Semiotics & Reading Images

Ferdinand de Saussure´s method 

Semiotics is the study of signs, symbols and signification and how they create meaningful communication. Ferdinand de Saussure (1857 - 1913) was a swiss linguist that is counted as one of the founding fathers of semiotics. He focused his theory on the many different patterns and functions that made language. Saussure created the idea of the signified and the signifier which is the two components that create a sign. The signifier is the sound or written word and the signified is the object that created the word.


Roland Barthes (1915 - 1980) is another theorist of semiotics that not only followed Saussure´s approach but expanded it. He looked at the ideas that could be suggested by the signs, the connotation of the sign and not the denotation; the literal meaning of the sign like which is Saussure theory. There is two forms of meaning:

- The literal meaning of signs = denotation (Saussure)

- The ideas suggested by signs = connotation (Barthes) 

For example if you look at a picture of a cat the denotation would be what is directly shown in front of you and the connotation would be what comes to mind when you see the object that in this example is a cat. The connotations of a cat could be; cute, fluffy and soft. The connotations towards a sign can be different amongst people taking life experiences and cultural background in mind. 

Roland Barthes theory

A text is a purposeful assemblage of signs. It could be a sentence, photo, film, a sound recording etc. The denotation of an image can be lost if it is not clear what the image is representing, with that the connotation will also be lost and incorrect. 

Anchorage is attaching words to an image. The text that is being added to the image is anchoring the connotations you can get from it. It narrows the connotations of the image that is being shown. 

A myth is an unproven belief or ideology. In advertising this is stands as the idea behind the made campaign, but it does not have to be true since it is a myth. 

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