CMNS 1115 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Connotation, Denotation
Document Summary
Specific meaning in inanimated objects: language of objects into language of people. The transference of meaning between 2 different systems is the basis of advertising. Advertising is selling you something more than consumer goods: providing more than the good but something we can use to identify us. Sign = signifies + signified : arbitrary , based on social convention. Signifies = the thing that is the concept is referring to. Symbol, icon, index (more detailed description of different types of signs) Connotation: the social cultural ( + sometimes personal) associations. We view the world through the files of a semiotic code or mythic frame. Always question the common sense view of things. Cultures potray their ideological practices as natural and common condemn portray practices as unnatural. In evaluating cultural practices , look at the underlying interests. Signs mark the dynamic movement of social history: meaning is a process of an ad, how you perceive it, how it changes.
