Semiotics In Stephen J. Eskilson's Mythologies

According to the semiotics theory found by Saussure, the relation between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary. There is no reason why the letters produce exactly the image. Semiotics is the language expression expresses the discursive process, rather than a static structural relationships or rules. As Roland Barthes mentioned in his book “Mythologies”, “On the one hand, an ideological critique of the language of so-called mass culture; on the other, an initial semiological dismantling of that language: sign systems one might hope to transcend pious denunciation and instead account in detail for the mystification which transforms petit bourgeois culture into a universal nature.”1 The sign is discretionary. In Stephen J. Eskilson chapter, …show more content…
The viewers might not clearly know who these people are. If there is only the image on the album cover, the message would be blurry because it is arbitrary as a sign. The letters on the drum in the centre of the album cover “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band” have to point out the title of the album. In Stephen J. Eskilson chapter, “Postmodernism of Resistance” in Graphic Design: A New History, there is a poster which comes out of the anti-war movement. It named “Q. And babies? A. And babies” which designed by photographer Ron Haeberle and caption writer Peter Brandt in 1970. The poster contains a photography of the aftermath of the My Lai massacre of Vietnamese civilians by American forces in 1968 which captioned by Ronald Haeberle. In the image, there are a group of people lay down on the ground. Through the image, it can tell that they were dead because there is blood on their body. Also, they lay down in unnatural ways. It shows they were dead but still do not understand what happened. There is only the title - “Q. And babies? A. And babies.” However, the message would still be unclear because these signs are