THE MACROSIGNIFIED OF FORMATIVE MESOAMERICA: A SEMIOTIC APPROACH TO THE “OLMEC” STYLE

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Artur Seredin
Keyword(s):  
Complex Analysis ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Cultural Meanings ◽  
Sign System ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
The Creation

Abstract This article applies the theory of archaeological semiotics to the study of the “Olmec” style. A semiotic approach differs from an iconographic study because it provides the possibility for complex analysis of all significant traits of material archeological objects without distinction between stylistic and iconographic traits. In this context, the semiotic analysis of the Olmec style as a sign system shows that its particular signs, which can be defined as stylistic traits because of the lack of specific iconographic meanings, simultaneously participated in the creation and transformation of cultural meanings. This phenomenon reflected the “macrosignified” of Formative Mesoamerican cultures, associated with a structure that linked together various meanings throughout the culture.

scholarly journals Laughter as a Semiotic Problem

2021 ◽  
pp. 5-15
Author(s):  
V. A Vershyna ◽  
O. V Mykhailiuk
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Social Evolution ◽  
Natural Phenomenon ◽  
Cognitive State ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Cultural Phenomenon ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Sign System ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
Human Laughter

Purpose. The article is aimed to substantiate the view on the phenomenon of laughter as a subject of semiotic analysis, which leads to the following tasks: to reveal the possibilities of semiotics application in the study of laughter nature; to analyze the phenomenon of laughter as a cultural and natural phenomenon, as a sign and as an attribute; to consider the place of laughter in culture, which is understood as a sign system. Theoretical basis. The semiotic approach proceeds from the fact that human lives in the world of signs, all the surrounding reality can be interpreted as a sign system. The basic concept of semiotics is the concept of a sign. The theoretical basis of the article is understanding the culture as a sign-symbolic system. Laughter is considered as a phenomenon ontologically rooted in human culture. At the same time, laughter is on the edge of culture. The research is based on the work of semiotic authors, cultural researchers, and the researchers of laughter. Originality. The originality lies in the application of the semiotic method to the research of laughter phenomenon, consideration of the dialectics of natural and cultural, signedness and non-signedness, manifested in the phenomenon of laughter. Conclusions. Laughter is considered as a psychophysiological phenomenon (attribute) and as a cultural phenomenon (sign). Laughter acts as an emotional manifestation, a physiological reaction, but socially and culturally mediated. In any case, laughter indicates an emotional or cognitive state of a human. Laughter acts as a process and result of the interpretation of a sign, a reaction to a sign. Laughter is a form and a means of communication. Being a natural phenomenon, in the process of social evolution, laughter acquires signedness, is integrated by culture as a sign system, and, at the same time, maintains a connection with nature. Thus, laughter occupies an ambivalent position between nature and culture. In the phenomenon of laughter, the dual state of human is revealed. In laughter, boundaries are blurred, the unity and opposition of natural and cultural, biological and social, soul and body, thought and feeling, sign and attribute are manifested.

Revisiting Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker: a Semiotic Study of the Dramatis Personae

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1B) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khaled Besbes
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Analytical Method ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Sign Systems ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
Stage Props

Abstract: The present article sought to offer a semiotic analysis of Pinter’s The Caretaker’s characters as signifers in their own right. The article also aimed at studying the play’s dramatis personae as loci of multi-coded expressions, with a focus on the various modes of signifcation associated with them. Using semiotics as an analytical method, the author explored the linguistic and paralinguistic features of the characters’ discourses as signs in relation to the play’s pivotal themes, their kinesic and body expressions as indexical signs, as well as their distinctive proxemic behavior(s) onstage. Some attention was also given to the characters’ handling of stage props and the special meanings attached to them as replicators of character personality. The results of the discussion showed that using a semiotic approach to analyze The Caretaker’s characters can yield positive outcomes in terms of comprehensive analysis and interpretation of the characters as dynamic unities of interrelated sign-systems. Keywords: Pinter, semiotics, dramatis personae, linguistic, kinesic, proxemic

‘Should textbook images be merely decorative?’: Cultural representations in the Iranian EFL national textbook from the semiotic approach perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882199226
Author(s):  
Ali Derakhshan
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Dynamic Model ◽  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Cultural Representations ◽  
Cultural Meanings ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Instructional Settings

