Ferdinand de Saussure

Is this a sign?
TREE
 Now what did he say…?
Signifier produced a signified

He summarised his argument like this...

 Yes but what does that all mean?
The relationship between the
The sign is the whole that results
signifier and the signified is
from the association of the signifier
referred to as 'signification
with the signified (Saussure 1983,
67; Saussure 1974, 67).

Sign ‘OPEN’

Signifier: the word ‘OPEN’

Signified concept: that the shop is

open for business
 The magazine- ‘just a collection of signs’?
That’s what Jonathan Bignell
argues (Bignell 1997: 78).
These signs may include
paradigmatic and syntagmatic
signifiers.
Elements such as the title of the
magazine, the fonts used, the
layout, the colours, the texture
of the paper, the language
adopted, the content of the
The magazine is therefore a
articles and so on, and each of
complex collection of signs that
can be extensively decoded and these signs have been chosen
analysed by its reader. to generate a meaning.
 Paradigmatic and
syntagmatic
Imagine a girl picking out an outfit

1. She selects signs from

three paradigms (i.e. sets
of possible signs - upper
body garments, lower
body garments, and
2. footwear).
Each paradigm contains a possible set of pieces from which she
can choose only one. From the upper-body-garment paradigm
(including blouses, tee-shirts, tunics, sweaters), she selects one.
She combines the
selected signs
through ‘rules’ (i.e.,
hot pants go with
flats, not high
heels), sending a
message through
the ensemble - the
syntagm.
 Our interpretation of an
individual shot depends
on both paradigmatic
analysis (comparing it,
not necessarily
consciously, with the
use of alternative kinds
of shot) and
syntagmatic analysis
(comparing it with
preceding and
following shots).

How does this apply to

image/film?
 What did Barthes have to say…?

Roland Barthes argued that 'an important part of the

semiological undertaking' was to divide texts 'into minimal
significant units... then to group these units into
paradigmatic classes, and finally to classify the syntagmatic
relations which link these units' (Barthes 1967, 48)
 Paradigm
If we think about paradigms as sets of possible signs
e.g- upper body garments, lower body garments,
and footwear.

Then a ‘set of possible signs’ could be a various

range of shots that could have been used to
present the subject.
In film, the same shot used, within another sequence
of shots, could have quite a different preferred
reading.
 Paradigm
Another paradigm is the
use of typography in
the copy of the
magazine.
The different choices for
example of typeface
are examples of the
‘possible set of
pieces’ which
influence the
syntagmatic meaning
.
 Syntagym
So the syntagymatic
analysis considers the
combination of the
selected paradigmatic
signs sending a
message through the
ensemble - the
syntagm.
 Example of
paradigmatic and
syntagmatic signs
To analyse image through
semiology
Connotation
Denotation
Signifier
Signified
Sign
Syntagm
Paradigm
Relay
 To analyse the codes
and conventions of
magazine covers
Central image
Masthead
Cover model
Banner
Lead article
Anchorage text
Flash- usually used to
promote another article within
Cover lines
Puffs
Tagline
 To analyse the codes
and conventions of
magazine covers
Central image- what is denoted and connoted?
What is the effect of the mise-en-scene?
The cover model-what are the implications of this?
How might it influence the magazine’s selling
power?
Masthead
Banner

Lead article
Flash- usually used to promote another article
within
Anchorage text- how is the image anchored by the
caption?

Cover lines

‘Puffs’- advertise a special feature in the magazine.

Barcode, price and edition.

Tagline- usually shows who the magazine is aimed
at
 Anchorage and
relay
Anchorage is text (such as a
caption) that provides the link
between the image and its
context; the text that
provides relevance to the
reader. The term was
introduced by Barthes (1977).
Barthes introduced the idea of
anchorage along with
another, the idea of Relay,
which is a reciprocal relation
between text and picture, in
that each contributes its own
part of the overall message. It
also relates a sequence of
pictures to each other.