Semiotics 101
By Denise de la Cruz
I attend the University of Toronto and the most frequently asked question I get concerns my area of study.
"What's your major?"
Semiotics.
"Semiotics? What's that?"
The shortest answer to the question: Semiotics is the study of signs.
"What do you mean by signs?"
While a few have asked if I study zodiac signs as in astrology, people generally assume that I study road signs and logos at some higher level. Although this is partly true, Semiotics is not limited to visuals.
Semiotics as a field emerged in the early nineteenth century as a response to complex issues of meaning and representation.
Many complex systems exist but the two fundamental ones were proposed by Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Peirce.
Saussure's sign is a merging of two components:
1. Signifier: the physical form which the sign takes 2. Signified: the concept it represents
The signifier combines with a signified in the signification process and meaning is produced.
Meanwhile, Charles Peirce proposed that there are three types of signs that communicate meaning differently:
1. Iconic signs: resemble what they represent. A globe is a miniature representation of the Earth wherein the masses of land and bodies of water are shown as they actually appear on the planet. Icons are not limited to visuals as they can include onomatopoeic sounds.
2. Symbolic signs: have meanings that are purely conventional and learned through culture. They do not resemble what they represent. For example, the Olympic flag shows the five rings representing the five continents interlaced to show the universality of the meeting of the athletes of the world during the Olympic Games. Other examples include the word "stop" and a red traffic light: neither will mean anything to indigenous people since it is not part of their culture.
3. Indexical signs: are inherently connected to what they represent in some way. They are "pointer" signs that point to what they represent. Street signs indicate which street is located on the north and which is located on the west, for example. Smoke that signifies fire and footprints that follow a path are also indexical.
In short, a sign is something that stands for something else. It can include anything from words and sounds to pictures and body language. However, a sign is not a sign until it is given meaning. Meaning, then, can be subjective, is usually based on cultural background knowledge, and is always based on context.
"What kinds of courses did you take while majoring in THAT?"
Semiotics is a multidisciplinary field. It draws upon many different traditions like linguistics, discourse analysis, rhetoric, literary criticism, psychology, philosophy, anthropology, and phenomenology. I had the flexibility to focus my courses on my interests relating to the field. I took courses in communications theory and history, cultural anthropology, sociolinguistics, rhetoric, and media studies. Since the actual and potential fields for Semiotics are countless, I also studied film, English literature, and philosophy. (But no, I couldn't include basketweaving!")
"Did you always want to pursue Semiotics?"
No. Fresh out of high school, I did not know what Semiotics was either. I was also unaware that the University of Toronto offered it as an area of study. I started off as a Computer Science student. I chose Introduction to Semiotics as one of my electives in first year. I found it really interesting and decided to switch majors in second year. I liked the broad range of subjects that the program allowed me to explore. I found that it's applicable to many aspects of life and learning, and it was fun.
"What can you do with your degree?"
The possibilities are endless, depending on personal interests. Some of my classmates have entered the world of work immediately after graduating, holding positions in government offices, marketing, and advertising firms, and even news and broadcasting. Other have used their degrees to get into law and graduate schools. I have decided to go back to my Computer Science roots while making use of my knowledge of communication theories. I applied into multimedia design schools and I hope to attend one of the city's post-graduate programs in that field in the fall.
"Oh, I see..."