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Abstract
The aim of this paper is to analyze a specific printed advertisement from two
different semiotic points of view. First, we apply the interpretative instruments
provided by the Barthes school of thinking (focused on the description of
explicit signs taken in isolation). We then attempt to explore the same print
employing the prospective of Greimas structural semiotics (where a sign has
meaning only when it is interpreted as part of a system). Integrating different
semiotics theories, we show how they can be used synergistically.
Keywords: Greimas; Barthes; planar semiotic; semi-symbolic semiotic;
advertising; work of art
1. Barthes school of thinking
1.1. Text
From a methodological point of view, drawing from the textual semiotic
model (Eco and Fabbri 1978), the printed advertisement in Figure 1 should be
understood as a semiotic text (a complex and multidimensional element, interwoven with its social, cultural, and interpretative reality), and not just as a
simple message.
1.1.1. Text description. The starting point of this analysis is a description,
as objective as possible, of the advertisement at its manifest level (Joly 1994).
The goal here is to trigger the estrangement process, in order to avoid unconscious automatisms that people tend to use when watching advertisements.
Instead, we are going to analyze, step by step, what our mind actually perceives. The advertisement consists of a white frame containing the headline
(i.e., the title) and strong impact visual (i.e., the figurative part). Two black
Semiotica 1901/4 (2012), 5779
DOI 10.1515/sem-2012-0039
00371998/12/01900057
Walter de Gruyter
58 L. Cian
rectangles of similar color, shape, and position appear in the image; we can call
them flashes, since they are elements introducing an image or a caption to mark
its relevance (Codeluppi 1997). The visual includes the profile of a woman
who is staring with her eyes half-closed. Her hairstyle looks original, because
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The background (3) is light pink with pearly shades and is characterized by a
soft light coming from an open and diffused light source. There are no contrasts or shadows and this creates an aseptic image. As there are no dazzling
reflections, pastel tones are well-reproduced and colors are pure but also velvety, creating an abstraction of the visual sensations, because both spatial and
temporal references are repressed and colors are softened. The attempt is to
visually represent a contemplative state: no space, no objects around or lighting effects; only the meditative nothing. The light of the PT Cruiser picture
(1), on the other hand, is hard and direct in order to create deep shadows and
strong contrasts. Thus, most details are lost and the contrast accentuates shapes
and colors. This creates a dreamy sensation, enhanced by the absence of a point
of reference: there is neither floor nor sky to which the car can be anchored.
The vehicle is suspended inside a black rectangle, from where it emerges triumphantly. The light on the woman (2) is also direct in order to illuminate her
only from the back. This produces two interesting results: first, only the hair
and the dress appear clear (the two elements with the same shape and color as
the PT Cruiser), while the face appears shady, giving an idea of ecstatic contemplation and detachment. Second, the woman and the PT Cruiser enjoy a
mirror-like lighting, creating a chromatic chiasmus1 between light and shadow;
we can trace this succession: light (hair and first part of the dress), then shadow
(face and second part of the dress), then shadow again (shadowed part of the
car), then light (the lit-up part of the PT Cruiser). Consequently, the woman
looks completely absorbed, in the etymological sense of the word: absorb
derives from the Latin absorbere, which comes from the verb sorbere (to swallow, to drink). Therefore, this word implies a transition from the outside to the
inside. In this case, the woman reflects the PT Cruiser and absorbs it into
herself. The visual conveys this idea, through the two plays of light that we
analyzed above.
Figure 3. Shapes
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The left side is centered on the womans shape. She has a long and thin neck, a
pure and thin face; she represents the prototype of a sophisticated woman. In
order to soften the womans quasi-angular profile, the perspective and the
depth of her face were taken away, and greater volume was given to her hair.
These factors soften the tones and give harmony, but also give dynamism to the
image. Her hair is voluminous and at the same time elegant. We can only imagine that the body of the woman is slim and thin and yet it explodes in a whirl
of lines and curves due to the dress she is wearing.
