Semiotics (Discussion)

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Television on semiotics

  1. Groups 5 & 1: What would be two examples of C. S. Pierce's "indexical sign" (aka, index) that are not mentioned in the textbooks? Explain how they are examples of this type of sign.
  2. Groups 6 & 2: What would be two examples of C. S. Pierce's "iconic sign" (aka, icon) that are not mentioned in the textbooks? Explain how they are examples of this type of sign.
  3. Groups 7 & 3: What would be two examples of C. S. Pierce's "symbolic sign" that are not mentioned in the textbooks? Explain how they are examples of this type of sign.
  4. Groups 4 & 8: What would be one example of syntagmatic structure that is not mentioned in the textbooks? Explain how it is an example of syntagmatic structure.

Ellen Seiter on semiotics

All groups

  1. Ellen Seiter, in Channels of Discourse, writes, "The picture [of Fangface] itself is a syntagm. ... In the paradigmatic dimension the options are a pair of categories nature/culture (or animal/human...), which is the source of the image's meaning." She continues, "...Hodge and Trip have introduced the binary opposition (nature/culture) and proceeded to organize the elements of the television image into paradigmatic sets."
    • List three or four "paradigmatic sets" in the "Holly, Jolly" episode of Stranger Things. Refer to your list of the episode's scenes to provide specific examples.
    • Analysis of syntagmatic structure asks how the order of a groups of things (shots, chunks of story) have an impact on meaning. Take the shot of Eleven toward the end of this episode (above), which Seiter would call a "syntagm". What meaning does her nose bleed have and how is that meaning dependent on previous scenes (use your scene list to be specific)?
  1. Define "denotation" and "connotation." What does semiotician Roland Barthes mean by the term, "myth"?
    • What are the denotations and connotations of the Wonder Years' opening montage?
      • Denotations: List/identify as many of the images as you can.
    • Are there any "paradigmatic sets" to be found in the Wonder Years montage?
    • Both programs are about high-school students. How might paradigmatic sets be used to identify a similar thematic structure in the two programs?

Strengths/Weaknesses

All groups

  1. List two strength(s) of semiotic/structuralist analysis. List two weaknesses of this approach (no, a difficult vocabulary does not count).
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    • Group 5:
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Bibliography

  1. Jeremy G. Butler, Television: Critical Methods and Applications (NY: Routledge, 2011).
  2. Ellen Seiter, "Semiotics, Structuralism and Television," in Robert C. Allen, Channels of Discourse, Reassembled, second edition (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992).

External links