COMM 2110U Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Semiotics, Cultural Studies
Document Summary
Signs taken for wonders: representations, semiotics, and cultural studies. We are going to learn about semiotics and representation, both of which are central to the discipline of cultural studies. Cultural studies have been one of the primary sites of production of theory including theories of communication over the past 3 decades. Cultural studies is especially concerned with representation its patterns and politics. A representation is something that refers to another thing. For example: words, images, traffic signs, flowers, music, medical symptoms all of these are assumed to refer to something else. In other words, a representation is a sign that points to or stands in for something else. A representation refers to the meaning intended by people who produce them. For example: a painting means what the painter intended it to mean. This theory is impressed upon students: in order to understanding a work, we need to know what the author means.
