User:ZachLee888/Decoding (semiotics)

Article Draft: Decoding (semiotics)

Article body

Drafted Contribution 1 (77 words): [Insert after first sentence in “Discussion”]. - ADDED CONTRIBUTION (Lee, Individual Contribution)

More traditional communication models always include three main elements: a sender, a transmitter, and a receiver (Fawkes 21). The sender is responsible for “encoding” (i.e., selecting information) their message and putting it through a transmitter (i.e., a communication channel like video, radio, text messaging, etc.) (Fawkes 21). When the encoded information, put through the transmitter, gets to the receiver, it is the responsibility of the receiver to “decode” (i.e., interpret the message) and respond accordingly with feedback (Fawkes 21).

Original Quote: “A simple communication model will include a source or sender who selects information (encodes)  to  create a  message  that will  be  transmitted by  a  channel to  a  receiver who selects a meaning from the message (decodes) and responds with action or no action(feedback)” (Fawkes 21)

Reference (MLA)

Fawkes, Johanna. “Public relations and communications.” The Public Relations Handbook, edited by Alison Theaker, Routledge, 2004, pp. 18-31.

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Drafted Contribution 2 (123 words): [Insert after first paragraph in “Discussion”] - ADDED CONTRIBUTION (Lee, Individual Contribution)

Away from the communication process itself, decoding has become so second nature in the lives of individuals to the point where we do not even realize we are decoding. When driving, for example, we are using the color of the traffic lights (an encoded nonverbal signal, in this case) as the basis of the encoded messages which we interpret. A green light is an encoded signal telling us (the receivers/decoders) to go ahead. Here, it is the context-dependent meaning – according to universally agreed-upon social codes of road rules – where we appropriately attach meaning to the colors of traffic lights. Overall, these encoded messages, supported by social codes and other factors, “function like dictionaries or look-up tables” for individuals in society (Chandler 178).

Original Quote: “In the case of a code as basic as that for traffic  lights,  ‘decoding’ seems relatively programmatic, suggesting that codes function like dictionaries or look-up tables” (Chandler 178)

Reference (MLA)

Chandler, Daniel. Semiotics: The Basics. United Kingdom, Routledge, 2017.

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Drafted Contribution 3 (91 words): [Insert after contribution 1, first paragraph in discussion] - ADDED CONTRIBUTION (Lee, Individual Contribution)

The communication process cannot work without all its three major parts (the sender/encoder, the transmitter/medium, and the receiver/decoder). If there is no sender/encoder, then nobody crafts the beginning message(s) to send out. If there is no medium/transmitter to put the message through, then the message cannot be delivered to the receiver. If there is no receiver/decoder then a message can’t be decoded and hold any value whatsoever (Eadie and Goret 29). When there is no value to a message the decoder cannot make meaning out of it (Eadie and Goret 29).

Original Quote: “The encoding of a communication event is only part of the process of communication itself, carrying no essential meaning without an audience (or receiver) to decode what the meaning is and, by decoding the message, the audience constructs the meaning” (Eadie and Goret 29)

Reference (MLA)

Eadie, William, and Robin Goret. “Theories and models of communication: foundations and heritage.” Theories and Models of Communication, edited by Paul Cobley et al., Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, 2013, pp. 17-36.

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Drafted Contribution 4 – ZACH, GROUP CONTRIBUTION (344 words): [add at the end of article] - ADDED CONTRIBUTION

• add new section to article called "Symmetry and The Two Dominant Positions" (see below), based off Meagher (2011) work

Symmetry and The Two Dominant Positions

Signs are known to have some sort of balance in them—known as symmetry (Meagher 185). When there is symmetry in the communication process, symmetry between encoding and decoding, it can be placed in the field of “meaningful media signs” (Meagher 185). Within this view, there are two dominant positions that one can take: there is the most symmetrical position (called the dominant hegemonic position) and there is the least symmetrical position (called the oppositional position) (Meagher 185).

In the dominant hegemonic position (the most symmetrical position), “the viewer interprets the media sign according to the same logic used by encoder-producers” (Meagher 185). So, for example, if you are a recreational hockey player living in Canada and see a commercial from a Canadian company (the sender/encoder in this situation) for their new line of “ultra flex” hockey sticks, you (the receiver/decoder) will already understand the main benefits of the hockey sticks because you play hockey. In this example, you (the decoder) have something in common with the Canadian company that produced the commercial (the encoder), which allows you to share the same logic used by the Canadian company. When the receiver/decoder interprets the sign using the same logic as the encoder, it can be called a “preferred reading” (Meagher 185).

