SEMIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE.   Term Paper ID:30369 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Discusses signs and meaning.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Discusses signs and meaning. Spoken and written speech, images, symbols, gestures. Communal nature of language; shared meaning. Connection between a work of art and the artist. Example from documentary film of architect/sculptor Maya Lin and her design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Social and political contexts of meaning. Paper Introduction: Semiology is the study of signs and meaning, from the signs we know as language to other forms of communication by means of images, symbols, gestures, and so on. All messages have a relational component. Language is communal in that it has meaning only within a community of people who accept that meaning, and meaning exists only as shared meaning. Semiotics has been applied to language in various ways, including an analysis of how we read and write and understand the written word, with written language seen as a form of symbolic interaction between writer and reader. The semiology of language analyzes the morphemes of language and how they acquire meaning in both spoken and written speech. Signs also come in the form of images, pictures, symbols, and so on, and these have meaning also within a community context. Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. The interviewees speak in their ownvoice throughout as well, responding to questions we do not hear asked orsimply using the occasion to tell their story to the camera. .. The documentary film itself develops symbol and sign to conveymeaning through the methods used by the filmmakers and by the material theypresent. Language iscommunal in that it has meaning only within a community of people whoaccept that meaning, and meaning exists only as shared meaning. Signs also come in theform of images, pictures, symbols, and so on, and these have meaning alsowithin a community context. Different modes are possible in the documentary film, defined asdifferent methods but also involving different ways of associating meaning. VERBAL AND MATERIAL SIGNS As Keane (1997) points out, behaviors, actions, and materialproductions in a society also have shared meaning within that society,meaning which can be ascertained and "translated" by others. Signs of recognition: Powers and hazards ofrepresentation in an Indonesian society. Berkeley: University ofCalifornia. The filmmakershapes the material through selection and juxtaposition--when a veterantalks about the war and its meaning, a photograph from Vietnam showingsoldiers looking at the camera is panned. Keane points to studies byOnvlee describing ritual exchanges in Mangili "analyzing an elegant systemof paired terms of verbal and visual metaphors that align exchange, gender,marriage, cosmology, and agricultural production" (Keane, 1997, 33), usinga system of male and female channels mirroring aspects of the marriageceremony. The observational and interactive modes are similar in the waythey record reality but differ in the degree of commentary. It is in their faces that thereal meaning of the wall is etched, while much of Maya Lin's explanationfor the elements that make up the wall is an added emphasis on what we havealready seen people actually doing. Two modes are the observational mode and the interactive mode. Italso requires that the filmmakers maintain a disciplined detachment fromthe events. Mock, F.L. "Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision." NAATADistribution. Meaning is conveyed in the act of exchange, and the objects selectedfor exchange derive meaning from how they are used in a society, whom theyare identified with, what they are made of, how they are made or grown, andsimilar "biographical" details causing meaning to attach at various pointsto the objects, meaning that is then evoked and transferred along with theexchange. Thesemiology of language analyzes the morphemes of language and how theyacquire meaning in both spoken and written speech. All messages have a relational component. These signs "are linked towhat they signify by existential connections: they show causal effects . or actual proximity" (Keane, 1997, 79). In this case, the feud includedthe exchange of gifts, which had meaning and which had to be just so inorder to "say" what each side wanted said. CONCLUSION The social and political contexts of meaning are highlighted in theVietnam Memorial by Maya Lin, depicted well in the film "Maya Lin: A StrongClear Vision." As can be seen in the arguments over the design before itwas built, the political element can shape aesthetic appreciation in oneway, while a less directly political judgment is reached by the audience tothe work of art making a more reasonable judgment on the value of the workand even on its meaning. Theworks of Maya Lin are clearly associated directly with the artist as wellas with the society in which the art was produced, conveying meaningthrough sign and symbol and through other associations as well. Keane refers to the "excess of meanings" attaching to valuables,noting that valuables can be understood in terms of iconism, indexicality,and symbolism. The film "Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision" tells the story ofarchitect and sculptor Maya Lin, designer of the Vietnam Veterans'Memorial. Semioticshas been applied to language in various ways, including an analysis of howwe read and write and understand the written word, with written languageseen as a form