Semiotics of Communication
Code: 103042 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2501928 Audiovisual Communication | OT | 4 | 0 |
| 2501933 Journalism | OT | 4 | 0 |
Contact
- Name:
- María Rosario Lacalle Zalduendo
- Email:
- Rosario.Lacalle@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- spanish (spa)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Other comments on languages
Comprensió oral i lectoraPrerequisites
None
Objectives and Contextualisation
The objective of the course is to develop the necessary skills to work efficiently self-learning and self-demanding. Semiotics is a discipline that helps us to understand the world and, therefore, cultural phenomena, from an analytical and critical perspective. So it is a very useful tool in the construction of storytelling (journalistic, political, fiction) , etc.) as in its interpretation.
The approach to the subject is theoretical and methodological (learning of the concepts / instruments and application). It aims to provide students with the conceptual bases and tools to analyze the discourses of media and to understand the strategies underlying the communication processes of the products of the cultural industries. At the same time, it shows them how to articulate the deep meaning of social representations and the values transmitted. The context where social discourses are produced and consumed is also included in the analysis.
The different parts of the program are articulated around some of the main contributions of structuralism semiotics (Ferdinand de Saussure, Roland Barthes, Algirdas J. Greimas, etc.) and interpretive (Charles S. Peirce, Umberto Eco), as well as narratology (Gerard Genette).
Gender approach
Semiotics arises from the need to know and understand social (cultural) facts, as well as the need to transform them. The richness of its theoretical concepts and its tools of analysis make it a very fruitful discipline for the study of social representations and, particularly, of those elements involved in the construction of meaning. Consistently with the critical vocation of this discipline, special attention will be devoted to the (de) construction of gender stereotypes and the study of the underlying mechanisms on which the stories built, reproduced and settled on the collective memoy.
Competences
- Audiovisual Communication
- Develop autonomous learning strategies.
- Develop critical thinking and reasoning and be able to relay ideas effectively in Catalan, Spanish and a third language.
- Differentiate the discipline’s main theories, fields, conceptual developments, as well as their value for professional practice.
- Disseminate the area’s knowledge and innovations.
- Generate innovative and competitive ideas in research and professional practice.
- Rigorously apply scientific thinking.
- Journalism
- Develop critical thinking and reasoning and be able to relay them effectively in Catalan, Spanish and a third language.
- Differentiate the discipline’s main theories, its fields, conceptual developments, theoretical frameworks and approaches that underpin knowledge of the subject and its different areas and sub-areas, and acquire systematic knowledge of the media’s structure.
- Disseminate the area’s knowledge and innovations.
- Generate innovative and competitive ideas in research and professional practice.
- Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Rigorously apply scientific thinking.
Learning Outcomes
- Apply theoretical principles to the analysis of audiovisual processes.
- Appraise the social impacts of technological mediation in modern communication.
- Develop autonomous learning strategies.
- Develop critical thinking and reasoning and be able to relay ideas effectively in Catalan, Spanish and a third language.
- Develop critical thinking and reasoning and be able to relay them effectively in Catalan, Spanish and a third language.
- Disseminate the area’s knowledge and innovations.
- Generate innovative and competitive ideas in research and professional practice.
- Identify phenomena and consider theoretical problems regarding audiovisual communication.
- Identify the theoretical principles of audiovisual production and consumption.
- Lay the foundations for modern semiotic trends and apply them to communication and journalism.
- Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Rigorously apply scientific thinking.
Content
1. Foundations and applications of structuralism
1.1. Semiology, Semiotics, Sign, Significance and Communication
1.2. Key concepts of structuralism semiotics
1.3. Connotation and social myths
1.3. From the sign and the code to the text, the storytelling and the social discourses
2. Storytelling
2.1. Russian formalism and the scientific study of literature
2.2. The morphology of the tale
2.3. The constituent elements of the storytellyg
2.4. Structural analysis proposal by Roland Barthes
2.5. Narratology and storytelling
3. French structuralism
3.1. The narrative theory of A. J. Greimas
3.2. Axiological system
3.3. The narrative structure
3.4. Enunciation and point of view
3.5. Representations
4. Interpretation of texts
4.1. Foundations of interpretative semiotics
4.2. Theory of the interpretation of Umberto Eco
4.3. Limits of the interpretation
Methodology
The course will be carried out through different activities, as indicated in the table.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Lectures, seminars, readings | 50 | 2 | 12, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 7, 8, 11, 2 |
| Readings, audiovisual viewing, assignments | 82.5 | 3.3 | 12, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 7, 8, 11, 2 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorials | 10 | 0.4 | 12, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11 |
Assessment
Assessment
This course combines different types of assessment:
