The Semiotic Method

READING SUMMARY

The semiotic method involves interpreting signs; signs are anything that have meaning. The method of semiotics is well-suited for analyzing pop culture. There are four elemental principles of semiotics. The first is that the meaning of a sign can be found within its relations in a system, so to figure out the meaning of a sign, you must know which system it belongs to. A system of beliefs or values is also called a cultural mythology, which controls the way we view reality. The second involves finding the denotative and connotative meanings of signs. Denotation is a sign’s first level of meaning or what it shows directly, and connotation is what a sign suggests indirectly or its political/cultural significance. The third principle is that connotative significance involves abduction, which is a search for the most likely explanation, and over-determination, which is the numerous causes behind a cultural phenomenon. The fourth is that cultural myths are reflections of their builders’ values rather than the laws of nature or logic, as social reality is created by humans and how we experience the world. The semiotic method also has its challenges; how you interpret something is a product of who you are, as culture shapes our values and perspectives. Systems are coded differently by different cultures, and the winner of the cultural code, or mythology, sees it as the truth. Overall, the idea with the semiotic method is to question everything.

OUTSIDE EXAMPLE

The first thing that came to mind when I was reading about the semiotic method, especially when I saw the first page of the reading (very colorful), was the meaning behind color. I’ve always been a fan of those ‘what do these colors say about you’ type of things, and when I looked up examples of the semiotic method, the meanings behind colors was one of the first examples to show up. Colors in particular contain a lot of meaning. We associate red with anger or blood, green with nature and peace, yellow with happiness and sunshine, and blue with the ocean and sadness.

READING CONNECTION

The meanings behind colors, as I said before, have always been very interesting to me. I really like the color blue, so I looked up the meaning behind it. It is often associated with sadness, but also the ocean as well as calmness. Online, it said that blue is connected to depth, stability, and tranquility. It is also a color of trust, loyalty, wisdom, truth, intelligence, and confidence. The use of this color also contains meaning, though blue is used a lot. For example, the Democratic party in the US is associated with the color blue. The color blue could be analyzed with the semiotic method; it is connected to so many different systems and used in a wide variety of items, symbols, and more. So many things that involve blue could be analyzed, but all of its different meanings and how it is used in society and the world is very interesting.