SOCB50H3 : Semiotics - Levels of Meaning.docx
Document Summary
Beyond its "literal" meaning (its denotation), a particular word may have connotations: for instance, sexual connotations. "is there any such thing as a single entendre?" quipped the comic actor kenneth williams (we all know that "a thing is a phallic symbol if it"s longer than it"s wide", as the singer melanie put it). In semiotics, denotation and connotation are terms describing the relationship between the signifier and its signified, and an analytic distinction is made between two types of signifieds: a denotative signified and a connotative signified. "denotation" tends to be described as the definitional, "literal", "obvious" or "commonsense" meaning of a sign. In the case of linguistic signs, the denotative meaning is what the dictionary attempts to provide. For the art historian erwin panofsky, the denotation of a representational visual image is what all viewers from any culture and at any time would recognize the image as depicting (panofsky 1970a, 51-3).