1. Three written exams (test) of each of the four parts that make up the syllabus (50% of the total score).
2. Work delivered (35%).
3. Readings, discussions and exercises carried out in the seminars (15%).
Test 1 includes the contents of the themes 1 & 2; test 2 includes theme 3, and test 3 includes theme 4. The review will be carried out after the delivery of the results of each test, approximately two weeks after.
The final grade of the interventions (on readings and exercises of the Seminar) will be obtained by performing the arithmetic mean. Unjustifiable absences will be scored with a 0. The students who cannot perform the test for objective and documentary justified reasons, will have the option to make the test on the reevaluation day.
Undelivered works will be scored as 0.
The final grade will be the result of the weighted average of the three parts that integrate the evaluation.
The proposed teaching methodology and evaluation activities may undergo some modifications depending on the health authorities' attendance restrictions.
The calendar will be available on the first day of class. Students will find information on the Virtual Campus about the description of the activities, teaching materials, etc. In case of a change of teaching modality for health reasons, teachers will make readjustments in the schedule and methodologies.
Re-assessment
In the period for the reassessment, failed exams may be repeated if the average of the four tests is not less than 3.5 (unrealized tests score 0 in the calculation of the mean).
The repetition of the written assignment follows the same pattern of the exams: the failed works can be re-assessed as long as the grade is not lower than 3.5 (the unrealized works score 0 in the calculation of the average).
The readings, discussions andexercises carried out in the seminars are linked to work in the classroom, so they can’t be re-assessed.
In the case of a second enrolment, students can do a single assignment. The grading of the subject will correspond to the grade of the synthesis exam/assignment.
The student who makes any irregularity (copy, plagiarism, identity theft ...) will be rated with 0 this act of evaluation. In the event of several irregularities, the final grade for the course will be 0.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assignments | 35% | 4 | 0.16 | 12, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 7, 8, 9, 11, 2 |
| Exams, tests | 50% | 2 | 0.08 | 12, 1, 4, 5, 6, 10, 7, 8, 9, 11, 2 |
| Readings, participation | 15% | 1.5 | 0.06 | 12, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 7, 8, 11, 2 |
Bibliography
The texts marked with an * indicate the basic bibliography of the course; the rest of them indicate the complementary bibliography.
- References of the first theme
BARTHES, Roland (1986[1964]) "Retórica de la imagen", in Lo obvio y lo obtuso, Paidós.
BARTHES, Roland (1994 [1957]) "El mito hoy", in Mitologías. Siglo XXI.
BARTHES, Roland (1993[1967]), "Elementos de semiología", in La aventura semiológica, Paidós.
*BERTETTI, Paolo (2015), “Capítulo I. Semiótica, Audiovisual, Historia, Texto”, in La historia audiovisual. Las teorías y herramientas semióticas, UOC.
CHANDLER, Daniel (2007) “Models of signs”, in Semiotics. The basics. Rouledge.
*CHATMAN, Seymour (1978), "Introducción", in Historia y discurso , Madrid, Taurus, 1990.
GRISHAKOVA, Marina (2018) “Structuralism and Semiotics”, in D. H. Richter (ed.) A Companion to Literary Theory, John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
KLINKENBERG, Jean-Marie (2006) "Objetos y objetivos", in Manuel de semiótica general (chapterl 1), Fundación Universidad de Bogota Jorge Tadeo Lozano
- References of the second theme
BARTHES, Roland (1993[1966]) "Introducción al análisis estructural del relato", La aventura semiológica, Paidós.
*BERTETTI, Paolo. (2015[2012]) "La historia como un contenido narrativo" en La historia audiovisual. Las teorías y herramientas semióticas. UOC.
