Chandler D. Semiotics: The Basics

3rd ed. — Routledge, 2017. — 274 p. — ISBN: 1138232939, 1138232920.This third edition of the bestselling textbook has been fully revised, continuing to provide a concise introduction to the key concepts of semiotics in accessible and jargon-free language. Demystifying what is a complex, highly interdisciplinary field, key questions covered include: What are signs and codes? What can semiotics teach us about representation and reality? What tools does it offer for analysing texts and cultural practices? With further examples and images and new end of chapter resources, this must-have resource is both the ideal introductory text and an essential reference guide for students at all levels of language and communication, media and cultural studies.
Inside...
Definitions
Relation to philosophy and linguistics
Why study semiotics?
Models of the Sign
The Saussurean model, The relational system, Arbitrariness, The Peircean model, Jakobson’s model, Sign relations, Symbolicity, Iconicity, Indexicality, Mixed modes, Types and tokens, Rematerializing the sign, Hjelmslev’s model, Reflections, Further reading.
Signs and Things
Naming things, Referentiality, Modality, The word is not the thing, Empty signifiers, Reflections, Further reading.
Analysing Structures
Horizontal and vertical axes, The paradigmatic dimension, The commutation test, Oppositions, Markedness, Deconstruction, Alignment, The semiotic square, The syntagmatic dimension, Spatial relations, Sequential relations, Structural reduction, Langue and parole, Reflections, Further reading.
Challenging The Literal
Rhetorical tropes, Metaphor, Metonymy, Synecdoche, Irony, Master tropes, Denotation and connotation, Myth, Reflections, Further reading.
Codes
The language model, Digital and analogue codes, Typologies, Interpretive codes, Social codes, Representational codes, Genre, Aesthetic realisms, Invisible editing, Codification, Limitations, Reflections, Further reading.
Interactions
Models of communication, Context, The positioning of the subject, Modes of address, Intertextuality, Problematizing authorship, No text is an island, Intratextuality, Types of intertextuality, Reflections, Further reading.
Prospect and Retrospect
Structuralist semiotics, Poststructuralist semiotics, The return of Saussure, Methodologies, An ecological and multimodal approach, Reflections, Further reading.