Summary
Qualitative Methods in Media & Communication Week 6 Summary
- Course
- Institution
- Book
Course Literature, Lecture, Self-Test Answers, Tutorial Notes
[Show more]
Connected book
Book Title:
Author(s):
- Edition:
- ISBN:
- Edition:
Seller
Follow
lauraasehnem
Reviews received
Content preview
Term 2 - 2020/2021Qualitative Methods in Media &
Communication (CM2006)
WEEK 6
When and Why Should you use Semiotic Analysis?
- Important for decoding and understanding information
- Useful when analysing visuals
- Useful for identifying implicit meanings
Literature
- Like rhetorical analysis, this form of data analysis is more formalized and benefits from an
ever-expanding body of methodological literature advancing how-to instructions for
applying it in practice.
- Related to the work of Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure who was preoccupied with
the relation between reality, words, and the process of meaning-making.
- Launched by de Saussure and continued largely by European scholars (Roland Barthes,
Umberto Eco, and Julia Kristeva being among the most known representatives) and the
American branch associated with the work of Charles S. Peirce.
- Semiotics: Science of Signs
- Sign: anything that is meaningful to us, humans, constitutes a sign; is the smallest unit of
meaning
- Asignis made up of asignified(the mental concept that it invokes) and thesignifier(the form
the sign takes – could be a spoken or written word, a photograph, a drawing, etc.).
- Signifiers are polysemic - contain a variety of meanings
- Signs have denotative (standard definition) and connotative (associated) meanings
- Signification: A process (the process of understanding, of coming up with the ‘right’ mental
concept) unconsciously
- 3 types of Signs
• Index: Suggests casual relations. A sign that refers to another sign (ex. Smoke is an index
of fire)
Laura Sehnem
, Term 2 - 2020/2021
• Icon: Bears a very close resemblance to the referent. A sign that represents what we see
(ex. Passport photo)
• Symbol: Relation to a particular referent is arbitrary and culturally contextual (ex. Logos
for a brand for instance, the arches of McDonald’s or the swoosh for Nike)
- Semiotics thus distinguishes between different types of signs based on their relationship
to the referent (the object, the person, the place, etc.) they depict.
- Arrangement of signs– their co-presence, their syntax (or, how they are put together to
create meaning)
- The bond between signifier and signified is socially situated – it can change with time, with
speakers, or with the purposes of the communication act.
- Fixation of the Chain of Signification
• Ideology (mythology): ideology as a set of ideas that justifies a particular arrangement of
power and a particular distribution of resources as ‘normal’.
Steps in Semiotic Analysis
- Useful for the analysis of images. Although it can be applied to other media – written or
spoken words, clothes, buildings – images (as well as moving images)
- Useful for showing how meaning-making works ideologically.
• That is, how it can mask inequalities, power relations, or social injustice.
- Depends on the analysts’ knowledge of the cultural codes (general beliefs, principles, value
systems, traditions, etc.) and awareness of the power arrangements of the social
structures.
1. Identify all signs in a text (ex. background, or the font, the angle from which a photograph
has been taken, or the logo in the corner)
Laura Sehnem
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller lauraasehnem. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $3.75. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
52355 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now