Sign (semiotics)

About: Sign (semiotics) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4080 publications have been published within this topic receiving 70333 citations. The topic is also known as: semiotic sign.

Moments of Hierarchy: Constructing Social Stratification by Means of Language, Food, Space, and the Body in Pohnpei, Micronesia

Abstract: In this paper I examine relationships between multiple semiotic modes used to construct hierarchy, and I show the importance of going beyond our traditional notion of language to look at how social actors employ a range of semiotic resources in organizing and interpreting social relations. Using examples from Pohnpei, Micronesia, I show how notions of superior and inferior are compounded through several sign systems—spatial relations, food sharing, the body, and language. These systems act oppositionally as well as cooperatively to produce situated ideas of social inequality, ideas built out of disequilibrium of bodies in space, of referents in language, and distribution of resources, as well as contradictions in the interactions of these signs. The compounding of signs not only recruits multiple sensory modes and perspectives in the exposition of hierarchical relations, but entails a notion of the contradictory nature of status relations. Using examples from a Pohnpeian feast, I explore the creative interplay of sign systems in the construction of "moments" of hierarchy in a large, public setting and discuss how through the practice of title-giving, which virtually every adult member of the society participates in, a particular idea of social inequality, built out of multiple sign systems, is mapped onto each body, [language, interaction, politics, Oceania, social stratification, hierarchy]

Meaning and function in the theory of consumer choice: dual selves in evolving networks

Abstract: Building on the philosophy of Charles Sanders Peirce, recent advances in biosemiotics have resulted into a concise framework for the analysis of signs in living systems. This paper explores the potential for economics and shows how biosemiotics can integrate two different research agendas, each of which are also connected with biological theories, namely neuroeconomics and the theory of networks. I introduce the triadic conceptual framework established by Peirce which distinguishes between object, sign and interpretant and the corresponding causal forces in evolving hierarchical systems. This framework is used to systematize recent results of neuroeconomics in the form of the dual selves approach, following early contributions of James Coleman, partitioning the individual into the acting self and the object self. This distinction implies that there is a fundamental information asymmetry between the two selves. Against this background, the semeiotic process is an information generating and processing dynamics, which is driven by the internal selection of classificatory schemes of actions chosen and the population level dynamics of sign selection, with mimetic behavior as a driver. This can be further analyzed by means of the theory of signal selection. A central insight is that the internal information gap between acting self and object self implies a systematic role of sign processing in social networks for any kind of consumer choice. I exemplify my approach with empirical references to food consumption as a most universal and simple form of consumer choice.

Multimodal Literacy: From Theories to Practices

Abstract: The visual images and multimodal texts we encounter in our daily lives are complicit in how we make sense of the world and our emerging identities. We rely on visual data to decide what foods to buy, to find our way around unknown places, to determine how to dress for work and play, and to understand our cultural past. The creation of visual images allows humans to communicate feelings and ideas across time and space, develop relationships with one another, and document the details of everyday experiences.Literacy education has been dominated by written language and the medium of the printed text, pushing the teaching of visual images and multimodal elements to the periphery of the literacy curriculum (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001). If children are to understand how visual images and multimodal features represent and construct meaning, they need knowledge of the meaning-making systems used in their production.With greater frequency, students are confronted with multimodal texts that include visual images and a variety of design features rather than texts that focus primarily on written language (Jewitt, 2009). Texts' inclusion of design features and visual images in addition to written language presents challenges to novice readers as they work within and across multiple sign systems to construct meaning (Siegel, 2006). As theories for interpreting visual images and multimodal texts continue to evolve, instructional approaches in literacy education need to evolve as well. Bearne (2003) states, "[C]hildren deserve to be given the key to translating their inner text making into coherent communications by explicit discussion of variations in the structures, purposes and effects of multimodal as well as written texts" (p. 99).There is a difference between looking and seeing (Berger, 1972). It has been suggested that some visual images, specifically photographically produced images, because of their close resemblance to what they represent are universally comprehensible. In other words, it is assumed that by simply looking at particular visual images, people should be able to understand what is being communicated. However, every process of representation implies a reduction and transformation of a considerable number of characteristics of represented reality (Kenney, 2005). Consequently, recognition of the represented elements of a visual image by no means implies that one understands the meaning potentials or purposes of a particular image (Pauwels, 2008). The process of interpreting visual images involves more than simply being able to recognize the elements contained within.Developing instructional approaches based on theories of visual literacy and multimodality can be a daunting enterprise. The purpose of this article is to offer a framework for bringing theories of visual and multimodal literacies into the classroom. In order to present instructional approaches that can be readily applied by classroom teachers, the examples herein focus on contemporary picturebooks, since these multimodal texts are readily available in most elementary classrooms.developing a Context for "multimodal"multimodal TextsMultimodal texts are print-based and digital texts that utilize more than one mode or semiotic resource to represent meaning potentials, where mode is defined as a socioculturally shaped resource for meaning making (Kress, 2010). Photography, sculpture, painting, poetry, and mathematics are examples of different modes. Each mode adds to the complexity of a multimodal text and communicates in different ways through different material and semiotic resources. By its very nature and forms of publication, the contemporary picturebook is a multimodal text. The degree of complexity of these picturebooks grows as they are converted into digital texts and software applications.In general, the modes used in print-based, multimodal texts fall into three categories: 1) textual elements (written language), 2) visual images (photography, painting, graphs, drawings, and charts), and 3) design features (borders, typography, and other graphic design features). …

The Symbiotics of Semiotics and Visual Communication

Abstract: This article reviews visual semiotics, aphilosophical approach that seeks to interpret messages in terms of their signs and patterns of symbolism. Semiotic analysis is particularly relevantfor messages that rely on visual communication cues. The theory is that Peircian semiotics, rather than Saussurian semiology, can provide a central organizing perspective for analyzing how the “standsfor” function in sign systems produces meaning in nonverbal communication situations.

Beyond Symbolic Anthropology: Introducing Semiotic Mediation

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses certain fundamentals of semiotic theory that are prerequisites to any serious consideration of processes of semiotic mediation. The contrast between index and symbol parallels that between pragmatic and semantic meaning. Pragmatic meaning is defined as meaning that is dependent on context, while the semantic value of a sign is the meaning, or notional core, that it has apart from contextual factors. The structure of discourse is also affected by extralinguistic context. The division between the kinds of context is not clear or absolute; some concepts bridge the gap between intra- and extra-linguistic contexts. In actuality, language can rarely be so neatly sorted into distinct functions, because any particular stretch of language is usually multifunctional, serving several ends at once. The Vygotskian perspective looks at the effects of language, generally conceived, on the development of cognitive processes. A theory of how sign tokens are exchanged and connected must be supplemented with a notion of the way the signs together form an interrelated system.