Semiotics of Communication
Code: 103042 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2501933 Journalism | OT | 3 |
| 2501933 Journalism | OT | 4 |
Contact
- Name:
- Maria Rosario Lacalle Zalduendo
- Email:
- rosario.lacalle@uab.cat
Teachers
- Jesús Martínez Fernández
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
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 well 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 theorical 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 semiotics (Charles S. Peirce, Umberto Eco).
Gender approach
Semiotics arises from the need to know and understand 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 stereotypes and the study of the underlying mechanisms on which the stories are made, told and settled on the social imaginary.
Competences
- Journalism
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
- 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.
- Introduce changes in the methods and processes of the field of knowledge to provide innovative responses to the needs and demands of society.
- Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyse the sex- or gender-based inequalities and the gender biases present in one's own area of knowledge.
- Apply theoretical principles to the analysis of audiovisual processes.
- Appraise the social impacts of technological mediation in modern communication.
- Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
- Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
- Disseminate the area's knowledge and innovations.
- Explain the explicit or implicit code of practice of one's own area of knowledge.
- 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.
- Propose new ways to measure the success or failure of the implementation of innovative proposals or ideas.
- Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
- Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
Content
1. Foundations and applications of structuralism
1.1. Semiotics paradigms
1.2. Key concepts of Stucturalism
1.3. Connotation and social myths
2. Storytelling
2.1. Origins of narrative
2.2. The morphology of the folktale
2.3. Introduction to the structural analysis
2.4. Narratology and storytelling
3. French structuralism
3.1. The narrative theory of A. J. Greimas
3.2. Axiology
3.3. 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. Interpretation and cultural resignification
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Lectures, seminars, readings | 50 | 2 | 6, 10, 3 |
| Readings, audiovisual viewing, assignments | 82.5 | 3.3 | 6, 10 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorials | 10 | 0.4 | 6 |
The course will be carried out through different activities, as indicated in the table.
During one of the classes, the teacher will provide students 15 minutes to answer the surveys on the teaching performance and the subject or module.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assignments | 30% | 3.5 | 0.14 | 4, 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 8, 9, 11, 12, 16, 15, 13, 14 |
| Exams, tests | 50% | 2 | 0.08 | 5, 6, 10, 8, 9, 16 |
| Readings, participation | 20% | 2 | 0.08 | 4, 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14, 3 |
Continued evaluation
This course combines different types of assessment:
1. Written exams of the different parts that make up the syllabus (50% of the total score). Students who cannot do the exam for objective and documented reasons, will have the option to make it up on the day of January fixed for the re-evaluation.
2. Work delivered (30%).
3. Readings, discussions and exercises carried out in the seminars (20%).
The final grade of the practising (readings, debats and exercises) 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 January yreevaluation day.
Works delivered after the scheduled dates will not be accepted. 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
According to regulations, in order to be able to participate in the recovery process, students must have previously been assessed for at least 2/3 of the total assessable activities of the subject.
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). If the average of the exams is at least 5, it will not benecessaryto repeat the failed ones.
The repetition of the written assignment follows the same pattern of the exam: 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). I
The readings, discussions andexercises carried out inthe 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.
Single evaluation
1. 50% Written examt. It will be essential to pass (5 points out of 10 or more) to pass the subject.
2. 20% Exercices of solving 4 case studies or communication challenges.
3. 30% Delivery of a research and conceptualization work. Review of scientific papers about the same topic (facilitated by the teacher), relate concepts highlight the most significant aspects, reflect on the topics discussed and suggest possible lines of research based on the most relevant contributions.
Recuperation: single evaluation
According to regulations, in order to be able to participate in the recovery process, students must have previously been assessed for at least 2/3 of the total assessable activities of the subject.
1. The exam can only be recuperated if the student has obtained a grade equal to orhigher than 3.5. The re-evaluation test will consist of a written exam to assess theoretical knowledge.
2. The grade obtained in the resolution of communication cases or challenges will form partof the weighted average of the final grade. Only in the event of failing this exercices with agrade equal to or higher than 3.5 and if the student considers this to be the case, she/he may choose to repeate the evaluation with exercicies of the same nature.
3. Only research and conceptualization work with a gradenot less than 3.5 can bere-assessed.
The student who makes any irregularity (copy, plagiarism,identity theft ...) will be rated with 0 this act of evaluation. In the event of a second irregularity, the final grade for the course will be 0.
The professor may indicate to the students that, for the correct development of the class and to guarantee good coexistence in the classroom, it is highly recommended not to use electronic devices or screens during the class, except when indicated the opposite for some specific teaching situation.
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". Lo obvio y lo obtuso. Paidós.
BARTHES, Roland (1994 [1957]) "El mito hoy". Mitologías. Siglo XXI.
