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Semiotics: The Basics
Journal of Pragmatics 35 (2003) 927–930 www.elsevier.com/locate/pragma
Book review
Semiotics: The Basics Review of Chandler, Daniel. Routledge, London/New York, 2000, 273 pp., ISBN 0-415-26594-0
At last, Daniel Chandler’s Semiotics for Beginners is not only available on the Internet (schttp://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/), but also as a textbook, titled Semiotics: —The Basics. The book aims at providing an overview of the main questions, theories, and methods of semiotics, especially for beginners. The introduction, however, is not only designed to serve the needs of undergraduate students. Other than the very popular ‘classical’ introduction into semiotics by Umberto Eco (1994), which leads the reader into the author’s universe of signs, other than Ju¨rgen Trabant’s successful introduction to semiotics with a strong emphasis on linguistics (Trabant, 1996), and also other than Scho¨nrich’s recent introduction into Peircean semiotics (Scho¨nrich, 1999), which addresses the more specialised postgraduate students of philosophy, Chandler’s textbook is a very appropriate source of information for students of a whole range of subjects such as literature, linguistics, media studies, cultural studies, discourse studies, and the like, and for anyone interested in getting a quick state of the art overview of present day semiotics. This has been a desideratum for a long time. The book is well written and up to date, without unnecessary verbosity and jargon, and yet reflecting the complexity of the field and its problems. The author takes the view of structuralist semiotics with a clear preference for the approach of critical discourse analysis, but he also includes other viewpoints such as poststructuralist perspectives. Thereby, he presents a plurality of approaches, without trying to harmonise them into a synthesis that proves to be problematical, as in so many other introductions, nor does he confuse the reader with too many controversies, which leave especially the beginner at loss. The composition of the book is clearly arranged and easy to understand. It begins with outlining the main areas of semiotic work and gives a brief summary of its history since Saussure and Peirce. It then presents the two canonical sign models of Saussure and Peirce, including their respective terminology and their adaptations by some other theorists. The author refers to analogous approaches, and discusses some critical objections. For instance, he points at a possible analogy between Michail Bachtin’s model of dialogue und Peirce’s model of signs (p. 34), mentions the relevance of Saussure for Lacan (p. 28) und quotes Derrida’s objection against Saussure’s phonocentrism (pp. 51 f.).
928
Book review / Journal of Pragmatics 35 (2003) 927–930
The following chapter is devoted to the problem of the relationship between sign and reality, i.e. it includes some central philosophical issues often neglected in structuralist semiotics. Following the lines of Robert Hodge und Gunther Kress and what they call critical discourse analysis (cf. Hodge et al., 1993), which is based on semiotics as well (Michael Halliday is not mentioned in this context, however), Chandler looks more closely at the construction of reality through signs. Despite his own epistemological attachment to structuralism, he acknowledges the fruitfulness of discourse analysis, especially when applied to conversations in various media: ‘‘Semiotics helps us to not to take representations for granted as ‘reflections of reality’ enabling us to take them apart and consider whose realities they represent’’ (p. 78). The third chapter is on methods of analysis within the framework of structural semiotics. Referring to the work of authors such as Vladimir Propp, Algirdas Julien Greimas, Roland Barthes, and Christian Metz, he demonstrates how the tools of syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations can be applied to written text, speech, films etc. Again he stresses the relevance of context here, i.e. the relevance of cultural and social factors in the sense of the Hallidayan social semiotics. Such factors are manifested in the texts under consideration, and can be analysed with a modern semiotic approach, which takes the criticism of de-constructivism into account without leaving the solid grounds of structural analysis, for ‘‘we would be foolish to forego the insights which may still be gained from exploring the structural analysis of texts and social practices’’ (p. 121). Rhetorical analysis is an integral part of modern semiotics. Rhetorical tropes can be found in any text, including media texts such as films. Therefore, the author is right in devoting a whole chapter to what he calls the master tropes, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony. He also sketches