COST-1117EL Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Semiotics
12 Sep 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Semiotics
• Very challenging
• Very technical
• Making something simple overly complex
• Method- subject- philosophy
• Not a theory
• Study of how meaning is created and displayed
• Basic unit of semiotics is signs (Many types of signs)
Why peirce?
• Peirce’s work has been important for looking at images because of the distinctions
he makes between different kinds of signs and their relationship to the real
o 3 kinds: Iconic, indexical and symbolic
o Iconic signs: resemble or directly refer to their object in some way. The
image of the car on an icy road resembles the real object (the cartoon car).
o Indexical signs: suggests the presence of the object at some point in time.
The tire marks suggest the presence of a car on a road.
o Symbolic signs: bear no obvious relationship to their objects. Symbols are
created through an arbitrary alliance of a particular object and a particular
meaning. The “do not enter sign” is an example.
