Definitions/ Key Terms

  1. Barthes – the theorist who studied semiotics and developed the theory of semiotics
  2. Pierce – CS Pierce, a philosopher, theory of signs , indexical, iconic and symbolic
  3. Saussure – a swiss linguist and semiotician, the signifier and the signified
  4. Semiotics – the study of signs
  5. Sign – an object/thing/element
  6. Signifier – A signs physical form (sound, word, image or action)
  7. Signified – the meaning or idea expressed by a sign
  8. Iconic sign – a sign that has a direct connection to its object
  9. Indexical sign – a sign that has an indirect link to its object
  10. Symbolic sign – a sign that has a random link to its object
  11. Code – something that represents something and has meaning
  12. Dominant Signifier – a mainly accepted form of a sign.
  13. Anchorage – a dominant sin to fix meaning
  14. Dominant Ideology – a set of beliefs
  15. Paradigm – a collection of signs
  16. Syntagm – a sequence of signs
  17. Signifcation – the process of creating signs
  18. Denotation – what symbol/object is clearly/ obviously there, what you can see
  19. Connotation – what a symbol/object implies/ what its meaning is
  20. Myth – something thats made up but loads of people believe, Barthes suggests we should question them
  21. A radical text – challenges a dominant ideology
  22. A reactionary text. – supports dominant ideology

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