Basics of Semiotics - Essay Example

Semiology Student’s Name University Affiliation This essay will be arguing, using semiological analysis, by examining the denotations and connotations and how their meaning is exhibited in the given image. The essay will further be discussing on the various ideological implications that are inherent in our given image. Attention will also be paid on various cultural and technical codes and conventions that have been used in constructing the meaning. Semiotics (semiotic studies or semiology) is the learning on the meaning-making, logical theory of any sign and symbol that is used in our daily life. Semiotics entails the studies on sign and sign processes (i.e. semiosis), indications, designations, likeness, analogies, metaphors, symbolism, significations, and communication. Semiology has a close relation to the branch of linguistics, which is the study on the structures and meanings of language more specially. Semiology also entils the studying of non-linguistic sign system. Semiotics has three branches: semantics, syntactics and pragmatics. Semantics studies the relationship between a particular sign and a specific object to which it refers; its denotata, or meaning. Syntactics studies the relationship amongst the signs found within the confines of a formal structure. Pragmatics studies the relationship between a particular sign and a sign-using agent (Deely, 2005).  Semiotics, normally, is perceived to be a vital anthropological dimension, for instance, all cultural phenomena might be learned as communication. A number of semioticians concentrate on the logical scopes of this science. They study ranges that form part of life sciences –for example, how an organism makes forecasts about, and adapts to, its semiological niche on earth (semiosis). Generally, semiological concepts consider any sign or sign system as their piece to be used in learning (Chandler, 2007).  The given image represents single character. The character seems to be aged between 22 to 60 years. The character is a stout male who seems to be emotional after having accomplished a particular mission. The character appears to have blood smeared all over his body and at the same time, he seems to have sweet intensively during the course of his task. However, the character appears to be frightening the viewers in the sense that, he seems to have been committing murder and he is celebrating his recent execution. The character isn’t wearing any shirt and this makes him even weirder. This image could be used as a warning to people that a particular place has some vampires and thus, people should keep off from the place. Power is a characteristically semiotic occurrence that can be investigated with conceptions of a cultural semiotic. He continues defining power as the aggregate of opportunities of individuals to impose their resolve on one or more individuals as a result of a structural asymmetry within a particular situation. In the given picture, the character has the power to the viewers. The viewers have an option of either looking at the picture or not. Once an individual has decided to have a look at the picture, there are some flow of thoughts that accompany the view. Probably, an individual will feel scared at the picture in the beginning. However, with time, the viewer will be curious to know why the character has blood all over his body. The viewer will also be concerned in knowing what is being celebrated by the character. Eventually, the viewer is likely to conclude that the character has been murdering people and has managed to accomplish some of his missions and that is why he is celebrating the victory. The character in the picture has portrayed various signs to the viewers. The man looks very strong and emotional. He looks as if he is celebrating something. He seems to be shouting to the community in regard to his achievements. There is blood smeared all over his body which makes him look scary to the viewers. The character isn’t wearing any shirt and that makes him scary too to any viewer who is usually scared by such male pictures. The character in the picture has sweat all over his body running down his masculine body. The signifiers in the image are blood, sweat and the mouth of the character being open. The signified sings are the murder, hard task and celebration after accomplishing the mission respectively. An iconic sign or iconic bears some resemblance to whatever it refers to. In the above picture, there are various iconic signs that are evident to the viewers. The blood that is spread all over the man is an iconic sign. Whenever an individual sees blood smeared on an individual, one translates that to death. The next step for the viewer is to try to dig out who is dead and who is the cause of the death since blood is life. Therefore, this picture has blood as an iconic sign that is being interpreted that the character is a murderer. The character is also looking to be very stout, particularly now that he isn’t wearing any shirt. His posture, is an index of his masculinity and therefore make him scarier to the viewers. His stout posture has a meaning that he has managed to commit murder and he is still strong (Deely, 2005).  The sweating that is evident on his body is also an indexical sign. Sweating is an index of a strenuous activity that was being undertaken by the character. The character is not wearing any shirt and this is also an index of a strenuous activity. This could be mean that the character was involved in an activity that made his shirt to be torn into pieces and he was compelled to remove it as he proceeded with the task. Majority of serial killers are males and not females. This statement holds water in the sense that this character, who is a male, could be a murderer and therefore is symbolic. Therefore, the whole picture of the character is symbolizing a murderer who is ready and strong enough to continue committing murder (Deely, 2005).  The denotative aspects of an image refers to the straightforward understanding of the sign. Once an individual looks at the image, one will note that the picture is an image of a strong man who has some blood all over his body. The man appears to be emotional about something from the judge of his shouting and stature. He also seems to be celebrating something as he continues sweating. The image also shows that the man isn’t wearing any shirt (Zlatev, 2009). The connotative aspect of an image refers to the interpretation one gets from the image. This image shows a man who is celebrating after committing some murder that has made him remain sweating. Though the mean is sweating, he seems to be strong and can proceed committing more murder immediately. The blood that appears on his chest and hands, can be interpreted that the man was committing the murder at close range that made blood splash on him as he was progressing with the activity (Chandler, 2007).  The world-view of this image has mixed reactions. There are some people who like watching horror movies and this could not trigger any resentment in their minds. Since they are used to watching even more horrible movies and pictures, they might not be much scared. However, majority of people would be scared by the picture since because of the red colored fluid that is smeared all over the man’s body. Globally, red color is associated with scaring things such as danger and death. Therefore, majority of people would not look at this picture for a longer time since they would be scared by the picture. Therefore, though there would be some people who would not be scared by this image, majority of the viewers would not be impressed by this image and would be frightened away (Danesi, 2007).  Globally, murder is termed as the worst crime on earth an individual can commit. Therefore, majority of people would be of the idea that the character is a murderer who is happy about what he has done, that is, the character is not feeling guilty of what he has done but he is jubilant over his achievement. Majority of communities and religions, are against such horror pictures since there is murder that is being associated with it. In fact, some people who would see such a picture, would have nightmares as a result of it (Danesi, 2007).  In conclusion, the picture has both connotative and denotative meaning to the viewers. The picture is a denotation of an image of a well-built man, who isn’t wearing any shirt and is shouting emotionally. All over his body, he has blood and sweat down his masculine body. The connotation of the image is that the image is referring to a very robust male murderer who has joy in committing murder. The sweat that is flowing down his biceps denotes his determination to commit murder amid the challenges he faces. Though, a few people would not be scared by the image, majority would be frightened away by the image. The reason for this is that, globally, the blood that is spread all over the man’s body is symbolizing murder. Murder isn’t acceptable, globally and thus, since the man in the image seems to be a murderer, majority of people would be frightened away. Therefore, there is sufficient semiotics in the image and the image is delivering the meaning of terror to the people effectively. Reference List Chandler, D. (2007). Semiotics: The Basics. London: Routledge. Deely, J. (2005). Basics of Semiotics. 4th ed. Tartu: Tartu University Press. Danesi, M. (2007). The Quest for Meaning: A Guide to Semiotic Theory and Practice. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Zlatev, J. (2009). The Semiotic Hierarchy: Life, Consciousness, Signs and Language, Cognitive Semiotics. Sweden: Scania Read More