MGTA36H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Semiotics, Denotation, Roland Barthes
Document Summary
All media messages have hidden meaning that are not neutral or objective. Films, tv shows, songs, video games all have meanings that that try to persuade people to attain certain attitudes, beliefs, and/ or values that also at the same time try to dismiss other media messages. A sign is something hidden that allows the audience to view it as something other than what it is. Shared meanings are what make human connection possible otherwise social structure would not exist. Semiology is the science that studies the roles of signs as a part of social life, it investigates natures of signs and all the laws that govern them. Signs are arbitrary which means that there is not any natural correspondence with the signifier and signified. Another key trait is linearity; you can not say two words at the same time. Another trait of saussure"s science is difference because signs signify their virtue by difference from other signs.
