Semiology, known more commonly as semiotics, is an academic field that studies how meaning is made and communicated via signs and symbols.
Semiotics studies the relationship between a signifier and the signified, or the relationship between a symbol and the thing the symbol stands for. In our culture, we use symbols all the time. Numbers and letters are common examples of symbols that can make meaning.
For example, the word "apple" is a string...
Semiology, known more commonly as semiotics, is an academic field that studies how meaning is made and communicated via signs and symbols.
Semiotics studies the relationship between a signifier and the signified, or the relationship between a symbol and the thing the symbol stands for. In our culture, we use symbols all the time. Numbers and letters are common examples of symbols that can make meaning.
For example, the word "apple" is a string of the symbols a, p, p, l, and e. Semiologists study how it is that we as humans have allowed that particular string of symbols to represent a real, physical apple. The word "apple" is not actually an apple; it is just a symbol that we use to communicate about actual apples.
Applying academic language to our example above, the word "apple" is the signifier, and the actual apple is the signified.
Semiology as an academic field is unique because it straddles the line between quantitative and qualitative science. Semiologists study the connection between objective, empirically-observable symbols and subjective psychological meaning.
No comments:
Post a Comment