The right side contains the picture of the PT Cruiser. The car appears soft
and seductive, showing just parts of its shape, without revealing it completely.
This perspective suggests the idea of the dream: charming but incomplete,
and sinuous but powerful shapes.
The PT Cruiser and the woman are looking at each other, as though they had
the same shape.
The two flashes and the two frames give a geometrically regular shape to the
advertising. As Kress and van Leeuwen (1996) note, in our society, squares and
rectangles represent the element of technological order. This view fits perfectly
with the main subject of this advertisement: the promotion of a car symbolizing
the postmodern technological perfection.
1.2.5. Composition and layout. After analyzing the meaning added by
shapes and colors, it is necessary to analyze the internal geography of the
advertisement. When a hypothetical reader of the magazine sees this advertisement for the first time, he/she will quickly glance at the whole advertisement.
The visual will be the first thing to capture his/her attention, as it is impactful
as well as indecipherable. The reader will become curious and will try to
understand what the printed advertising is all about. Thus, the advertisement
achieves its main goal: to catch the readers attention.
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to see only some parts of the elements, which are there to designate the whole.
Indeed, we see part of the PT Cruiser and part of the woman. Moreover, her
intent stare determines the creation of an out-of-frame world (we have to imagine what she is staring at, since it is not represented). The use of this synecdoche3
stimulates the reader to reconstruct the missing fragments, using his/her own
cultural and personal background. Thanks to this mental reconstruction and
interpretation, the reader is involved in the creation of the meaning, and takes
possession of (i.e., memorizes) the advertising.
Not only does the picture of the PT Cruiser represent the car, it also becomes
an ideal model and, therefore, a seductive desire. The woman ravished by
this desire cannot see anything else; she is so in love with it that the rest of the
world disappears (the empty surrounding in which the woman is located). The
neck of the woman, long and oblique, indicates this tension towards the PT
Cruiser, while her flat stare, which nearly dissolves into the soft and unreal
background, symbolizes a hypnotic condition of blissful contemplation for the
divine car. A tension toward perfection arises, which is resolved through the
womans desire to become one with her ideal. That is why her hair is shaped
like a PT Cruiser and her clothes explode in a sinuous rhythm and take shades
of metallic grey.
The PT Cruiser picture has a metaphorical value and assumes an idealistic
meaning of postmodern beauty and elegance. The car becomes a symbolic
substitute for other experiences. This metaphor creates a fusion of values between the substituted and its substitute, enriching the network of associations
of our imagination. As we noticed above, this contemplation is enclosed by
the white frame, which enhances the visual, transforming it into a painting (or,
more precisely, a postmodern painting). And, just as most paintings show the
signature of the artist, here the logo of Daimler Chrysler (enhanced by the
black flash) appears on the bottom right.
If we are to observe the postures, the woman is reflected from profile, in
ecstatic contemplation; she is completely indifferent to the spectator, but absorbed by the PT Cruisers image. Therefore, the woman assumes the role of
a spiritual medium between the spectator and the car. The other protagonist
the PT Cruiser is in a three-quarter posture; the car looks at the woman
with one eye and lets her contemplate it, and with the other eye looks at the
readers. This way, the car seems animated, creating a prosopopoeia.4 By looking at the reader, the car is not avoiding him/her as the woman does. At the
same time, as it is not viewed from the front and it does not reveal itself completely, the car underlines its dreamy connotation. It is a dream, yet not an
impossible one.
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contemplative visual. The idea of dynamism is expressed on a phonetic
levelbythe alliteration[`m-shn] [im-shn], which creates a paronomasia.9
The choice to keep this play on words in English and not translate it into Italian, was intended to give the advertisement an international flavor. Another
thing worthy of noting is the graphic elegance given to the logo, the trademark,
and the payoff, by making them of the same width.