some fundamental models developed by Roman Jakobson, Haydn White, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, which illustrate the fruitfulness of applying rhetorical instruments of analysis to any kind of text in order to display the cognitive and ideological functions of tropes. One of the key terms of semiotics is, of course, the notion of code. There are many different concepts of code, however, which cannot be discussed in great detail without confusing the beginner (cf. Hess-Lu¨ttich, 2000). Therefore, Chandler only gives a brief explanation of the main types of code, such as social, textual, and interpretative codes. Among the latter there are the perceptual codes, e.g., of visual perception, which can be explained in terms of Gestalt theory. Social codes do not only include verbal codes, but also bodily and behavioural codes. Textual codes, such as scientific, aesthetic, rhetorical etc. codes, are constituted not only by function and context, but also by medium. Chandler opposes the view which defines code as a mere algorithm of mechanical connection of two systems of item and function: ‘‘Codes are not simply conventions of communication but rather procedural systems of related conventions which operate in certain domains’’ (p. 148). Here, the critical reader misses a more complex reflection of the notion of communication. The brief sketch of some basic models of communication may be a bit too rudimentary to allow the reader to adequately locate the numerous components of
Book review / Journal of Pragmatics 35 (2003) 927–930
929
social semiotic. There is, of course, Saussure’s speech circuit model, Jakobson’s functional model of communication, and Stuart Hall’s model of mass communication. But that is about it. The author, standing in the tradition of critical discourse analysis (but avoiding its occasional neo-marxist determinism) is more interested in how texts are constructed by their recipients, thereby functioning as media for ideologies. He then discusses the problem of perspective and its role in texts, which leads him, finally, to the problem of intertextuality. Here, he refers mainly to Julia Kristeva’s introduction of the concept, and to Roland Barthes’ model based on it. It is very helpful for the student reader, though, that he also includes Ge´rard Genette’s concept of intertexuality as presented in his book on Paratextes, which might be a bit more plausible for the beginner to deal with intertextuality than Roland Barthes’ famous statement defining text as a multidimensional space ‘‘in which a variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash’’ (p. 196). The concluding chapter reflects on ‘‘limitations and strengths’’ of semiotics. Here, the author criticises the semiotic ‘‘imperialism’’ of some semioticians who claim to be able to analyse each and everything under the universe in semiotic terms and with scientific exactness. On the other side, he stresses the strength of semiotics in providing a set of tools for interpreters of texts of any kind, interested in the constitution of meaning and in processes of social interaction. This set of tools of critical analysis can be applied fruitfully in many fields of research, if applied carefully and with respect for the fact that such an analysis will never be complete and exhaustive, because, as Hodge and Tripp (1986: 27) have pointed out, ‘‘every analysis is located in its own peculiar social and historical circumstances’’ (p. 211). The book also includes some appendices with useful references to further reading, a glossary of the main terms introduced in the text, the list of references quoted, and an index. Taking it all in all, this introduction will well serve as a guide through the labyrinth of signs, theories, and methods of analysis, hopefully motivating some of its readers to go a bit further, looking for more detailed information and adding to the scientific discourse in a fascinating field of transdisciplinary research.
References Eco, Umberto, 1994. Einfu¨hrung in die Semiotik, 8. Aufl. Fink, Mu¨nchen. Hess-Lu¨ttich, Ernest W.B., 2000. Literary Theory and Media Practice. Cuny, New York. Hodge, Robert, Vere, Ian, Kress, Gunther R., 1993. Language as Ideology, second ed. Routledge, London/ New York. Hodge, Robert, Tripp, David, 1986. Children and Television: A Semiotic Approach. Polity Press, Cambridge. Scho¨nrich, Gerhard, 1999. Semiotik zur Einfu¨hrung. Junius, Hamburg. Trabant, Ju¨rgen, 1996. Elemente der Semiotik. Francke, Tu¨bingen. Ernest W.B. Hess-Lu¨ttich is professor in the German Department at the University of Berne. His main research interests lie in various fields of theory and application of discourse analysis. He has authored
930
Book review / Journal of Pragmatics 35 (2003) 927–930
and edited three dozen books, and more than 200 articles in reviewed journals and books (see www.textwissenschaft.unibe.ch).
