Topic
Connotation
About: Connotation is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2096 publications have been published within this topic receiving 8265 citations.
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TL;DR: A theory is the term often used to denote an allegation of fact for which no evidence has been presented as discussed by the authors, which means one thing to the layman and something entirely different to the theorist.
Abstract: "Theory" in Popular Language Words mean different things to different people and there is little point in arguing definitions. But meaningful discussion is only possible if the connotation of a word is the same to all who employ it. This has not been the case in the use of the word "theory," which means one thing to the layman and something entirely different to the theorist. As a result, the public has a distorted view of the goals and methods of theoretical research. In common parlance "theoretical" is taken to be a contradictory either of "factual" or of "practical." "A theory" is the term often used to denote an allegation of fact for which no evidence has been presented. Unverified statements about the chemical composition of some compound, or about the behavior of some group of Australian aborigines, or about the nature of the so-called "canals" on Mars are all likely to be labeled theories. However, in
37 citations
TL;DR: There are few words whose mere employment is capable of throwing American listeners into such paroxysms of righteous or offended indignation as the words “American imperialism.” This reaction is largely a reflection of the fact that "imperialism" is one of those words whose implicit domain of meaning is very large and even encompasses mutually contradictory elements as revealed by single user's notions of the world let alone different users' notions as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: There are few words whose mere employment is capable of throwing American listeners into such paroxysms of righteous or offended indignation as the words “American imperialism.” This reaction is largely a reflection of the fact that “imperialism” is one of those words whose implicit domain of meaning is very large and even encompasses mutually contradictory elements as revealed by single user's notions of the world let alone different users' notions. In addition, the word conveys a strong connotation of ethically undesirable behavior to almost all users and readers.
36 citations
TL;DR: The meaning of the word "imperialism" has been extensively studied in the literature as mentioned in this paper, with the focus on its connotation as a key to the understanding of contemporary history, but there is reason to doubt whether the writers who in the past used it most confidently were certain of what they meant by it, and did not, in fact, become enmeshed in its ambiguity.
Abstract: T HE term 'imperialism' has in the course of its rapid career become variegated and elusive to a degree. The word has been accepted as a key to the understanding of contemporary history. But there is reason to doubt whether the writers, who in the past used it most confidently in this sense, were certain of what they meant by it, and did not, in fact, become enmeshed in its ambiguity. There is, however, one connotation which tends to overshadow all others and to convey to the reader a clearcut meaning tantamount to a great historical revelation. This connotation is implied most clearly when the noun 'imperialism' is qualified by the adjective 'economic'. Indeed authors and propagandists are sometimes so certain of the economic interpretation as to drop the adjective and to assume that the reader cannot but think of special economic interests whenever the word imperialism is brought out.' The meaning of the word in this application is as follows. The men representing the interests of capital in the greater countries of the West have obtained control of the foreign and colonial policy of their governments. The nations which are commonly referred to by the term of 'western civilization' have been goaded by their capitalists into bringing weaker peoples oversea within their grip and into exploiting them. The same had been done by Venetians, Dutchmen and Englishmen in former centuries; but-so the doctrine runs-getting hold of undeveloped countries did not become a dominant factor in politics until capitalism reached its full efflorescence-that is to say, until the last decades of the nineteenth century. It is then that the age of imperialism-or of economic imperialism or of modern imperialism-Came into being. How long it lasted-whether imperialism is still vigorous in our days or already far on its decline-on this question opinions differ. They differ on other points too. Is the capitalist interest which dominates the whole movement rooted in the first
36 citations
TL;DR: The present research found that red undermined the intellectual performance of Chinese students, consistent with findings obtained in the West.
Abstract: Previous research shows that red impairs individuals' performance on challenging intellectual tasks in achievement situations. However, no research to date has examined this issue in Chinese society. In China, red has a positive connotation in general (unlike in the West), but also has a negative connotation for students, given that teachers mark incorrect answers in red (like in the West). Therefore, the question of whether red promotes or undermines intellectual performance for Chinese individuals needs to be tested. The present research investigated this and found, consistent with findings obtained in the West, that red undermined the intellectual performance of Chinese students. Future directions and potential mechanisms are discussed.
36 citations
05 Jul 2005
TL;DR: The mass communication process merely converted the receiver from being one to being many individuals as discussed by the authors, and the attention of researchers was directed at the psychological dispositions of the producers of mass media messages and at the effect of the message on the members of the audience.
Abstract: Ideology is the final connotation of the totality of connotations of the sign
or the context of signs. (Umberto Eco, 1971, p. 83)Interest in and discussion of the mass media has come from a variety of
theoretical and disciplinary sources. Within these wide-ranging and sometimes
contradictory approaches, the analysis of media messages has been seen as of
varying importance. American concern with mass communications has tended to
focus on a model of communication which stressed the relationships between the
individuals involved. In this tradition the communication process was conceived
of as a relationship between a sender of messages on the one hand and a receiver
of messages on the other. The mass communication process merely converted the
receiver from being one to being many individuals. Given this image of the
workings of the mass media, the attention of researchers was directed at the
psychological dispositions of the producers of mass media messages and at the
effects of the message on the members of the audience. The analysis of the
meaning of media messages came to be subsumed in these areas of study.
Moreover, early Marxist studies of the media, whilst based on very different
theoretical premises, tended to be more concerned with the overall ideological
role of the mass media in capitalist societies and less concerned with the meaning
of and the production of meaning within specific media messages. When such
questions were addressed they were inflected with a form of cultural pessimism.
Members of the Frankfurt School, for example, attempted to show that mass
culture, and particularly, American mass culture with which they had acquired a
forced familiarity, was a debased culture. Adorno and Horkheimer (1977)
suggested that the culture of a society under monopoly capitalism was peculiarly
repressive in that while bourgeois culture offered a better and more valuable
world realizable by every individual from within, mass culture produced a more
totalitarian state in which even the illusory advantage of inner freedom of the
individual was lost.
35 citations