
(Anthroposemiotics) Narrative Structures

Forces of Production
Production
Relations of Production
Contexts of Meaning
Forces of Consumption
Consumption
Relations of Consumption
Gases

Liquids
Matter
Solids
Channels of Meaning Plasma

Physical
Energy
Chemical
Rational
Cognitive
Descriptive
Types of Meaning
Emotional
Non-cognitive
Prescriptive