Post-structuralism and postmodern advertising Flashcards
(39 cards)
What do advertisers now promote, in the post-structuralist era?
Advertising discourse now promotes consumption itself as a way of life, through the circulation of signs, as opposed to telling consumers what the products do or mean
What resulted in the rise of poststructuralism?
It has changed due to the shift in the nature of consumption: we no longer consume to satisfy a need, resulting in the erosion between the product and brand, as well as the sign and it’s meaning, according to Baudrillard.
What are empty and floating signifiers?
Empty/floating signifiers tend to undermine the relationship between the signifier and the referent e.g. Obama and his 2008 campaign picture by Shephard Fairey, the emptiness of the word ‘hope’ allowing people of different groups to project meaning onto it, allowing it to be related to any unaddressed issue of their choosing
What is intertextuality?
Intertextuality is the related to the way in which different layers within a text all refer to one another. It assumes previous knowledge of previous texts to fully relate to the text as a whole, providing a sense of exclusivity e.g. TV shows such as ‘Community’ referencing Orwell’s ‘1984’, or ‘30 Rock’ referencing ‘Amadeus’. Both use their references to parody the texts.
What are some of the features that writers can draw attention to when it comes to written clothing?
They can draw attention to:
Vestimentary features: patterns, colour of garments etc
Character features: the piece being discreet or amusing
Circumstantial features: evening, weekend etc
What are the three forms of analysis prevalent in post-structuralist semiotics?
1) Intertextuality
2) Bricolage
3) Empty or floating signifiers
What are the two forms of analysis under structuralism?
Paradigmatic analysis and syntagmatic analysis
What is structuralism?
“Structuralism is based on the assumption that meaning production is a system of relationships codified by culture, and that these semiotic relationships actually structure, rather than mirror, phenomenal reality.” - Laura R. Oswald in ‘Marketing Semiotics: Signs, Strategies and Brand Value’
What is the key to understanding the structuralist view of language?
Understanding the for each level of language that there is, there are elements that contrast with one another, in addition to other elements that combine with each-other. The entire linguistic system can be explained in terms of these paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations of difference between signifiers
What is semiotics?
Semiotics is the production and understanding of signs and signification. Aside from verbal language, semiotics also includes other forms of patterned human behaviour such as images, clothes and cultural artefacts
How does advertising differ from subcultural use of bricolage?
Subcultures use bricolage as a type of protest against mainstream culture. This is particularly true for the punk community. Advertisers on the other hand use signifiers of different subcultures to create the idea of individuality
What three stages of the fashion system did Barthes highlight?
1) Real clothing - the garments themselves
2) Image clothing - the way that the garments are presented in photographs (model pose, environment shot was taken in etc)
3) Written clothing - The verbal description of the garment, style or look
Barthes was particularly interested in image and written clothing, and the relationship between them
What is Saussure’s theory of language?
Sassure views language as having both paradigmatic and syntagmatic dimensions. Syntagmatic relationships relate to the combination of signs to create meaning (the linear dimension) and the paradigmatic being the contrastive dimension, concerned with the substitution of one thing for another within a particular grammatical category
What are Kristeva’s two axes of intertextuality?
1) The horizontal axis, connecting author to reader
2) The vertical axis, connecting the text to other texts
Both axes are concerned with understanding the multiple layers of a text that create a type of exclusivity
What does paradigmatic analysis examine?
Paradigmatic analysis deals with the connotation of the signifiers within the text, and whether they are positive or negative
e.g. Why has this signifier been chosen as opposed to another one?
What is GARAP?
GARAP is a nonsense word made up by Baudrillard to demonstrate the power of signifiers. No signified product corresponds to GARAP yet.
“A pure sign, without a signified, signifying itself”
What does written clothing do?
Written clothing emphasizes elements in the image, as well as adding other elements which are not there. It defines what is fashionable from what is not fashionable through use of binary oppositions and the stigma of exclusion
What is Barthes take on image clothing?
Barthes says that image clothing cannot adequately represent the fashionability of the garment without written clothing. It draws attention to fashion, but offers imprecise knowledge to the viewer.
“The more photographed dresses I see, the more banal becomes the information… the image replaces the purchase unnecessary.
What is Baudrillard’s take on post-structuralism?
Baudrillard thinks that the signifier (as a source of status and indicator of distinction) is what is now most important. Meaning is no longer greatly relevant.
What is the aim of structuralism?
Structuralism aims to decipher the meaning of a text (whether the text is a piece of language, a film, style or otherwise) through the discover of hidden or deeper structures, which enables us to decode meaning
What does structuralist semiotics concentrate on?
It concentrates on how the differences and oppositions between signs structure meaning. For example, what differentiates a fashionable garment from an unfashionable one? Or distinguishes two brands that sell the same products?
What does syntagmatic analysis examine?
Syntagmatic analysis examines the relationships between signifiers in a text e.g. what is the relation between elements of the text?
What is written clothing?
Written clothing is the rhetorical description which shows why the purchase of the garment is necessary
“The described garment encourages the purchase”
What do structuralists believe?
That texts can be interpreted through their structure. They attempt to apply elements of Saussure’s theory to a wide range of fields
