Sign Symbol
A sign system is representation through
communication which in turn leads to a shared
meaning or understanding. We
hold mental representations that classify and
organise the world (whether
fact or fiction), people, objects and events into
meaningful categories so
that we can meaningfully comprehend the world. The
media use sign systems
through newspapers, magazines, television,internet, and
the radio etc. The
conceptual map of meaning and language are the basis of
representation. The
conceptual map of meaning, are concepts organised, arranged
and classified
into complex relations to one another. The conceptual map of
meaning although
allows you to distinguish your own individual interpretation of
the world, at
the same time as holding similar views to that of other people in
your
culture. As the meaning is produced and constructed and in turn learned by
a
particular group of people. Therefore sharing conventions and codes of
their
language and culture. Signs can only convey meaning if we possess codes
which
allow us to translate our concepts into language. These codes are the
result of
social conventions which lead to the shared maps of meaning. These
shared
meanings are learnt unconsciously as we become members of a culture.If
we have a
concept of something in our minds we can say we know the meaning of
this
concept. However we cannot express or communicate this meaning without
the
second system of representation, language. Language is the only way in
which
meanings can be effectively exchanged between people, as people within
the same
culture are able to interpret the sign of language in the same
manner. As the
meanings become natural through the conditioning of culture.
For example the
word white in Australia represents a colour of purity,
however in China it is
the colour of death. Demonstrating that different
cultures have not only have
different meanings in their shared conceptual
maps, but a different language to
express it. As meanings change rapidly
throughout cultures to really understand
another culture you must live there
and speak the language for some time.
Cultural, social, political, and
linguistic conventions are learned over time.
The three theories of
representation, reflective, intentional and
constructionist approaches
explain how representations through language work.
The reflective
approach is where language functions as a ÔmirrorÕ of the
particular elements
perceived meaning. The intentional approach, is where the
authors individual
views of the world are expressed. Whereas the constructionist
approach is
where we the audience construct the meaning through our shared
conceptual
maps and language. The media use these sign symbols so that an
association
can be made to the object, person, event, or idea etc. With this
information
of representation and language the media can familiarise people with
many
things, such as cultural knowledge. As advertising surrounds
consumers,
concern is often expressed over the impact on society,
particularly on values
and lifestyle. While a number of factors influence the
cultural values,
lifestyles, and behaviour of a society, the overwhelming
amount of advertising
and its prevalence in the mass media suggests that
advertising plays a major
role in influencing and transmitting social values.
In his book Advertising and
Social Change, Ronald Berman says; The
Institution of the family, religion and
education have grown noticeably
weaker over each of the past three generations.
The world itself seems to
have grown more complex. In the absence of traditional
authority, advertising
has become a kind of social guide. It depicts us in all
the myriad situations
possible to a life of free choice. It provides ideas about
style, morality,
and behaviour. While there is general agreement that
advertising is an
important social influence agent, opinions as to the value of
its
contribution are often negative. Advertising is criticised for
encouraging
materialism, manipulating consumers to buy things they do not
really need,
perpetuating stereotyping, and controlling the media. The media
must consider
the cultural variables of each country, such as the complexity
of learned
meanings, norms, language, customs, tastes, attitudes, religion,
traditions,
education, lifestyle, values, and the ethical/moral standards
shared by members
of each society. These variables must be learnt by the
media as not to offend
the group they are portraying. Cultural norms and
values offer direction and
guidance to members of a society in all aspects of
there lives. Every country
exhibits cultural traits that influence not just
the needs and wants of
consumers but how they go about satisfying them. The
media must be aware of the
connotations of words and symbols used in their
messages and understand how
advertising copy and slogans are translated.
Advertisers can also encounter
problems with the connotative meaning of signs
and symbols used in their
messages. However within a given culture there are
found smaller groups or
segments, whose variables (as listed above) set them
apart from the larger
cultural mainstream. Known as subcultures the media
must also learn about their
variables as they are just as important due to
their size, growth and purchasing
power. Such as the Asian or Italian
communities in Australia. The study of
culture has led to generalisations
that may apply to all cultures. Such
characteristics are known as cultural
universals, which are manifestations of
the total way of life of any group of
people. These include such elements such
as bodily adornments, court-ship,
etiquette, family gestures, joking, food,
mealtimes, music, personal names,
status differentiation and trade. These
activities occur across cultures, but
their manifestations may be unique in a
particular society, bringing about
cultural diversity. Common denominators can
be found, but how they are
accomplished may vary dramatically. These elements
are both material and
abstract. Primarily through the media these images are
where we find
references to conjure images of other countries representations.
These
signs are made common to the masses through the media, which in turn
through
repetition reinforces the image as common. The media use repetition
and
consistency of a few stereotypical elements to reinforce the central role
of the
image, linking it to a specific culture. These stereotypes produce
ÔothernessÕ
from the dominant culture, by focusing on a few different
attributes of another
culture. This often gets reduced to easy to digest
differences such as food,
clothes, appearance and music. Which suggests that
culture is based on material
things around us, a culture of possessions.
However these representations avoid
important issues that could be very
different between cultures. Advertising
perpetuates some of the myths
associated with certain cultural groups such as,
African American men are
good at sports, The French are arrogant and Australians
are lazy. As Chiara
Giaccardi said in TV Advertising and Social
Reality;Advertisements tend
to capitalise upon recurrent images and forms of
presentation; in so doing
they reinforce them, not so much through the
individual texts as through the
accumulation and repetition of ÔritualisedÕ
representation during the entire
advertising flow. Advertisements refer not only
to things and situations but
also a way of seeing and interpreting them.
