TEXT, SYMBOL AND SIGN

SEMIOTICS
The study of signs, their systems and their role in the
construction and reconstruction of meaning.
--Developed from the work of linguistic philosophers De Saussure
and Pierce and more recently from the work of French 'structuralist' Roland Barthes in
the 1960's.

In terms of Media study these terms are best understood

as the media text itself, visual & other
symbolic codes and the culture within which texts
operate.

- has become the main method for studying media texts

and is now used as a system of analysis for all areas of
communication.
A. Text and the act of Reading

Text- anything that can be

read, interpreted, analyzed
A. Text and the act of Reading
Reading – making sense of the
world and our lives;
 we read spaces, places, our
historical circumstances, and the
plethora of images unleashed by
media, literature and art.

“ A man (person) learns ONLY by two things:

one is READING, and the other is
association with smarter people.” – Will Rogers
 World– as text, not linear nor
transparent

B. Text and Meaning

1. Text has no intrinsic value or
meaning apart from the readers
2. The message it contains in the
virtual/potential state is actualized by
the reader
3. Its meaning, an effect of reader’s
interpretation rather than a product
of its author
SYMBOL or SIGN
SYMBOL or SIGN
SYMBOL or SIGN
SYMBOL or SIGN
SYMBOL or SIGN
SYMBOL or SIGN
SYMBOL or SIGN
C. Symbol
 a kind of text, a thing that exists in space and time
 conveys meaning not only about itself but about cultural
processes and relationships
 Meaning is not constant, constituted thru human agency
 Open text (Umberto Eco)
 Writerly text (Roland Barthes)
.SYMBOL

Open text (Umberto Eco)

- All texts are open to a number of
possible meanings and interpretations.
Most media texts are polysemic.
An open text may have a variety of
meanings dependent upon the age,
sex and cultural background of the
reader
C. SYMBOL
WRITERLY TEXTS(ROLAND BARTHES)

The reader , now in a position of

control, takes an active role in the
construction of meaning ( reader is
turned into a writer)

There’s proliferation of meaning

Sign
 a kind of text
 Represents fixed reality and posits itself as a
means of portraying that reality
 Closed text (Umberto Eco)
 Readerly text (Roland Barthes)

Signs are informative, mandatory, warning, advisory and prohibitory in

nature.
D. Sign
 Closed text (Umberto Eco)

A term used to describe a text that

contains a dominant or preferred
meaning. Such texts attempt to direct
audiences in to understanding one
particular meaning.

This is often done through a process of

 anchorage where words, captions or
logos are used to direct a reader
towards a particular meaning.
READERLY TEXTS (ROLAND BARTHES)
Most texts are

Meaning is pre-determined, the

reader is merely a site to receive
information

Attempt to hide elements would

open the texts to multiple meaning
DIFFERENCE between SYMBOL and SIGN

One big difference between a sign and a symbol is

that signs literally have a language of their own; a
toilet is meant for ladies by a sign over the door of the
place, just as you immediately know that there is a
restaurant nearby with a sign that is displayed on
road. Signs are mostly warning signs that tell about
impending dangers.

On the other hand, symbols are abstract or subjective

in nature and require interpretation. A rainbow stands
as a symbol of good luck while a thunderstorm on a
rainy day has come to reflect a bad omen.
-a pigeon is a universal symbol of peace while a ring worn by men tells the world
that they are married or engaged.
 “The world is a product of our
projections (what we make of it),
but we are also subjected to the
world, since we are thrown into
being in a place and time we did
not choose”

(Dani Cavallaro in Critical and Cultural Theory:

Thematic Variations, 2001)
SYMBOL or SIGN
SYMBOL or SIGN
SYMBOL or SIGN
SYMBOL or SIGN
SYMBOL or SIGN
SYMBOL or SIGN
SYMBOL or SIGN