*CHATMAN, Seymour (2013[1978]) “Historia: sucesos”; “Historia: existentes”, en Historiaydiscurso, RBA Libros. Aplicación de los principios estructuralistas al análisis audiovisual.
GENETTE, G. (1989[1972]) “La estructura del relato”, en Figuras III. Lumen.
LACALLE, Charo (2013) Jóvenes y ficción televisiva. Construcción de identidad y transmedialidad, UOC, (Chapter "Análisis de los relatos").
PROPP, Vladimir, (1928), La morfología del cuento, Madrid, Fundamentos, 1985.
*RODRÍGUEZ ALMODÓVAR, A. (2007[1989]) Breve descripción de los estudios más importantes de la escuela rusa, y sus críticos. En Los cuentos populares o la tentativa de un texto infinito. Biblioteca virtual Miguel de Cervantes. Disponible en http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/los-cuentos-populares-o-la-tentativa-de-un-texto-infinito-0/html/013093d4-82b2-11df-acc7-002185ce6064_20.html#I_9_ (resumen de La Morfología del cuento).
TOMASEVSKIJ, Boris (2012[(1928]) "Temática", en Tzvetan Todorov, Teoría de la literatura de los formalistas rusos. Siglo XXI.
VALLÉS CALATRAVA, J. R.; Álamo Felices (2002) Diccionario de la teoría de la narrativa. Alhulia (definición del relato y otros conceptos afines).
- References of the third theme
BERTETTI, Paolo. (2015) "La historia como enunciación", en La historia audiovisual. Las teorías y herramientas semióticas. UOC
CALABRESE, Omar (1995), "La información y el espectador", en O. Calabrese, A. Silva y U. Volli, Los juegos de la imagen, Bogotá, Instituto Italiano di Cultura, págs. 129-143.
*CASETTI, Francesco - DI CHIO, Federico (1991[1990]) "El anàlisis de la comunicación" i "El anàlisis de la narración", en Cómo analizar un film, Barcelona, Paidós.
COURTÉS, Josep, (1997[1991]) Análisis semiótico del discurso, Madrid, Gredos, 1997 (capítulos 2, 3 y 4 dedicados a la semiótica greimasiana).
FLOCH, Jean-Marie (1993[1991]) "Muertos en el cascarón", en Semiótica, marketing, comunicación, Barcelona, Paidós, 1993.
GREIMAS, Algirdas S. -COURTES, Josep (1979[1983] y 1986[1987]) Semiótica. Diccionario razonado sobre la teoría del lenguaje (1 & 2), Gredos.
*LACALLE, Charo (2013). Jóvenes y ficción televisiva. Construcción de identidad y transmedialidad, UOC (paragraph "Roles" from the chapter "Análisis de personajes").
- References of the four theme
CHANDLER, Daniel (2007) “Models of signs”, en Semiotics. The basics, Rouledge.
ECO, Umberto (1975), Tratado de semiótica general, Barcelona, Lumen, 1979 (0.5.2; 2.1.4; 2.7).
____Lector in fabula, Barcelona, Lumen, 1987 (2ª ed.) (chapters 2 & 3).
____ *(1989). “Cuernos, cascos, zapatos: Algunas hipòtesis sobre tres tipus de abducción”, in U. Eco i T. A. Sebeok (ed.) El signo de los tres. Dupin. Holmes, Peirce, Lumen.
____(2010[1990]) Els límits de la interpretació, Destino (1.4; 1.5; 3.1.3; 3.1.4; 3.1.5; 3.5).
____(1996[1994]) Seis paseos por los bosques narrativos, Barcelona, Lumen.
LACALLE, Charo(2013) Jovenes y ficción televisiva. Construcción de identidad y transmedialidad, UOC (chapter "El feedback de los usuarios").
MANETTI, Giovanni (1995), "Los modelos comunicativos y la relación texto-lector en la semiótica interpretativa", in R. Grandi, Texto y contexto en los medios de comunicación, Barcelona, Bosch.
*MOURA DE OLIVEIRA, Felipe (2018) Reflexión final: más allá de la crisis, en La semiosis de la noticia (pp. 103-176). UOC.