The textual typology, to which the headline refers, belongs to the public and
abstract genre, underlined by the use of the third person that keeps, as Kress
etal. (1997) say, far in time and within the ideal world, without that ontological passage into the reality of the here and now. That is the reason for the
absence of the body copy: the message to the reader consists of a different reality, rich in aesthetic values, more prestigious and rarefied. It is necessary to
keep an abstract level, using only images, which are extremely symbolic,
avoiding excessive explanations that would result in the use of too much text.
There is an ellipsis: saying more by not saying anything.
1.5. Context
According to the 'School of Costanza,'10 in order to interpret a semiotic text, it
is necessary to also examine the expectations under which the text was created.
This means that the spectator never perceives a piece of work as absolutely
new; on the contrary, any work will recall, in a more or less explicit way, a
horizon of experiences and expectations both subjective and collective. In
other words, if the target audience has a specific horizon of expectations a
compatible substratum of experiences and notions only then a piece of work
can be understood and interpreted. Clearly a text can be innovative and transform a readers set of conventions and expectations. However, in order to do
so, it has to build upon previous notions; otherwise it risks being misunderstood. Eco (1979) notes that the ad man, while generating its creation, has to
conceive a strategy to predict the readers interpretative moves. The text, in
order to be activated, needs cooperation on the part of the receiver, and the
additional values given by his\her interpretative process. If the chain of signs
and interpretations can be endless, as Peirce and Eco (1964, 1979) believe,
then it becomes necessary to look for the interpretative path that the reader is
going to follow. Interpretative trails are determined both by the meaning of the
advertising structure (as analyzed so far) and by the socio-cultural context
from which, to which, and for which the text has been produced. In this respect,
the text is designed for a specific reader, and not just a general one. If consumption is interpretation, then it is possible to analyze the practices through which
readers take possession of the advertised object, making it their own. It is possible to talk of a popular rationality that gives rise to a theory of resistance as
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taken away, making sentences more expressive: the implicit structure takes the
place of the analytical structure, giving flashes of images and emotions.
2. Changing the semiotic point of view: Greimas school
The analysis carried out in the first part of this article draws from Barthes
theoretical school (1965, 1970), which has also been developed by more recent
scholars like Joly (1994). This visual semiotics analysis is mainly focused on
the description of explicit signs taken in isolation (for example: the woman, her
neck, her hair, etc.). A connotative interpretation is subsequently offered, based
on such signs (example: the thin and long neck represents a sophisticated
woman and carries connotations such as luxurious and elitist). The analysis
of the context is important in order to understand the meaning of the text.
Instead, Greimas (1960, 1966, 1970, 1983, 1989) structural semiotics takes
a different approach. It moves beyond the meaning of each single sign, to analyze it as a part of a holistic network organized by different levels of depth.
From this perspective, the proper meaning of each element can only be found
if that element is understood in relation or in opposition to the systems underlying the semiotic text. According to Greimas, in order to analyze a visual text
rather than a figurative reading too superficial and open to interpretation, a
deep reading of the plastic structure is needed. Therefore, if the plastic analysis
that we carried out was a list of interpretations of isolated plastic signs (this
color, that shape, etc.), following Greimas (1960, 1989), we will apply a syntax
of positions, orientations, shapes, borders, and colors. Exemplifying, abstract
art has often been defined as language without meaning, because its units
(each individual form in a painting) have no autonomous meaning (they are not
related to objects in the real world). However, this is not a problem for Greimas
semiotic approach that never considers signs per se, but rather analyzes the
process, syntax, and the connection between signs. About the context, Greimas
(1970, 1983) and Floch (1990) agree with the saying: no salvation outside the
text. The scholars claim that meaning is all in the text and nothing has to be
looked for outside of it. In Greimas semiotics, which is focused on the text,
any extra-textual variable is excluded; for this reason,the analysis of the contest has no meaning.
Therefore, from this starting point, we could analyze the same advertisement
using Greimas theoretical point of view, also with reference to scholars like
Floch (1990), Grandi (1994), Valenti and Corrain (1991), and Valenti (1993,
1996), who developed the visual structural semiotics founded by Greimas. The
attempt of this part of the paper is to adapt this methodology applied until
now only to art works to advertisements, given that Greimas actually
encouraged the use of visual semiotics for all graphic expressions.
