J7SC 2CA05 - Semiotics of images and visual languages in communication and digital culture
It is very common to say that we are living in a “visual” culture. But what does this truly mean? Is it a simple distinction between text and image, and does that infer that only images belong to “visuality”? Obviously not. In our modern society, largely influenced by digital and pop culture, “visuality” is a complex and growing reality that is shaping our common language and representations in a globalized world.
Semiotics, a discipline that studies the social production of meanings, is a privileged framework for understanding the languages that constitute contemporary pop and digital cultures. Providing basic semiotics frameworks, to go beyond verbal language, this course will explore cultural objects: from iconic images of art history to Instagram profiles, movie trailers, series, museum exhibitions, and brand language. The course aims to denaturalize the understanding of media phenomena and introduce participants to a semiotic approach to the images and “visuality” that shape our media culture and communication.
Erik BERTIN,Ayelen Aluminé ROSSO
Séminaire
English
Students may have to prepare readings or activities for the class.
Course taught in English Language, at least a C1 level is necessary to register for this course.
Students will be given a mandatory reading as a preparation to the course during summer.
Autumn 2024-2025
- Individual written paper: 40%
- Group in-class oral presentation: 40%
- Work preparation, class participation: 20%
12 x 2h00
J.-Floch. Semiotics, Marketing, and Communication. Beneath the Signs, the Strategies. Trans. Robin Orr Bodkin. New York: Palgrave, St. Martin's Press, 2001.
De Cheveigné, S., & Veron, E. Nobel on the front page: the Nobel physics prizes in French newspapers. Public Understanding of science, 3(2), 135, 1994.