Introduction -- Acknowledgments -- 1: Signs And Signing -- Signifer and signified -- Sign -- Icon -- Index -- Symbol -- Sender -- Intention -- Message -- Transmission -- Noise -- Receiver -- Destination -- 2: Ways Of Meaning -- Simile -- Metaphor -- Metonym -- Synecdoche -- Irony -- Lies -- Impossibility -- Depiction -- Representation -- 3: Conceptual Structures -- Truth and falsity -- Sameness and difference -- Wholes and parts -- Subjectivity and objectivity -- Appearance and reality -- Continuity and discontinuity -- Sense and reference -- Meaningful and meaningless -- Problem and solution -- 4: Visual Structures -- Viewer and image -- Ideal and real -- Given and new -- Center and margin-- Foreground and background -- Porximity and presence -- Before and after -- Past, present, and future -- Fast and slow -- 5: Textual Structures -- Readers and texts -- Words and images -- Functions -- Forms -- Placing -- Prominence -- Voices -- Intertextuality and intratextuality -- Paratext and paralanguage -- 6: Matters Of Interpretation -- Concepts and conceptions -- Connotation and denotation -- Langue and parole -- Combinations and substitutions -- Tokens and types -- Rule-following -- Conventions -- Classifications -- Understanding and misunderstanding -- 7: Framing Meaning -- Semantic units -- Genres -- Styles -- Stereotypes -- Institutions -- Ideologies -- Discourses -- Myths -- Paradigms -- 8: Stories And Storytelling -- Fact and fiction -- Narratives -- Legends -- Characters and presonas -- Viewpoints -- Mysteries -- Tensions -- Turning points -- Resolutions -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Picture credits
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From the Publisher: Semiotics is the theory of signs. Signs are amazingly diverse: from simple road signs that point to a destination, to smoke that warns us of fire, to the culturally-conditioned symbols buried within art and literature. Our reading of signs is very much a part of everyday life. Yet semiotics is often perceived as a mysterious science. This introductory book decodes the mystery of semiotics using visual examples instead of abstract theory. Divided into 75 key semiotic concepts, each section of the book begins with a single image or sign, accompanied by a question that invites us to interpret what we are seeing. Turning the page, we can compare our response with the theory behind the sign. In this way, we actively engage in creative thinking. Read straight through or dipped into regularly, this book provides practical examples of how meaning is made in contemporary culture