READING REPORT 2

SEMIOTICS

Aan Ramadhansyah Rahayu

NIM: 180920180003

The Origin of Semiotic

The birth of semiotic begin with a series of ideas about sign and meaning since the Greek
Pre-Socrates era until Post-structuralism. In the Greek Pre Socrates era, Democritus said
that names and words purely conventional and arbitrary, until then the clasical philosophy,
Platonic Realism and Aristoteles Realism stated that word is as we perceive it, that seeing is
believing. In this era, all social and natural phenomena can be seen as ‘text’ to be read, as
the Stoic philosopher, Sextus Empiricus introduced the three aspect of sign: the signifier, the
signified, and referent.

In the modern philosopher era, John Locke used the term “semiotic” argued for the
arbitrarians of the sign, claimed that words were sign of idea. Meanwhile, the contemporary
semiotics, Pierce and Saussure urged that semiotics must be seen as symptomatic, they are
the founders of Semiotics. Saussure uses the term Semiology, concerns to show what
constitute sign and what law govern them (sign, signifier, signified), Pierce concerns with
symbol, as he defined sign as something which stands to somebody or something, he also
contributes the tripatite kinds of signs: iconic, index and symbol.

Russian formalism sees artistic text as dynamic systems which textual moments
characterized by rhytm/plot/character are dominant. This idea was refused by the Bakhtin
School who offers the most comprehensive account of translinguistics, a theory of the role
of sign in human life and thought, which opposed to the structuralism theory (Saussure).
Therefore, Prague structuralism emerges as the prolongation of and reassessment of
Russian Formalism which views the semiotic theory of literature as part of larger society
conjucture. In addition, Jakobson and Trubetskoy are the figure of Prague structuralism who
made Phonology and Phonetics.

Meanwhile, Jakobson’s Communication Paradigm introduces the six part of communication

paradigm: sender, receiver, message, code, contact and context. Those six elements of
communication together take part in producing meaning. This theory also highlights
metalingual function as the speech that focusses on the code.

The arrival of the Advent of Structuralism figures such as Roland Barthes and Jean Piaget,
come to define structuralism and its relation to semiotics. Roland Barthes introduced a
mode of analysis cultural artifact which is adopted in the method of contemporary
linguistics, and Jean Piaget offers a method of inquiry based on the triple principle of
totality, transformation and self regulation.
 READING REPORT 2
SEMIOTICS

Aan Ramadhansyah Rahayu

NIM: 180920180003
At last, the post structuralism throws a critique to the concept of the stable sign, the unified
subject, identity and truth. Its figure, Derrida made a difference between signifier and
signified, and introduced intertextuality. Derrida also seeing Saussure’s structuralism in term
of logocentrism and phonocentrism.