We can notice that diagonal 1 passes through the PT Cruisers headlight; on the
other hand, diagonal 2 passes right through the middle of the PT Cruiser-like
hair, touches the womans eye, and finally penetrates onto the neutral zone of
the visual. Valenti (1996) defines this last diagonal, from left to right, as a
structural diagonal, because it generally represents a privileged guideline. It
is interesting to notice also that median 3 crosses the womans mouth, which is
perfectly positioned on a horizontal axis.
The second group of vectors we need to consider is the projection of minor
sides on major ones, and the subsequent creation of verticals and diagonals
(Figure 6). In particular, the minor side is overturned on the major (this
operation is indicated by the compass curve Z in Figure 6). From the point
obtained, a vertical vector starts (vector 2). A square is thus obtained with its
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diagonals (1 and 3; Valenti 1996). This projection can be applied to both minor
sides, but we will only consider the left minor side, which is the most important
for this analysis.
Here (Figure 6), a sort of dynamism through the vectors can be observed: axis
1 crosses the neck and the womans eyes reaching the first flash where it joins
vector 2, which, while descending, first touches on the word non [nothing],
and then goes through the picture of the car, the logo, and the payoff. Here
vector 2 joins vector 3, which then proceeds upward to cut through the PT
Cruiser-like hairstyle.
The third and last micro-system to be considered is the one made of the
parallels to the various principal axes (rhymes). First, the two saturated black
flashes leap out at the reader (also because they are inserted in a group of
dominant soft shades). By connecting the two flashes, both similar in shape,
color and position, we obtain vector A, which is parallel to median 4 (Figure 7
Rhyme 1).
Figure 7. Rhyme 1
Figure 8. Rhyme 2
There is a third rhyme (Figure 9 Rhyme 3) given by the axis that reproduces
the inclination of the PT Cruiser-like hairstyle (C), which is perfectly parallel to diagonal 1.
Figure 9. Rhyme 3
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Finally, by inserting the PT Cruisers picture into a rectangle (Figure 10), we
will notice that it is positioned in a golden section, since the ratio between the
longest and the shortest sides is 1.618. This proportion has always been considered as the most pleasing to the human eye (Walser 2001) and underlies the
clock cycle of brain waves (Weiss and Weiss 2003; Roopun et al. 2008).
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notice how the image displays the following succession: clear (hair and
first part of the dress), then dark (face and second part of the dress), then
dark again (the shadowed side of the PT Cruiser), and finally clear (the lit
-up side of the PT Cruiser).Therefore, there is the same clear/dark contrast,
but, once again, in different contexts.
2.2.2. The second fundamental segmentation of the binary rhythmic structure. There is a second segmentation that recalls the proverbial structure, this
time starting from a clear linguistic and structural opposition created through
the crossing of diagonal 2 with vector A; these are two essential elements, as
demonstrated by topological grammar (Figure 7 Rhyme 1).
Joining these two vectors our text can be divided in P (protasis) and R (apo
dosis) (Figure 11 Rhyme 1, a reprocessing of Figure 7).
The protasis (if, part P) is limited by the linguistic protasis of the headline
Chrysler PT Cruiser. Who looks at it [Chrysler PT Cruiser. Chi la
guarda]. (Same as if you look at it.) Parallel to this linguistic protasis is
the figurative correspondent: the first part of diagonal 2, which, starting
from the top left side, touches both on the hair that recalls the PT Cruiser
and the eyes symbols of sight.
The apodosis (then, part R) is represented on a linguistic level by the
part of the headline after vector A: (then) sees nothing else [non vedealtro]. It is marked also by an inverted use of colors (white characters on
black background). Parallel to this linguistic apodosis is the figurative correspondent: the underlined last part of diagonal 2, which visually leads us
towards a neutral empty area, or precisely, an area with nothing else.
