Semiotics and Decoding.

Today we learned about semiotics and decoding and the theory of Ferdinand de Saussure

Semiotics:

It is the study of signs and symbols and their use and interpretation. It is an investigation into how signs and meaning are created and communicated. A sign is something which can stand for something else – in other words, a sign is anything that can convey meaning. So words can be signs, drawings can be signs, photographs can be signs, even street signs can be signs. 

Decoding:

The decoding of a message is how an audience member is able to understand, and interpret the message. It is a process of interpretation and translation of coded information into a comprehensible form. The audience is trying to reconstruct the idea by giving meanings to symbols and by interpreting messages as a whole.

Ferdinand de Saussure:

He argues that language is an instrument of communication using signs in culture to communicate meaning. (Saussure 1985;28). He believes that anything and everything that has the potential to communicate meaning through its language may be studied as linguistic signs. He has beliefs that things that are of traditional nature are taken to be non-linguistic when in actual fact they are in communication and the signs mean something.