Advertisements constitute a
repotoire that viewers can draw upon both for
representing and understanding
themselves and for making sense of their external
reality. Advertising shapes
reality to serve capitalism and the Ôpost modernÕ
position, according to
which advertising offers a pleasurable synthetic
experience as a surrogate
for reality.(Chiara Giaccardi,TV Advertising and
Social Reality)
Advertising is therefore meaningful as it creates a sense of
familiarity with
the ways of experiencing it in a represented form. However as
Gillian
Dyer states in Advertising as Communication;We must recognise that the
images
conveyed by the media have, over the last thirty years, become
so
sophisticated and persuasive that they now organise our experiences
and
understanding in a crucially significant way. Advertisements
encourage
extravagant expectations because they are more dramatic and vivid
than the
reality - reality cannot match up to the image. Therefore cultural
knowledge is
obtained through the mediaÕs sign system. Which is evident
through my knowledge
of many countries and cultures without ever travelling
overseas. Stereotypical
elements of particular cultures shown through the
media allow me to have
perceived meanings and understandings of other
cultures. However the stereotypes
of culture portrayed through media signs
are predominately tourist stereotypes.
There are many advertisements in
the print, audio and visual media that portray
cultural knowledge. Particular
signs that we can link to specific cultures, due
to the familiarisation with
them through the media. For example the television
commercial for Simpson
washing machines which showed Indian Dhobi washer women
banging their clothes
against a washing machine to clean them, instead of a
nearby rock. Using the
tag line ÒThe hardest working appliances in the worldÓ,
suggesting that the
product is trustworthy and has stamina. The sign systems
that the media used
where firstly the opening shot of the Ganges River in the
foreground with
Indian temples in the background. You then see a mass of Indian
women in
traditional dress washing clothes in a traditional manner. Although
hard
working the commercial suggested that their product was also as strong as
a
rock. The use of the washing machine as a rock for clothes washing and
the
dumbfounded look on their faces when they saw the electrical plug,
suggests that
India is a third world country and the people do not have
electricity. Although
they did not know how to use the machine they continue
to use it in place of a
rock. Throughout the entire commercial traditional
Indian music was played. The
music and appearance of both the people and the
structures clearly suggests to
the viewer that it is India. However these
signs would not have been recognised
without prior media familiarisation.
Therefore through cultural stereotypes
providing cultural knowledge. Another
example is the West End Gold beer
commercial. Animation is used to view two
mosquitoes talking to one another. The
setting is a barbecue with a group of
stereotypical macho male friends getting
together after a hard days work to
eat food and drink beer. The mosquitoes are
happy that the men are now
drinking mid strength beer as they are not falling
asleep, making fools of
themselves, and they are able to drink more blood.
Although referring to
themselves it was clear they were actually talking about
the men involved.
Suggesting that they can spend more time with their friends,
consume more
beer and have more fun. The commercial was set in a middle class
backyard,
which features a run of the mill Australian barbecue in which the beer
is
helpful to people with subtle humour. Traditionally Australian
beer
commercials have portrayed beer as a reward for hard manual labour or
driving
through the desert, such as the Victorian Bitter campaigns. The
Australian
cultural signs used were the image of the macho male ÔokkaÕ,
drinking beer,
having a barbecue with only male mates. I believe these images
are used to
promote the Australian barbecue culture. These images are also
known across the
world due to the movie ÔCrocodile DundeeÕ. Another example
is the use of the
Mexican cultural stereotype to promote a new McDonald's
burger. As the burger
had an added sauce that was spicy the advertisers used
the Mexican image to
portray this. As traditionally the Mexicans eat very
spicy food such as Tacos.
You instantly know that the characters are
Mexican due to their appearance, dark
skinned, long moustaches, wearing
ponchos and sombreros, riding horses through
the desert. The music and
appearance of the characters are the main signs used
to recognise Mexico.
However the poor dubbing of their voices and the words Ôondelay
ondelayÕ are
also common cultural signs portrayed in the media. Italian signs
are also
often used to sell food products such as pizza and pasta. For example
the
Dolmio commercials that use to be on television. They showed a large
Italian
family(Italians like large families) having pasta for
dinner(traditional Italian
meal), they had napkins tucked into their
shirts(suggesting they were going to
eat a lot of food in a messy manner),
the characters were primarily large, they
used the words mama and
papa(Italian words for mum and dad) and the main
character had pasta sauce on
his mouth with the tag line Ôdo you wear the
Dolomio grinÕ. All of which
are signs the media use to portray Italian people.
Once again the music
also played a major role in recognising the cultural
stereotypes. Even the
name Dolmio sends a linguistic message of Italianicity. If
the media do not
understand the cultural characteristics of a country they would
not be aware
of the shared cultural values of the community and could easily
offend the
country. For example the eating of beef in India is not practised,
the colour
white is a symbol of death in China, and the left hand in some
countries is
known as the toilet hand. This demonstrates the differences in
culture that
could be very embarrassing for companies. The simplicity of colour
or a name
could be very offensive and have disastrous implications, which
demonstrates
the necessity for market research. However I believe that cultural
values
also need to be lived to be learned, for more accurate results. The media
are
a very powerful tool of communication. They are used as a tool to
educate,
inform and entertain people all over the world. However the common
sign sytems
in which they use to portray many groups are often sterotypical.
I know that
Australian men are not all like what is portrayed in the beer
commercials, due
to experience of the culture. However all I know ofd the
other cultures around
the world is what the media portray, therefore
providing me with my cultural
knowledge.
Bibliography
Hall
Stuart (1997) Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices
Sage
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Communication
Routledge London & New York Chapter 5 Giaccardi, Chiara
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