Lecture 1
Three dominant outlooks in communication:
1. Persuasion (advertisements but also interventions that promote healthy lifestyles,
public relation)
2. Culture (culture specific outlooks on reality – morality, stereotypes, common sense,
values)
3. Information (journalism, news)
Leads to differences in conceptualization of ‘content’
There’s not such a thing as THE content
- Defined by the perspective from producers and readers
- By representing reality in a specific way, specific knowledge is produced (encoding in
the text)
Representation theory= By using signs and sign systems (semiotics) we gain knowledge
about reality by representation.
Representation produces not THE reality but A reality.
Symbols/signs mediate and structure all our experience because they structure our ability to
perceive and interpret what goes on around us
To add meaning to the signs you must know the ‘code’ of the sign system (raised hand =
stop sign)
Encoding: signs and sign systems represent reality in a specific way (the used perspective
creates a specific knowledge (producer))
Decoding: if the viewer takes a different perspective, the content will change
Basic assumption: reality and representations of reality have no meaning in itself. The
meaning is added by using a specific perspective
Lecture 2
James Carrey:
“Communication is a symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired
and transformed”
“Representation “of” (name hurricane) becomes a representation “for” reality (perception
severity storm)
, Blueprint of a house is a representation “for” reality (create reality). If someone asks for a
description of the house, the blueprint is a representation “of” reality (present reality)
You need signs (words, images, stories) to make sense of the empirical reality (add meaning)
Every representation “of” is based on the selection of a sign
Every sign (representation “of”) comes with a perspective on reality
Every sign produces a specific knowledge of reality (representation “for”)
Semiotics: study of the sign process (semiosis)
The Saussure’s legacy ‘semiology’ = the structure of signs and sign systems
Peirce’s legacy ‘semiotics’ = the production of particular knowledge about reality (semiosis
as signifying practice)
Development child in 3 stages:
1. Greifen (only what is tangible, exists)
2. Greifen in die Ferne (use sign (word) to refer to a object)
3. Begreifen (Sign “tree” refers to all trees) (being a tree, being tree-ish or tree-like)
Symbols (representation) lead to existence of Reality (when you’re able to use signs, you
have access to reality)
Reality doesn’t lead to existence of symbols
Lecture 3
‘Being’ vs ‘Knowing’
Being = all meanings something possibly could have (dynamical object) (empirical reality)
Knowledge = meaning produced by signs (interpretant) (refers to specific part of object)
Signify = use of representamen (signs) that signify part of dynamical object (interpretant)
Peirce’s semiotic triangle:
Semiosis: using a different sign means the object takes on a new meaning (interpretant)
Three dominant outlooks in communication:
1. Persuasion (advertisements but also interventions that promote healthy lifestyles,
public relation)
2. Culture (culture specific outlooks on reality – morality, stereotypes, common sense,
values)
3. Information (journalism, news)
Leads to differences in conceptualization of ‘content’
There’s not such a thing as THE content
- Defined by the perspective from producers and readers
- By representing reality in a specific way, specific knowledge is produced (encoding in
the text)
Representation theory= By using signs and sign systems (semiotics) we gain knowledge
about reality by representation.
Representation produces not THE reality but A reality.
Symbols/signs mediate and structure all our experience because they structure our ability to
perceive and interpret what goes on around us
To add meaning to the signs you must know the ‘code’ of the sign system (raised hand =
stop sign)
Encoding: signs and sign systems represent reality in a specific way (the used perspective
creates a specific knowledge (producer))
Decoding: if the viewer takes a different perspective, the content will change
Basic assumption: reality and representations of reality have no meaning in itself. The
meaning is added by using a specific perspective
Lecture 2
James Carrey:
“Communication is a symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired
and transformed”
“Representation “of” (name hurricane) becomes a representation “for” reality (perception
severity storm)
, Blueprint of a house is a representation “for” reality (create reality). If someone asks for a
description of the house, the blueprint is a representation “of” reality (present reality)
You need signs (words, images, stories) to make sense of the empirical reality (add meaning)
Every representation “of” is based on the selection of a sign
Every sign (representation “of”) comes with a perspective on reality
Every sign produces a specific knowledge of reality (representation “for”)
Semiotics: study of the sign process (semiosis)
The Saussure’s legacy ‘semiology’ = the structure of signs and sign systems
Peirce’s legacy ‘semiotics’ = the production of particular knowledge about reality (semiosis
as signifying practice)
Development child in 3 stages:
1. Greifen (only what is tangible, exists)
2. Greifen in die Ferne (use sign (word) to refer to a object)
3. Begreifen (Sign “tree” refers to all trees) (being a tree, being tree-ish or tree-like)
Symbols (representation) lead to existence of Reality (when you’re able to use signs, you
have access to reality)
Reality doesn’t lead to existence of symbols
Lecture 3
‘Being’ vs ‘Knowing’
Being = all meanings something possibly could have (dynamical object) (empirical reality)
Knowledge = meaning produced by signs (interpretant) (refers to specific part of object)
Signify = use of representamen (signs) that signify part of dynamical object (interpretant)
Peirce’s semiotic triangle:
Semiosis: using a different sign means the object takes on a new meaning (interpretant)
