ABSTRACT
SECTION 1: INTRODUCTING SEMIOLOGY Semiology is generally taken to be a study of signs. This gives it a wide area of operation. Signs might for example be visual or linguistic or a combination of the two things. They function as elements in wider systems of meaning production. Ordinary objects in the world also carry meaning when they are assimilated into the world of meaning. An oak tree can be made to stand for something when adopted as a corporate symbol of sturdiness and endurance. The selection of sites in landscape photography is often a clear illustration of ‘meaning making’ that may seem to be a straightforward and direct way to promote an idea. The semiologist will point out that the attribute we attach to an object is motivated by its place in an already existing structure which encourages a certain a way of seeing it. The oak tree stands for the qualities or ideas that are conventionally associated with it in advertising and other systems of representation. We might therefore accept the semiologist’s claim that the actual sign is itself arbitrarily linked with its corporate meaning. Social custom and knowledge of its associated meanings developed over time allow us to connect the tree with its promotional significance.
