In this post i'm going to cover the following new terms that we have been introduced to:
- Signs and Significations: Signifier and Signified
- Iconic and Arbitrary (or Symbolic)
- Paradign and Syntagm
Signs and Significations
Signification = The process of signs being made, noticed and understood.
Signs = Signifier (physical form) and Signified (Mental concept)
The example given to us in the lecture was Cat.
The Sign is 'cat'. The Signifier is 'c-a-t' (spoken, written, tpyed) or an image of a cat (drawn, photographed, filmed). The Signified is the concept of a furry, four- legged, mouse killing animal.
Iconic and Arbitrary
Iconic and Arbitrary are used to idenitfy how close to the real thing an image is.
Iconic: how close a sign is to 'the real thing', how constrained it is by the thing it represents.
For example, these two images both represent Winston Churchill, however the photographed image is typically iconic as it is closer to the 'real thing' than the caricatured doodled version.
Arbitrary: how far away a sign is from 'the real thing', how unconstrained it is by the thing it represents.
For example, a person's name has no physical resemlance to their face but is less arbitrary than a employee number.
Paradigm and Syntagm
Paradigm: A set of signs available to be used in a context (e.g. the paradigm of landscape, clothing, or food)
Syntagm: The particular selection of signs (from the paradigm(s) which are available (e.g. a costal landscape, late afternoon, in the rain, from a low angle, red shoes, fish-net stockings, grey jumper, furry hat; cheese, pickle and a wedge of granary bread)
Paradigm signs are sets that are open and generally unspecific. The paradigm of landscape leaves the sign open to be any type of landscape, however the syntagm is very particular and specific and can change the whole feeling and story behind an image. What was originally just a landscape is now a costal landscape in the rain, late afternoon. Syntagm gives an image/ sign whole new depth.
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