Introducing Semiotics

Posted on 19 May 2018 by Paul Cobley

Why study signs This perennial question of philosophy is answered by the science of semiotics An animal s cry, poetry, the medical symptom, media messages, language disorders, architecture, marketing, body language all these, and , fall within the sphere of semiotics.Introducing Semiotics outlines the development of sign study from its classical precursors to contemporary post structuralism Through Paul Cobley s incisive text and Litza Jansz s brilliant illustrations, it identifies the key semioticians and their work and explains the simple concepts behind difficult terms For anybody who wishes to know why signs are crucial to human existence and how we can begin to study systems of signification, this book is the place to start It is the perfect companion volume to Introducing Barthes Read Introducing Semiotics By Paul Cobley – kino-fada.fr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 The structure it seems appropriate to begin with the structure is to examine proto semiotics followed by early and unsophisticated semiotics i e Saussure , then chart its growth into the complex discipline it is today mostly by looking at how different countries have contributed uniquely to the field, then finish with some practical applications in advertising This is a very sensible approach It fails to do two things, however It does not critique semiotic theory beyond what one generati The structure it seems appropriate to begin with the structure is to examine proto semiotics followed by early and unsophisticated semiotics i e Saussure , then chart its growth into the complex discipline it is today mostly by looking at how different countries have contributed uniquely to the field, then finish with some practical applications in advertising This is a very sensible approach It fails to do two things, however It does not critique semiotic theory beyond what one generation wrote of another and the comic book telling only allows for one level of depth for each idea It represents these ideas well, but there is ALWAYS so muchto them The virtue of this book is that it reminds us that Lucan and Derrida are fools...packed , .A basic illustrated guide to Semiotics.This book left me cold confused I m not really sure whether this was due to my limited knowledge or the structure of the book over complicating a simple idea.This book outlines the key figures in the development of semiotics, but given its length suffers somewhat from overloading the reader with information The bits where it gave examples were great it just neededof those That said, having read ...can be quite difficult for beginners of critical theory but once you get the hang of it, it provides a perspicuous extension to the ideas of structuralism and post structuralism..hard going this one, seems to over complicate a simple ideaAlways good to combine graphic novels and theory.Is it possible to take seriously an introductory treatise on a serious subject like semiology when it is illustrated in the manner of comic books Or is it intellectual snobbery to look askance at such a text, even if the pictures are clever and helpfully amplify the text Wondering a bit about semiotics, I set myself the reading Umberto Eco s The Name of the Rose Rarely...I didn t know much about semiotics before, so I have no idea if the text itself is accurate However, I thought this was overall a very clear book The author went through a lot of different theorists and broke down their ideas I appreciated the use of graphics and illustrations to support the text it especially helped because the topics themselve...

English
19 May 2018

Paul Cobley