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Indeed, an opposition between the horizontal plane (represented by the
womans sight, which is parallel to the main median) and the vertical plane
(represented by the connection of the two flashes, which, as they are similar in
shape and color, are strictly linked) can be perceived. This opposition between
horizontal and vertical planes is transformed into an opposition between part P
(which brings the eye of the spectator to a horizontal reading) and R (which
forces the reader to make a strong vertical turn). This plastic opposition corresponds to a semantic opposition between nature and culture.12 Nature is obviously represented by the woman, as a human being. Culture intended as a
product created by human beings (Valenti and Corrain 1991) is represented
by the picture of the PT Cruiser (a human creation) and by the saturated colors
(unnatural) of the two flashes. The following model represents this kind of
semi-symbolic link:
horizontality : verticality :: nature : culture13
If, through this analysis, opposites come out clearly (nature and horizontality
versus culture and verticality), then it is possible to build a semiotic square
upon them. As Greimas says (1966, 1970, 1983), the semiotic square is useful
to place only minimal semantic units (as nature/culture) against each other,
rather than portions of speech, themes, figures, etc. Besides opposites, however,
it is also necessary to identify sub-opposites, which are elements that deny
culture in the nature square and elements that deny nature in the culture square
(Valenti and Corrain 1991). In order to do this, the starting point is, as always,
the topological grammar. Figure 5 suggests that the fundamental medians
touch on two symmetrical but opposite elements: the womans hair (diagonal
2 crosses the central part of her hair) and the cars glance (diagonal 1 cuts
through the headlight-eye of the PT Cruiser).
These clues are further highlighted by Figure 9 Rhythm 3 (diagonal 1,
which crosses the PT Cruisers headlight-eye, is perfectly parallel to the inclination of the hairstyle C).
These elements are the sub-opposites that were missing, since the hairstyle
refers to a cultural category (because it is like the PT Cruiser), but here culture
is denied because hair is a natural element and is located in the nature square
(P). The PT Cruisers glance belongs to a natural category (since it seems
human and the car appears to be looking at the woman), but here nature is
denied because the PT Cruisers headlight is in fact a technological element
and is situated in the culture square (R).
To reassert all of the above, the sub-opposites deny nature and culture, but
they also deny horizontality (linked to nature) and verticality (linked to culture). Indeed, both the PT Cruisers glance and the womans hairstyle are
oblique (neither vertical nor horizontal).
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Notes
1. Chiasmus (from the Greek chizo 'to shape like the letter X') is the figure of speech in which
there is a repetition of elements in inverted order (like A-B, B-A).
2. According to Hjelmslev (1943), the term denotation indicates the primary relationship between the expression plane and content plane; this characteristic can help to identify the basic
meaning of each word. Next to denotation is connotation, which is another content relationship linked to affective or expressive values (emotions, feelings, images, particular values).
For instance, the phonic signifier of the word dog denotes the domestic quadruped and
can connote other contents such as fidelity, company, tenderness, etc.
3. Synecdoche: a figure of speech in which (in this case) a part of something is used to refer
to the whole thing.
4. Prosopopoeia: a figure of speech in which an object or an animal (or an imaginary, absent, or
deceased person) is represented as speaking or acting.
5. Serifs are little appendixes of a letter that accompany ascendant or descendant lines towards
the following letter.
6. Barthes (1970) defined anchorage as the text that directs the reader through the signifieds
of the image.
7. Alliteration: a figure of speech in which the same phonemes are repeated in two or more
words next to one another.
8. Barthes' (1970) relay is the complementarity between text and image
9. Paronomasia: a figure of speech where two consecutive words display phonetic resemblances, but have different meanings.
10. The most famous scholar from the School of Costanza is Jauss (1972).
11. http://www.chrysler.it.
12. In Greimas opinion (1966), some categories, such as life/death or nature/culture, are so
general as to be considered universal.
13. This formula should to be read in the following way: Horizontality is to verticality as nature
is to culture (Greimas 1989; Valenti et al. 1991).
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