of symbolic interaction between writer and reader. (1994). Interactive documentary makes the perspective of the filmmakermore evident, allowing the filmmaker to engage with individuals moredirectly while not reverting to classic exposition. Some charged that the design was an insult rather than acelebration. The VietnamWar was one of the most divisive conflicts in American history, raisingnumerous questions about the legality and morality of the way it wasconducted, and ending badly for the United States. The alternation of observation withinterviews is well done. The film about the Vietnam Memorial designed by Maya Lin mixes theobservational and interactive modes, and the voice of the filmmaker entersonly infrequently, such as to identify the essence of the film at thebeginning. People do not see the wall asinsufficient or as an insult to their countrymen; rather, they are affectedby the design, the milieu, the names, and the associations inhere in thedesign of the wall. Interview styles andinterventional tactics are used so the filmmaker can participate in theevents. The factthat this work was a memorial attached specific meaning to it, referring tothe Vietnam War and the sacrifices made by American soldiers in that war.The Memorial was one of a long line of such memorials to war dead, specificwars, and even specific battles, so the object immediately acquires certainmeaning by being called a memorial and by representing a war. The structure of this film is very carefully done and very clever inthe way it tells the full story of the Vietnam memorial without narration.Someone who came to this film knowing nothing at all of the history of thedevelopment of this memorial or the controversies that surrounded it wouldlearn about the issues and personalities involved through their own wordsand the words of participants who were remembering that time. Anthropology generally focuses on icon and symbol becausethey are more accessible to semantic interpretation, though Keaneemphasizes that indexicality is also important. The meaning of the Memorial is conveyed in the film not simply interms of its design or even the words used to describe it but through thereactions of visitors once the Memorial was built. The story of Maya Lin after the time of thememorial continues this method and observes her as she continues hereducation and her career. The filmmakers interact with theinterviewees in the way they select images that complement what theinterviewees are saying. Keane suggests how the relationship between verbal and materialsigns is an attempt to create order, to generate sociality, and similarsocializing and common community practices and beliefs. MAYA LIN Objects have one meaning and one direct association (with thepresenter) when they are sent into circulation, but they may lose theseassociations as they travel. The arguments over thedesign of the Memorial continued old political battles not just about thewar itself but about ideas of anti-Communism and the conduct of the entireCold War. Ancient art has lostits direct association with the artist because we do not know who theartist may be, while today we continue repeating the biography of theobject and maintaining the original connection to the degree possible. This raises questions about the connectionbetween a work of art and the artist, for instance. Some wanted more readily identified icons to be included,such as the American flag or even a more conventional statue of soldiers.The color clearly had symbolic value to many, repeating a long-standingview of white as good and black as bad. Of course, black also carries anassociation with death, which may be what Lin intended in the first place. Theobservational mode is limiting and keeps the filmmaker to the moment. Narrationcould tell the story and shape the chronology directly, but here thefilmmakers allow the material itself to develop a chronology and a dramaticstructure in a very effective way. (1997). References Keane, W. Many of theantagonistic claims of opponents seem simply foolish as people reactpositively to the design and react to the names on the wall in waysopponents claimed they would not. Meaning can also change over time as, say, thepolitical passions of the moment cool or shift, and yet political judgmentsare always influential in some degree on aesthetic reactions made. The meaning of the Memorial was not readily evident to those who sawthe design before that design was implemented, and there was much angerdirected at the design as being nothing more than a hole in the ground.The monument was to be black, and some wanted it to be white. He tells astory of a feud between two families in an unidentified village, notingthat the story "encapsulates the physical and semiotic mobility and thedensity of objects and hints at the critical role played by speech in theeffort to control them" (Keane, 1997, 33). Just as meaning attaches to an object in an exchangeby the way the object is viewed by both givers and recipients, so doesmeaning attach to the art object in the intersection of meaning intended bythe artist and interpreted by the audience. Some sequences are almost pure observation, as when peoplecoming to the wall to look for names or to remember the war are observed asthey react to names, to the idea of the memorial, or to their memories ofthe war and fallen comrades and relatives. Semiology is the study of signs and meaning, from the signs we knowas language to other forms of communication by means of images, symbols,gestures, and so on. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.