Roland Barthes: Semiotics
Roland Barthes: Semiotics Our actions and thoughts - what we do automatically, are often governed by a complex set of cultural messages and conventions, and dependent upon our ability to interpret them instinctively and instantly. For instance, when we see the different colors of a traffic light, we automatically know how to react to them. We know this without even thinking about it. But this is a sign which has been established by cultural convention over a long period of time and which we learn as children, and requires a deal of unconscious cultural knowledge to understand its meaning. Everyone is a semiotician, because everyone is constantly unconsciously interpreting the meaning of signs around them, and signs don't only need to be visual - they can be aural or sonic signs too, such as the sound of a police siren, usually heard before the vehicle is seen. There are three types of signs in the study of semiotics: Iconic signs - icons are signs where meaning ...