Studies examining culture representation in language textbooks have rarely adopted the semiotic approach, despite its potential for presenting and (re)creating cultural meanings at their various levels (i.e. cultural, intercultural, multicultural, and transcultural) in the co-instantiations of texts, tasks, and images. To address this issue, a qualitative analysis, embarking on the Peircean semiotic theory, was applied on the text-image-task semiotic relationship. It explored its potential for constructing and reconstructing cultural meanings relative to the Iranian national English as a foreign language (EFL) textbook, Vision 1, from the perspectives of Iranian EFL students, teachers, and teacher educators. Content and thematic analyses of the interview records revealed three themes: first, the co-instantiation of the image and text was indexical, cultural awareness and connotations were almost untouched; second, the textual and visual components driving intercultural meanings and interpretations were not in accordance with the tasks; and, third, some alternative more culturally engaging images were provided by the interviewees. On the whole, the findings confirmed the previous findings that the discourse of this brand-new Iranian localized EFL textbook leaves little space to raise cultural awareness for its users. Based on the findings, a dynamic model for evaluating cultural representations in textbooks is suggested, hoping to show how EFL textbooks can be developed, implemented, and received more effectively in instructional settings.

scholarly journals Rock Beats the Wall? On Commemorative Practices in Post-Soviet Russia

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-91
Author(s):  
Nina Cingerová ◽  
Irina Dulebová
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Complex Analysis ◽  
100Th Anniversary ◽  
Traumatic Experience ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Coup D'etat ◽  
Communist State ◽  
The Social ◽  
Soviet Russia

AbstractThis paper focuses on the case analysis of the memorial to the victims of state terror – the Wall of Grief (Stena skorbi) – which was unveiled on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the November 7, 1917, coup d’état. Using this example, we have attempted to elaborate a structure for a more complex analysis of the memory of past regimes’ manifestation and to create a methodological base for their comparison. We have based our research on the discourse theory by the so-called Essex School, the social semiotics by Kress, and the procedures of the critical discourse analysis. The procedure that we have considered relevant consists of the following: (a) description of the social context in which the memorial was manifested as a piece of evidence; (b) semiotic analysis of the memorial artifact; (c) analysis of verbal practices, as well as written and spoken texts that “explained” the memorial; and (d) analysis of nonverbal practices, namely, rituals. On the basis of our case study, we have come to the conclusion that when carrying out a semiotic analysis and the analysis of verbal and nonverbal practices in the case of the Russian public discourse, it is especially relevant to pay attention not only to widening vs. narrowing of the chronological framework, generalization vs. concretization, and specification of the traumatic experience but also to the question of framing of the memorial. In regard to the semiotic analysis, the extent of indexicality is considered to be very important in the sense of the bodily connection with an element of the commemorated event that bestows “truthfulness” and authenticity on the memorial. We assume that particularly present-day Russia, where explicit attempts to reinterpret the history of the authoritarian communist state and attempts to instrumentalize the totalitarian period according to the vector of the current political direction may be seen, is a relevant object of this kind of research.

scholarly journals A Social Semiotic Approach to the Attitudinal Meanings in Multimodal Texts

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1160
Author(s):  
Yong Hu ◽  
Qing Qiu
Keyword(s):  
Picture Books ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Visual Narratives ◽  
Visual Semiotics ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
Semiotic Resources ◽  
Multimodal Text ◽  
The Creation

As a special type of multimodal text, picture books for children are highly valued in the creation of meaning by the integrative use of verbal and visual semiotic resources. Informed by Painter and Martin’s framework of visual narratives, this paper primarily deals with the interpersonal meanings encoded and expressed by the two semiotics (image and verbiage) within the Chinese picture books. It aims to analyse the visual and verbal choices available for writers to establish engagement between various participants. In the hope of investigating the collaboration and interplay of verbal and visual semiotics to construe interpersonal meanings, it examines the attitudinal meanings inscribed or invoked in picture books, exploring the ways in which visual and verbal resources are co-instantiated to encode attitudinal convergence and also divergence.

scholarly journals Social Stigma of COVID-19: A Semiotic Analysis of WHO Campaign Posters

