Semiotics: The Basics

This up-dated second edition provides a clear and concise introduction to the key concepts of semiotics in accessible and jargon-free language. With a revised introduction and glossary, extended index and suggestions for further reading, this new edition provides an increased number of examples including computer and mobile phone technology, television commercials and the web. Demystifying what is a complex, highly interdisciplinary field, key questions covered include: What is a sign? Which codes do we take for granted? How can semiotics be used in textual analysis? What is a text? A highly useful, must-have resource, Semiotics: The Basics is the ideal introductory text for those studying this growing area.

Daniel Chandler is a Lecturer in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth

List of illustrations	p. xi
Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgements	p. xvii
Introduction	p. 1
Definitions	p. 2
Relation to linguistics	p. 5
Langue and parole	p. 8
Why study semiotics?	p. 10
Models of the sign	p. 13
The Saussurean model	p. 14
Two sides of a page	p. 17
The relational system	p. 18
Arbitrariness	p. 22
The Peircean model	p. 29
Relativity	p. 35
Symbolic mode	p. 38
Iconic mode	p. 40
Indexical mode	p. 42
Modes not types	p. 44
Changing relations	p. 45
Digital and analogue	p. 47
Types and tokens	p. 49
Rematerializing the sign	p. 51
Hjelmslev's framework	p. 56
Signs and things	p. 59
Naming things	p. 60
Referentiality	p. 62
Modality	p. 64
The word is not the thing	p. 69
Empty signifiers	p. 78
Analysing structures	p. 83
Horizontal and vertical axes	p. 83
The paradigmatic dimension	p. 87
The commutation test	p. 88
Oppositions	p. 90
Markedness	p. 93
Deconstruction	p. 99
Alignment	p. 100
The semiotic square	p. 106
The syntagmatic dimension	p. 109
Spatial relations	p. 110
Sequential relations	p. 114
Structural reduction	p. 115
Challenging the literal	p. 123
Rhetorical tropes	p. 123
Metaphor	p. 126
Metonymy	p. 129
Synecdoche	p. 132
Irony	p. 134
Master tropes	p. 136
Denotation and connotation	p. 137
Myth	p. 143
Codes	p. 147
Types of codes	p. 148
Perceptual codes	p. 151
Social codes	p. 153
Textual codes	p. 157
Codes of realism	p. 160
Invisible editing	p. 165
Broadcast and narrowcast codes	p. 170
Interaction of textual codes	p. 171
Codification	p. 171
Textual interactions	p. 175
Models of communication	p. 175
The positioning of the subject	p. 186
Modes of address	p. 190
Reading positions	p. 194
Intertextuality	p. 197
Problematizing authorship	p. 198
Reading as rewriting	p. 200
No text is an island	p. 201
Intratextuality	p. 203
Bricolage	p. 205
Types and degrees of intertextuality	p. 206
Prospect and retrospect	p. 211
Structuralist semiotics	p. 212
Poststructuralist semiotics	p. 217
Methodologies	p. 221
An ecological and multimodal approach	p. 223
Appendix: key figures and schools	p. 227
Going further	p. 235
Glossary	p. 243
Bibliography	p. 265
Index	p. 293
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

FREE SHIPPING

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Semiotics: The Basics

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials