Semiotics has been condemned as an imperialistic discipline and praised as the most comprehensive of fields. Jonathan Culler, a well-known theorist, acknowledges that "the major problem of semiotics is its ambitions," but he notes that "the value of semiotics is linked to its unwillingness to respect boundaries,...to the conviction that everything is a sign." The central concerns of this wide-ranging field can be defined, though, and its implications for teaching can be outlined.
WHAT IS SEMIOTICS?
Semiotics is the study of SIGNS. A sign is something that stands for something else. There are three kinds of signs:
symbols--signs that bear an ARBITRARY RELATIONSHIP to that which they stand for (e.g., the word "apple" by convention stands for the fruit we identify with the word).
icons--signs RESEMBLING that which they stand for (e.g., a painting of an apple looks like the fruit it represents).
indexes--signs that are INDICATORS of a fact or condition (e.g., a chest pain can indicate heartburn; smoke usually indicates fire).
Additionally, signs can be organized into SYSTEMS OF OBJECTS AND BEHAVIORS. The arts and the academic disciplines are highly complex, interrelated sign systems--formulations and configurations of symbols and/or icons. The way you set your table is part of a system of cultural signs, as is your choice of clothes, wallet photos, and bumper stickers. IDEAS are signs too, since they stand for entities as defined in one's culture. Your idea of snow, for instance, is determined by the repertoire of words, categories, pictures, and other interpretants provided by your culture.
