ABSTRACT
At the start of his treatise A Theory of Semiotics, Umberto Eco defines semiotic theory formally as “a unified approach to every phenomenon of signification and/or communication” that should be “able to explain every case of sign-function in terms of underlying systems of elements mutually correlated by one or more codes. “ 1 He then proceeds to define semiotics more colloquially as “in principle the discipline studying everything which can be used in order to lie. “ 2 That is, Eco defines a sign as anything that can be taken to convey meaning, whether or not that meaning is actually true. He goes on to note the existence of nonintentional signs, expanding the definition of a “sign” to include anything that can convey meaning, whether or not the perceived meaning is actually intended. 3
