LECTURE NOTES:VISUAL COMMUNICATION//OUGD401

VISUAL COMMUNICATION:
'THE RHETORIC OF THE IMAGE'
DR.JILL FERNIE-CLARKE


POPULAR CULTURE:

THE ONLY WAY IS ESSEX

DENOTATION-photo of young people having a good time

Roland Barthes / Semiotics

exploring different layers of meaning and how they relate to images-culture we live in effects our perception

con·no·ta·tion n. 1. The act or process of connoting. 2. a. An idea or meaning suggested by or associated with a word or thing: Hollywood holds connotations of romance and glittering success. b. The set of associations implied by a word in addition to its literal meaning. 3. Logic The set of attributes constituting the meaning of a term; intension. de·note tr.v. de·not·ed, de·not·ing, de·notes 1. To mark; indicate: a frown that denoted increasing impatience. 2. To serve as a symbol or name for the meaning of; signify: A flashing yellow light denotes caution. 3. To signify directly; refer to specifically. Denotation - basic level of meaning -literally describes something. The simple meaning of a sign. Semioticians-people involved in semiotics-explain the meaning behind images. Sign-image, signifier-what you can see.  Signified is what is conveyed in the image. DENOTE/CONNOTE Denotes -a man standing in front of a building  Man in suit, smiling, standing in front of a building, connotes confidence, power. THE ROMAN PANTHEON -power of ancient rome THE REICHSTAG: Nazi regime, expression of power Germany unified changed connotation  Holds Nazi connotations Visual practitioners interveen to change the symbolism of a building.   Christo wrapped it entirely in silk-no longer held Nazi connotations, became the building that Christo had 'wrapped'-new meaning, new future for Germany. Allegory and the Migration of Symbols The Collected Essays of Rudolf Wittkower Rudolf Wittkower ‘For Rudolph Wittkower it was the fact that art communicated experience which made it a rewarding study, and nothing fascinated him more than the way in which one culture picked up and transformed the images of another.’ WORLD OF WAR CRAFT-RECOGNISE IMAGES AND TEXT-RED MIST TO REMIND US OF HELL AND FIRE 'How does meaning get into the image? Where does it end? And if it ends, what is there beyond?' Roland Barthes  ‘The Rhetoric of the Image ‘ in Image, Music Text 1977 p.32  BARTHES argues that the culture we are situated in gives the image context.  To the extent of using the same image in a different context/culture giving the image a different meaning: JAGERMEISTER- KNOW WHAT IT IS BUT SOMEONE THAT DOESNT MIGHT THINK SOMETHING TO DO WITH HAVING A SPIRITUAL MEANING. 'Another difficulty in analysing connotation is that there is no particular analytical language corresponding to the particularity of its signified - how are the signifieds of connotation to be named?' Roland Barthes can we look at this without associating it with the Nazis?