BERTETTI, Paolo (2015), “Capítulo I. Semiótica, Audiovisual, Historia, Texto”. La historia audiovisual. Las teorías y herramientas semióticas. UOC.
CHANDLER, Daniel (2007) “Models of signs”. Semiotics. The basics. Rouledge.
*CHATMAN, Seymour (1978), "Introducción". Historia y discurso. Taurus.
COBLEY, Paul; Litza Jansz (2010) Introduction to Semiotics. A graphic guide (Apartados: Ferdinand de Saussure, Saussure and Semiology, The Structure of Myth, Structure and Mythemes, Structuralism). Icon Books.
*DANESI, Marcel (2017) “Emoji grammar”. The Semiotics of Emoji (77-94). Bloomsbury.
LORUSSO, Anna Maria (2015) "The Structuralist Perspective" (pp. 21-66). Cultural Semiotics. For a Cultural Perspective in Semiotics. Palgrave Macmillan.
MEUNIER, Jean-Guy (2021) “The complexity of semiotics” (1-16). Computational Semiotics. Bloomsbury.
- 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". La historia audiovisual. Las teorías y herramientas semióticas. UOC.
*CHATMAN, Seymour (2013[1978]) “Historia: sucesos”; “Historia: existentes”. Historia y discurso, RBA Libros.
GENETTE, G. (1989[1972]) “La estructura del relato”. Figuras III. Lumen.
PROPP, Vladimir, (1928), La morfología del cuento. Fundamentos.
*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. 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". Tzvetan Todorov, Teoría de la literatura de los formalistas rusos. Siglo XXI.
VALLÉS CALATRAVA, Jose Rafael (2002) Diccionario de la teoría de la narrativa. Alhulia.
- References of the third theme
BERTETTI, Paolo. (2015) "La historia como enunciación". La historia audiovisual. Las teorías y herramientas semióticas. UOC.
CALABRESE, Omar (1995), "La información y el espectador". O. Calabrese, A. Silva y U. Volli, Los juegos de la imagen. Instituto Italiano di Cultura, págs. 129-143.
*CASETTI, Francesco - DI CHIO, Federico (1991[1990]) "El anàlisis de la comunicación" and "Elanàlisis de la narración". Cómo analizar un film. Paidós.
COURTÉS, Josep, (1997[1991]) Análisis semiótico del discurso. Gredos (chapters 2, 3 y 4).
FLOCH, Jean-Marie (1993[1991]) "Muertos en el cascarón". Semiótica, marketing, comunicación. Paidós.
GREIMAS, Algirdas S. -COURTES, Josep (1979[1983] & 1986[1987]) Semiótica. Diccionario razonado sobre la teoría del lenguaje (1 & 2). Gredos.
*LACALLE, Charo (2022) (In)dignidades mediáticas en la sociedad digital. Cátedra (pp. 93-138).
*LACALLE, Charo (2023) “Cartografiando las subculturas de la manosfera española. Entre Forocoches y Burbuja.info”. En Y. Franco y A. Bernárdez Rodal (eds.) Misoginia online: la cultura de la manosfera en el contexto español (pp. 115-134).
*PESSOA DE BARROS, Diana Luz (2017) "La narratividad en Semiótica". Tópicos del seminario, 37. http://www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/tods/n37/1665-1200-tods-37-00025.pdf
- References of the four theme
COBLEY, Paul; Litza Jansz (2010) Introducign Semiotics. A graphic guide (Charles Sanders Peirce). Icon Books.
DANESI, Marcel (2017) Emoji pragmatics”. The Semiotics of Emoji (95-116). Bloomsbury.
ECO, Umberto (1978[1975]), Tratado de semiótica general, Barcelona. Lumen (0.5.2; 2.1.4; 2.7).
____(1993[1979]Lector in fabula, Barcelona. Lumen (2ª ed.) (chapters 2 & 3).
____ (1989). “Cuernos, cascos, zapatos: Algunas hipòtesis sobre tres tipus de abducción”. 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]) Seispaseos por los bosques narrativos. Lumen.
INNIS, Robert E. (2022). Semiotics. V. P. Glăveanu (ed.) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Possible. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1469-1479.
LACALLE, Charo (2013) Jovenes y ficción televisiva. Construcción de identidad y transmedialidad. UOC (chapter "El feedback de los usuarios").
*LORUSSO, Anna Maria (2015) Interpretation and Culture: Umberto Eco’s Theory (pp. 117-158). Cultural Semiotics. For a Cultural Perspective in Semiotics. Palgrave Macmillan.
*MOURA DE OLIVEIRA, Felipe (2018) Reflexión final: más allá de la crisis, in La semiosis de la noticia (pp. 103-176). UOC.
Software
No specific
Language list
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (SEM) Seminars | 11 | Catalan/Spanish | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM) Seminars | 12 | Catalan/Spanish | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan/Spanish | first semester | morning-mixed |