Ernest W.B. Hess-Lu¨ttich German Department University of Berne CH-3000 Berne 9, Switzerland E-mail address: [email protected]
doi:10.1016/S0378-2166(02)00176-5
Book review
Semiotics: The Basics Review of Chandler, Daniel. Routledge, London/New York, 2000, 273 pp., ISBN 0-415-26594-0
At last, Daniel Chandler’s Semiotics for Beginners is not only available on the Internet (schttp://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/), but also as a textbook, titled Semiotics: —The Basics. The book aims at providing an overview of the main questions, theories, and methods of semiotics, especially for beginners. The introduction, however, is not only designed to serve the needs of undergraduate students. Other than the very popular ‘classical’ introduction into semiotics by Umberto Eco (1994), which leads the reader into the author’s universe of signs, other than Ju¨rgen Trabant’s successful introduction to semiotics with a strong emphasis on linguistics (Trabant, 1996), and also other than Scho¨nrich’s recent introduction into Peircean semiotics (Scho¨nrich, 1999), which addresses the more specialised postgraduate students of philosophy, Chandler’s textbook is a very appropriate source of information for students of a whole range of subjects such as literature, linguistics, media studies, cultural studies, discourse studies, and the like, and for anyone interested in getting a quick state of the art overview of present day semiotics. This has been a desideratum for a long time. The book is well written and up to date, without unnecessary verbosity and jargon, and yet reflecting the complexity of the field and its problems. The author takes the view of structuralist semiotics with a clear preference for the approach of critical discourse analysis, but he also includes other viewpoints such as poststructuralist perspectives. Thereby, he presents a plurality of approaches, without trying to harmonise them into a synthesis that proves to be problematical, as in so many other introductions, nor does he confuse the reader with too many controversies, which leave especially the beginner at loss. The composition of the book is clearly arranged and easy to understand. It begins with outlining the main areas of semiotic work and gives a brief summary of its history since Saussure and Peirce. It then presents the two canonical sign models of Saussure and Peirce, including their respective terminology and their adaptations by some other theorists. The author refers to analogous approaches, and discusses some critical objections. For instance, he points at a possible analogy between Michail Bachtin’s model of dialogue und Peirce’s model of signs (p. 34), mentions the relevance of Saussure for Lacan (p. 28) und quotes Derrida’s objection against Saussure’s phonocentrism (pp. 51 f.).
928
Book review / Journal of Pragmatics 35 (2003) 927–930
The following chapter is devoted to the problem of the relationship between sign and reality, i.e. it includes some central philosophical issues often neglected in structuralist semiotics. Following the lines of Robert Hodge und Gunther Kress and what they call critical discourse analysis (cf. Hodge et al., 1993), which is based on semiotics as well (Michael Halliday is not mentioned in this context, however), Chandler looks more closely at the construction of reality through signs. Despite his own epistemological attachment to structuralism, he acknowledges the fruitfulness of discourse analysis, especially when applied to conversations in various media: ‘‘Semiotics helps us to not to take representations for granted as ‘reflections of reality’ enabling us to take them apart and consider whose realities they represent’’ (p. 78). The third chapter is on methods of analysis within the framework of structural semiotics. Referring to the work of authors such as Vladimir Propp, Algirdas Julien Greimas, Roland Barthes, and Christian Metz, he demonstrates how the tools of syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations can be applied to written text, speech, films etc. Again he stresses the relevance of context here, i.e. the relevance of cultural and social factors in the sense of the Hallidayan social semiotics. Such factors are manifested in the texts under consideration, and can be analysed with a modern semiotic approach, which takes the criticism of de-constructivism into account without leaving the solid grounds of structural analysis, for ‘‘we would be foolish to forego the insights which may still be gained from exploring the structural analysis of texts and social practices’’ (p. 121). Rhetorical analysis is an integral part of modern semiotics. Rhetorical tropes can be found in any text, including media texts such as films. Therefore, the author is right in devoting a whole chapter to what he calls the master tropes, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony. He also sketches some fundamental models developed by Roman Jakobson, Haydn White, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, which illustrate the fruitfulness of applying rhetorical instruments of analysis to any kind of text in order to display the cognitive and ideological functions of tropes. One of the key terms of semiotics is, of course, the notion of code. There are many different concepts of code, however, which cannot be discussed in great detail without confusing the beginner (cf. Hess-Lu¨ttich, 2000). Therefore, Chandler only gives a brief explanation of the main types of code, such as social, textual, and interpretative codes. Among the latter there are the perceptual codes, e.g., of visual perception, which can be explained in terms of Gestalt theory. Social codes do not only include verbal codes, but also bodily and behavioural codes. Textual codes, such as scientific, aesthetic, rhetorical etc. codes, are constituted not only by function and context, but also by medium. Chandler opposes the view which defines code as a mere algorithm of mechanical connection of two systems of item and function: ‘‘Codes are not simply conventions of communication but rather procedural systems of related conventions which operate in certain domains’’ (p. 148). Here, the critical reader misses a more complex reflection of the notion of communication. The brief sketch of some basic models of communication may be a bit too rudimentary to allow the reader to adequately locate the numerous components of
Book review / Journal of Pragmatics 35 (2003) 927–930
929
social semiotic. There is, of course, Saussure’s speech circuit model, Jakobson’s functional model of communication, and Stuart Hall’s model of mass communication. But that is about it. The author, standing in the tradition of critical discourse analysis (but avoiding its occasional neo-marxist determinism) is more interested in how texts are constructed by their recipients, thereby functioning as media for ideologies. He then discusses the problem of perspective and its role in texts, which leads him, finally, to the problem of intertextuality. Here, he refers mainly to Julia Kristeva’s introduction of the concept, and to Roland Barthes’ model based on it. It is very helpful for the student reader, though, that he also includes Ge´rard Genette’s concept of intertexuality as presented in his book on Paratextes, which might be a bit more plausible for the beginner to deal with intertextuality than Roland Barthes’ famous statement defining text as a multidimensional space ‘‘in which a variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash’’ (p. 196). The concluding chapter reflects on ‘‘limitations and strengths’’ of semiotics. Here, the author criticises the semiotic ‘‘imperialism’’ of some semioticians who claim to be able to analyse each and everything under the universe in semiotic terms and with scientific exactness. On the other side, he stresses the strength of semiotics in providing a set of tools for interpreters of texts of any kind, interested in the constitution of meaning and in processes of social interaction. This set of tools of critical analysis can be applied fruitfully in many fields of research, if applied carefully and with respect for the fact that such an analysis will never be complete and exhaustive, because, as Hodge and Tripp (1986: 27) have pointed out, ‘‘every analysis is located in its own peculiar social and historical circumstances’’ (p. 211). The book also includes some appendices with useful references to further reading, a glossary of the main terms introduced in the text, the list of references quoted, and an index. Taking it all in all, this introduction will well serve as a guide through the labyrinth of signs, theories, and methods of analysis, hopefully motivating some of its readers to go a bit further, looking for more detailed information and adding to the scientific discourse in a fascinating field of transdisciplinary research.
References Eco, Umberto, 1994. Einfu¨hrung in die Semiotik, 8. Aufl. Fink, Mu¨nchen. Hess-Lu¨ttich, Ernest W.B., 2000. Literary Theory and Media Practice. Cuny, New York. Hodge, Robert, Vere, Ian, Kress, Gunther R., 1993. Language as Ideology, second ed. Routledge, London/ New York. Hodge, Robert, Tripp, David, 1986. Children and Television: A Semiotic Approach. Polity Press, Cambridge. Scho¨nrich, Gerhard, 1999. Semiotik zur Einfu¨hrung. Junius, Hamburg. Trabant, Ju¨rgen, 1996. Elemente der Semiotik. Francke, Tu¨bingen. Ernest W.B. Hess-Lu¨ttich is professor in the German Department at the University of Berne. His main research interests lie in various fields of theory and application of discourse analysis. He has authored
930
Book review / Journal of Pragmatics 35 (2003) 927–930
and edited three dozen books, and more than 200 articles in reviewed journals and books (see www.textwissenschaft.unibe.ch).
Ernest W.B. Hess-Lu¨ttich German Department University of Berne CH-3000 Berne 9, Switzerland E-mail address: [email protected]
doi:10.1016/S0378-2166(02)00176-5