Semiotics: The Basics

Description

This fourth edition of the bestselling textbook, now available in print, eBook, and audiobook, has been fully updated, continuing to provide a concise introduction to the key concepts of semiotics in accessible and jargon-free language. Demystifying what is a complex, highly interdisciplinary field, key questions covered include: what are signs and codes? What can semiotics teach us about representation and reality? What tools does it offer for analysing texts and cultural practices? The fourth edition of Semiotics: The Basics focuses in particular on its application to communication and cultural studies. It has been extensively revised and extended, with an entirely new section on cognitive semiotics, many more illustrations, and a new glossary. With updates to theory, further examples, and suggestions for review and further reading, this must-have resource is both the ideal introductory text and an essential reference guide for students at all levels of language and communication, media, and cultural studies. Cover Endorsement Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Definitions Relation to philosophy and linguistics Structuralism Why study semiotics? Chapter 1 Models The Saussurean model Arbitrariness The relational system The Peircean model Jakobson’s model Sign relations Symbolic relations Iconic relations Indexical relations The case of photography Mixed modes Types and tokens Rematerializing the sign Hjelmslev’s model Reflections Further reading Chapter 2 Realities Categorization Language, thought, and reality Referentiality Modality The word is not the thing Empty signifiers Reflections Further reading Chapter 3 Structures Horizontal and vertical axes The paradigmatic dimension The commutation test Oppositions Markedness Deconstruction Conceptual alignment The semiotic square The syntagmatic dimension Spatial relations Sequential relations Structural reduction Langue and parole Reflections Further reading Chapter 4 Codes The language model Digital and analogue codes Typologies Social codes Textual codes Genre Aesthetic realisms Invisible editing Interpretive codes Ways of reading Codification Limitations Reflections Further reading Chapter 5 Ways of meaning Rhetorical tropes Metaphor Metonymy Synecdoche Irony Master tropes Denotation and connotation Myth Reflections Further reading Chapter 6 Interactions Models of communication Context and relevance Communicative functions The positioning of the subject Modes of address Intertextuality Problematizing authorship No text is an island Intratextuality Textual framing Reflections Further reading Chapter 7 Perspectives Structuralist semiotics Poststructuralist semiotics The return of Saussure Social semiotics Cognitive semiotics Cartesian dualism Semiotic stances Mental representation Embodiment Methodologies An ecological and multimodal approach Reflections Further reading Going further Glossary References Index