The use of semiotics in our lives
Now let’s see the kind of signs according to Peirce and then analyze some things in our lives on which we can see the use of semiotics.
The three kinds are:
- Icons – a clear representation of the object itself, keeping its characteristics. There’s no distinction between the icon and the real object. Examples are: photos, drawings, imitations, onomatopoeias and others.
- Index – They indicate something. The index connected with its meaning (not arbitrary) but unlike the icon, it’s not the object itself. As examples, we can say that smoke indicates fire, smiles indicate happiness, fresh coffee smell in the morning indicates that someone preparing breakfast. Even medical symptoms and measuring instruments are indexes, because they indicate something.
- Symbols – They have no resemblance to the real object, it’s a result of a convention. A symbol can only make meaning if the person already knows that, so, this is a matter of culture and previous knowledge. We all know that a dove represents peace, but there’s no connection between the animal and peace, it’s just a convention. Letters and words are examples of symbols. The graph sign (words) has no direct link to the thing itself, but for each culture, they make meaning. For us, the mourning is represented by the color black, but this color changes for different countries and cultures.
The Punk Aesthetic, Style – An Appeal to Bricolage by Bricoleurs
Bricolage, when used in a discussion of philosophy and aesthetics can
be used to refer to man's innate reaction to an object and, at times,
the divide between the seemingly “natural order,” natural usage or
placement, of an object or image and the actual usage of that entity as
presented in front of him.
Bricolage can also extend to the usage of items beyond their
immediate uses, the use of found objects to fulfill a role that other
objects traditionally fill, or simply the juxtaposition of strange and
foreign objects beside more mundane counterparts.
Aesthetically, when an item is removed from it's “natural” context or
usage and adapted to another form, it presents a cognitive dissonance
at the most basic level that can contribute to feelings of shock or
unease. Those who might disturb the natural social order by placing an
object out of place might be provocative bricoleurs – persons who use
objects beyond the intentions of their natural contexts, or who are
willing to juxtapose remote distant relatives in order to create new
meaning.
Hebdige writes, “Together, object and meaning constitute a sign, and,
within any one culture, such signs are assembled, repeatedly, into
characteristic forms of discourse. However, when the bricoleur
re-locates the significant object in a different position within that
discourse, using the same overall repertoire of signs, or when that
object is placed within a different total ensemble, a new discourse is
constituted, a different message conveyed.” (pp. 104)
Examples of Punk Bricolage, Umberto Eco
The punk movement's most famous example of the use of bricolage would
be the safety pin. Initially used in common context to hold together a
diaper or other pieces of cloth safely without being stuck or jabbed –
the safety pin emerged during the punk rock era to be an entirely
different symbol. Used to pierce human lips and ears as well as to hold
patches and flags onto torn “rags” - the safety pin became an icon for
the fringe movement.
Punks were exemplary populist bricoleurs, removing “safe” objects
from their normal context and remaking them in their own image in a form
of“semiotic guerrilla warfare” as posited by semiotician Umberto Eco – a
transference of symbols from mundane (such as a metal comb turned honed
razor) and commercial (a mod punk rocker wearing a suit and tie to a
rock show) into their own altered messages in the underground community,
rejecting their conventional uses and symbolism.
Style as aesthetic expression was one of the most influential
subtexts of the punk movement, as well as a continued movement in
contemporary subculture.
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