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-168
Author(s):  
Intan Siti Nugraha ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Health Campaign ◽  
Sign Systems ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
Related Stigma ◽  
Visual Sign

COVID-19 has been reported to be risen in numbers of infected cases and deaths. The massive report by media and social network which focus on the spreading and infection may affect not only physical health but also individual’s and general population’s mental health, isolation and stigma. To eradicate COVID-19-related stigma and discrimination perpetuated by both individual and group of people, WHO exhibits some anti-stigma campaign posters. This study employs qualitative method to acquire deep investigation of meaning and to involve the social context. Thus, by using Roland Barthes’s semiotic approach, analyzing signifiers and signifieds, this study was aimed to unmask both denotative and connotative meanings of the stigma embed within the six health campaign posters of COVID-19 by Southeast Asia WHO. The analysis was focused not only on the verbal sign of posters (linguistic text), but also its relation to their visual sign (imagery messages). From the analysis of the two sign systems of posters, the result shows that the six posters connote acts of discriminatory behaviours, stigmatization, stereotype and blaming. Through the posters, WHO propagates people to work together to fight COVID-19 and to bring out the best humanity, to have better awareness and positive attitudes and appeals governments, citizens, media, key influencers of communities to have a role in preventing and to stop stigma surrounding in South-Asia and specifically in Indonesia which becomes the target of the poster viewers during the pandemic. Those messages are connoted through different font colors and sizes and the illustration on each poster.

scholarly journals سيميائية الخطاب السياسي، الشعر في الحجاز نهاية عهد الدولة العثمانية أنموذجاً / Political discourse semiotics: Hijaz poetry at the end of Othman empire

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-142
Author(s):  
Faisal Bin Salih Al Zahrani
Keyword(s):  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Arabic Literature ◽  
The Political ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Poetic Discourse ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
Poetic Text ◽  
Poetic Texts ◽  
Definition Of

ملخص البحث:   يعد الأدب العربي في إقليم الحجاز جزءاً من أدب الأمة العربية الجميل؛ لكن الدراسات الأدبية لا تزال غير كافية على الرغم من بذل بعض الباحثين جهوداً لجمع مادته الأدبية التي لا يزال كثير منها مخطوطاً أو مفقوداً أو مخفياً لأسباب متعددة. يبحث المنهج السيميائي عن المعنى من خلال البحث عن الاختلاف الداخلي للمعاني عبر المنهج السيميائي لتحليل الخطاب الشعري؛ وذلك من منطلق المنهج السيميائي في دراسة النصوص الشعرية والتي تؤكد أنها تتكون من نظام لغوي يعطي مجموعة من المعطيات الخاصة، وهذه الرؤية أسقطها المنهج السيميائي على أغلب النصوص الإبداعية، مع تميز النص الشعري بقدرته على اختزال المعنى، وتسعى هذه الدراسة إلى تتبع الشعر السياسي في الحجاز والوقوف على الدلالات التي يبرزها التحليل السيميائي من خلال المعنى الشعري، وذلك باتباع المنهج الوصفي التحليلي؛ حيث تبدأ بمقدمة تعرف ببعض المصطلحات الهامة مثل: إقليم الحجاز، السيميائية، الشعر السياسي، وستقوم عناصر التحليل لعدة مستوايات: تبدأ الخطاب العام، والمستوى المعجمي، والمستوى التركيبي، ثم المستوى التركيبي. الكلمات المفتاحية: الشعر السياسي - السيميائية - الخطاب العام - المستوى المعجمي- المستوى التركيبي. Abstract Arabic literature in Hijaz area is a part of magnificent Arabic literature. Much of literary works are still missing for many reasons despite the effort of some researchers in collecting and recording them. The semiotic approach looks into meaning by examining its internal differences through semiotic method to analyze poetic discourse. The semiotic approach helps in studying the poetic texts that reveal that it contains a language system that implies certain inputs. This very method helps to reveal such a perception on most of creative texts, with the distinction of the poetic text as having the ability to compress meaning. This paper aims at tracking the political poems in Hijaz and dwell on the meaning revealed by the semiotic analysis through the poetic meaning. The study makes use of the descriptive analysis method. It begins with the definition of some significant terms such as: Hijaz, semiotics, political poems; the analysis is based on certain levels: it begins with the general discourse, lexical and phrasal levels.   Keywords: Political poems, semiotics, general discourse, lexical level, phrasal level.     Abstrak Satera Arab di Hijaz adalah sebahagian daripada kesusasteraan yang gemilang. Namun masih banyak karya-karya yang masih hilang disebabkan banyak faktor walaupun usaha-usaha para pengkaji dalam mengumpul dan merekodkannya. Pendekatan semiotik ini melihat aspek makna dengan melihat perbezaan dalaman melalui metod semiotik untuk menganalisa wacana syair. Pendekatan ini juga menolong menyingkap sistem bahasa tertentu yang menandakan input tertentu. Ia juga menolong menyingkap untuk menyerlahkan persepsi tertentu tentang kebanyakan teks kreatif, terutamanya kelebihan teks puitis untuk memampatkan makna. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengesan syair-syair politik di Hijaz dan mengkaji makna yang diserlahkan melalui analisa maksud puitis. Kajian ini menggunakan metod analisa deskriptif. Ia dimulakan dengan definisi beberapa terma penting seperti: Hijaz, semiotic, syair politik; analisa yang dibuat adalah berdasarkan kepada beberapa tahap: ia bermula dengan wacana umum seterusnya tahap-tahap leksikal dan phrasa.    Kata kunci: Syair politik, semiotic, wacana umum, tahap leksikal, tahap frasa

ICONOLOGICAL METHOD IN SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF ARTWORKS

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 92-99
Author(s):  
А. А. Gruzdev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Art Criticism ◽  
Historical Study ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
History Of ◽  
Erwin Panofsky ◽  
Symbolic Content ◽  
Structural Mechanisms ◽  
First Time

The history of art is marked by many experiments in expanding and contrasting different methods and concepts. Nevertheless, in recent years there have been increasing attempts to draw parallels between iconology and semiotics. Of particular interest is the so-called Erwin Panofsky method, which forms the basis of modern iconology. The article discusses various aspects of the use of the iconological method in connection with the semiotic analysis of artistic works. Both general questions of the formation of iconology and special questions of its application and synthesis in the context of semiotic analysis are highlighted. A brief overview of the main iconological principles in revealing the figurative and symbolic content of the work is given, and the main features of the structural mechanisms underlying the semiotic approach are summarized. The scientific novelty of the work is determined primarily by the fact that for the first time the peculiarities of the application of the iconological method as one of the tools of semiotic analysis are investigated. Semiotics and iconology have a wide range of application in the study of culture-specific relations, since in contemporary art criticism, there is a great scientific interest in understanding the artwork as a carrier of national-cultural information. All this increases the methodological possibilities for studying the artwork, and thus expands the boundaries of the historical study of fine art.

A Socio-semiotic Analysis of Qat culture in Yemen

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 i (14) ◽  
pp. 68-83
Author(s):  
Nabil Salem ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Culturally Specific ◽  
Catha Edulis ◽  
Linguistic Model ◽  
Sign System ◽  
Linguistic Sign ◽  
Lexical Items

Qat, Catha edulis has become synonymous with Yemen, as the phenomenon of Qat chewing in Yemen dates back hundreds of years in history. No social, cultural, or political gathering in the afternoon time can do without Qat. Afternoon time becomes the sign of Qat sessions and socialization. Despite Yemen's openness to other cultures and the recent revolution in all kinds of social media, Yemenis do not stop the habit of chewing Qat. The purpose of the present research work is to analyze 'Qat' as a linguistic sign consisting of a signifier and a signified to understand its various social, cultural, and political signifieds that give it the semiotic power to dominate all aspects of life in Yemen and to ground the coinage of many lexical items that are culturally specific to Qat culture and Yemeni dialects. The present paper uses semiotics as a research method in which it adopts Saussure's linguistic model of sign, signifier, and signified and Barthes' concepts of denotation and connotation. Semiotically, this paper shows that the Yemeni people are not addicted to Qat as a drug, as might be assumed by some foreigners who are not familiar with the sign system of Yemeni culture. The Yemeni people are addicted to Qat as a polysemous sign that is associated with values, norms, rituals, enjoyment, relationship, and socialization at the connotative level.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document