Every society has developed ideas on how signs enable us to communicate in our environment and also to deal with each other. I wonder how can i perceive the meaning of images and signs, by learning semiotics it shows that this theory explained how we understand the meaning through images and signs. But , I began to ask my self on how can I be so certain that my understanding of the meanings are the same to others. Upon learning philosopher john Locke's argument on universal assent, I began to question the accuracy of semiotics in giving meanings. The purpose of writing this journal is to investigate about the different interpretation of meaning generated form semiotics that might vary greatly in different cultures and in what way does this different interpretation leads to Locke's argument on universal assent.
Semiotics involves the study of what we refer as “sign” in everyday speech, but of anything which stands for something else. In a semiotic sense, signs take the form of words, images, gesture, and objects. Umberto Eco who states that semiotics is concerned with everything that can be taken on what we refer as “signs” in everyday speech ( Chanler, 2002).
The V sign Gesture
Chanler in his book semiotics: the basic stared that Denotation tends to be described as the definitional literal, obvious or common sense meaning of a sign. Meanwhile, connotation refers to the socio-cultural and personal associations (ideological, emotional of the sign). (Chanler, 2002)
This picture denotes a hand gesture formed by holding up a hand with the middle and index finger upright in a V shape by Winston Churchill. The “V” sign gesture is now understood and used worldwide which signified victory. However, Due to cultural differences, the meaning of this hand gesture might vary greatly. in the book social skills and work, stated that In Australia and Britain for example, these sign gesture is considered as an insult while in Greece, it connotes the number “2”.(Argyle, 1981).
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Roland Barthes quoted that we can assume that anything which sees to carry meaning for us in the advertisement is a sign. While, Signifier according to Saussure is the form of which a sign takes while, signified means the mental concept generated from the signifier.( Bignell, 1997)
This is an advertisement of a perfume campaign by one of the international global fashion brand, Hilfiger. In order for advertising to attract target buyers, semiotics is use to study the meaning of the advertisement.
Tommy Hilfiger campaign focused primarily on the discourse of masculinity. Meanwhile another discourse of a tuxedo is also presented. Communication between the brand and potential buyers are represented by the meaning that the advertisement tries to convey through the use of signifier. The signifier of a man in a motorcycle in a desert connotes masculinity where it promotes and signified the ideologies of strong, tough, rough, freedom, self-confidence, speed and personal satisfaction. Whereas, the signifier of the male model wearing a tuxedo and with a black sunglass shows the connotation of expensive, luxurious, privileged and stylish.
However in Chinese context, this campaign might convey different meanings. This advertisement might provoke a political view among the Chinese culture. Most of the world major brands use Chinese cheap labor for production of their luxurious cultural products. They might see the discourse of a man in a tuxedo illustrate a selfishness instead of luxury and expensive in western perspective. Most Chinese factory workers might feel victimize from the capitalist system of the brand. Chinese market has attracted foreigners due to its cheap labor, Written by The economist in the journal titled the rising power of Chinese workers stated that "This may seem odd, given how much the rich world has come to rely on Chinese cheap labor by one estimate, trade with China has added $1,000 a year to the pockets of every American household." (the economist, 2010).The politic of capitalism might arise when The Chinese interprets the brand's advertisement as a discrimination of their contribution. They struggle to find meaning of success upon the low payment they received as a result of a global capitalist system.
The brand name “Hilfiger” anchor the signifier together creating an advertisement to attract buyers to buy their product, in this case a perfume for men is the product. The brand name ties the images together suggesting Hilfiger as a luxurious brand that links the signifier together which signified the expensiveness of the product.
If people have different interpretation of sign and images, it seems that the study of semiotics do not offer a universal assent where everyone can agree on the same meaning generated from the same image they see. One signifier can provide plurality in its meaning, those picture above shows the same images can provide different meaning. I begin to question the accuracy of semiotics in giving meaning, but semiotics offer a very powerful tool to dismiss this problem. Anchorage is use to reduce tension by framing the a certain text that can make people agree on the meaning of the image.
Semiotics might not offer consistency as a written text as people can have different interpretation, but a universal assent is difficult to achieve. Semioticians has indeed imprinted the use of anchorage in images and sign in to achieve coherent and to make the meaning even clearer.
Semiotics part 2: Tutorial
The image connotes tradition, culture and religion. The signifier above shows five Bruneian food delicacies which are pulut pangang, ardam, tapai, penyaram and bahulu. The picture of kampong Ayer with two women wearing baju kurong and a man working as a water-taxi driver act as a cultural code of Brunei that connect five Bruneian traditional foods. It signified the ideologies of a long lasted tradition still preserve. By showing two women wearing baju kurong connotes Bruneian religious believe reflecting her philosophy of MIB, a man working as a water taxi shows traditional transportation system of kampong Ayer. Image of two young boys waving promotes the ideologies of hostile, friendly and hospitality.
The text “Bruneian culture and tradition” as an anchorage to tie all the five signifiers of the food delicacies with the cultural code of Brunei. This changes the whole meaning and purpose of the image, the picture is now act as an advertisement to promote Bruneian uniqueness. The advertisement is use to attract tourists by giving the ideologies of a serenity and inviting atmosphere of Kampong Ayer as one of Bruneian’s cultural tourist destination. In addition, the five foods delicacies in Brunei show the uniqueness of Bruneian traditional foods that can only be found in Brunei.
References:
Argyle, Michael. (1981).Social skills and work. . Methuen & Co ltd. London
Bignell, Jonathan.(1997). Media semiotics: an introduction. Manchester University press. Manchester.
Chanler, Daniel.(2002). Semiotics: the basic. . Taylor & Francis. Canada
The Economist.(2010).The rising power of the Chinese worker.396(8693)9
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