The document discusses semiotics and how signs are composed of a signifier, which is the form of a thing, and the signified, which is the concept or idea of the thing. Together, the signifier and signified create a sign. It provides the example of a stuffed green rat as a signifier that signified safety and comfort to the author as a child. Now, the rat signifies the author's early childhood and lost innocence of youth.
The document discusses semiotics and how signs are composed of a signifier, which is the form of a thing, and the signified, which is the concept or idea of the thing. Together, the signifier and signified create a sign. It provides the example of a stuffed green rat as a signifier that signified safety and comfort to the author as a child. Now, the rat signifies the author's early childhood and lost innocence of youth.
The document discusses semiotics and how signs are composed of a signifier, which is the form of a thing, and the signified, which is the concept or idea of the thing. Together, the signifier and signified create a sign. It provides the example of a stuffed green rat as a signifier that signified safety and comfort to the author as a child. Now, the rat signifies the author's early childhood and lost innocence of youth.
The document discusses semiotics and how signs are composed of a signifier, which is the form of a thing, and the signified, which is the concept or idea of the thing. Together, the signifier and signified create a sign. It provides the example of a stuffed green rat as a signifier that signified safety and comfort to the author as a child. Now, the rat signifies the author's early childhood and lost innocence of youth.
Semiotics is concerned with signs and their relationship with
objects and meaning. One way to view signs is to consider them composed of a signifier and a signified. Simply put, the signifier is the sound associated with or image of something (e.g., a tree), the signified is the idea or concept of the thing (e.g., the idea of a tree), and the sign is the object that combines the signifier and the signified into a meaningful unit. Stated differently, the sign is the relationship between the concept and the representation of that concept. For example, when I was a child I had a stuffed animal. OK, it was a stuffed green rat, but it was a smiling rat. That rat was the signifier. Think what a stuffed animal could signify to a child. In my case, it signified safety, warmth, and comfort. So, when I walked into my room and looked at my stuffed green rat it was a sign to me that everything was ok. Notice that the signifier and the signified cannot be separated and still provide a meaningful basis for the sign.
Today, that stuffed green rat is just a memory to me. I cannot
even recall what I named it. In fact, as time passed that rat became a sign of something else. The rat is still a signifier but it signifies my early childhood when the world seemed calm, safe, and inviting. Now the rat could be considered a sign of my youthful innocence, long past and hard to remember, just like the name of that rat.