Weekly journal entry
Week 3 Communication and Culture
Lecture
The main topic was signs and how they are analyzed using semiotics. The sign has two elements: the form, which is the actual text/image, and the concept, which is the idea in your head that the form is associated with. The form conveys the meaning and the concept is the meaning conveyed. The relationship between these two elements is never fixed, but always changing and being redefined.
Reading
Paul Du Gay (1997) Making Sense of the Walkman
I thought the most important point being made by Du Gay was that our culture is made up of knowledge and beliefs which are shared by the majority of people. Our shared knowledge allows us to give meaning and significance to objects, and enables us to communicate this to other people.
Tutorial
Our group analyzed the mobile phone and the different semantic networks associated with it as it has become more imbedded in the everyday lives and activities of all groups of people. There are now many potential associations for the mobile depending on what social group you belong to, from the businessman who uses the mobile as a status symbol, the worker for whom the mobile is a necessary communication tool, and the teenager for whom it has become a fashion accessory and a statement of independence.
Extra Work
I thought that the attacks of September 11th highlighted an example of the semantic networks associated with objects. The twin towers of the World Trade Centre were more than just buildings, they were also symbols of progress, prosperity, freedom, democracy, wealth and power, and when they were destroyed, this was seen as an attack on these ideals. For someone who was not familiar With the WTC associations, the attacks of September 11th would not have signified the same thing: the world trade centre was a sign, laden with meanings and associations and was firmly imbedded within the 'cultural maps of meaning' of US society, which made the attacks even more shattering than they would have been had they destroyed buildings without such strong connotations.
Thank you to Marj Kibby for providing this example of entries for a Reflective Journal.