In the oppositional position (the least symmetrical decoding position), “the viewer recognizes the preferred reading that has been constructed by producers, but rejects it in its totality” (Meagher 185). Back to the example with hockey sticks, let’s say you – a recreational hockey player –  understood the main benefits of the commercial for the new line hockey sticks, but reject the idea that it is an “ultra flex” stick because of the price and the image of the stick. Here, you still share the same logic as the encoder and still understand the commercial, but you reject it because of its look and price. This is the oppositional position. Note that most times the oppositional position occurs because the decoder sees the message as either deceptive or as a misrepresentation of the real world (Meagher 185).

Original Quote(s):

• “Meaningful media signs – signs that make sense –are those in which there is some measure of symmetry between the processes of encoding and decoding” (Meagher 185)
• In the dominant hegemonic position (the most symmetrical position), “the viewer interprets the media sign according to the same logic used by encoder-producers” (Meagher 185)
• In the oppositional position (the least symmetrical decoding position), “the viewer recognizes the preferred reading that has been constructed by producers, but rejects it in its totality” (Meagher 185)

Reference (MLA)

Meagher, Michelle. “encoding/decoding.” The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology, edited by George Ritzer et al., Blackwell Publishing, 2011, p. 185.

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Drafted Contribution 5 – ZACH, GROUP CONTRIBUTION (87 words): [Insert after “Not infrequently, the addressees find different levels of meaning”] - ADDED CONTRIBUTION

Addressees, or the receivers, decode according to their cultural signs because it is semiotics that often entails “the decoding of cultural signs” (Tiefenbrun 528). When decoding, the receiver must be the one to find the balance between a signifier and signified (Tiefenbrun 196). In finding a balance, however, receivers engage in an “analytical quest” that may result in them inferring a completely unintended meaning that the encoder/sender did not intend (Tiefenbrun 195). This could be because of the receiver’s cultural background, previous knowledge, or perhaps another reason.  

Original Quote(s):

• “Intent on deciphering the hidden messages of the text, the reader engages in an analytical quest of decoding and creating meanings that may be unknown even to the author” (Tiefenbrun 195)
• “Decoding is the determination of the mutual relationship between signifier and signified” (Tiefenbrun 196)
• “Semiotics involves the decoding of cultural signs” (Tiefenbrun 528)

Reference (MLA)

Tiefenbrun, Susan. Decoding International Law: Semiotics and the Humanities. Oxford University Press, 2010.

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Heba Aweiwi Addition to Decoding (semiotics) (197 words 2 references)

[Insert in new Section]

Title for new section: Semiotics in the world of Advertising

Essentially, semiotics works to understand how signs can be interpreted in various forms, one of which can be accomplished through advertising. Since advertising works to persuading buyers to purchase goods and services, ads can display various messages (Zakia, Nadin 6).These advertisements often contain messages through images and words that help consumers interpret these symbols and signs (Zakia, Nadin 6). Therefore, this is how semiotics applies through advertising in simple terms. The use of semiotics as a method of advertising and marketing can be classified based on how the messages within the advertisements can answer three questions, who is the target audience, what is the purpose of the product , what is the product (Zakia, Nadin 6).  

- Zakia, Richard D., and Mihai Nadin.(1987) “Semiotics, Advertising and Marketing.” Emerald Insight. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/eb008192a/full/html

For example, when analyzing tobacco advertisements, specifically Marlboro and Virginia Slims, target two very different demographics (Anderson et al. 256). Marlboro targets a male audience that symbolizes “rugged, masculine, independent, and heroic overtones,” whereas Virginia Slims’s target audience is women that convey “women’s liberation, femininity, and glamour” (Anderson et al. 256). These two examples display, and answer are the target audience, which depends on the demographic. What is the purpose of the product, to sell cigarettes to their target audience, and what is the product, which is tobacco.

Anderson, S.J; Dewhirst, T.; Ling, P.M (2006). "Every document and picture tells a story: using internal corporate document reviews, semiotics, and content analysis to assess tobacco advertising". ProQuest. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1781896921

Specifically for my section I would like to contribute 2 photo's (from licensed and reliable sources)

I used the site search.creativecommons.org. to find these images and I will upload them separate from my entry.

• https://wordpress.org/openverse/image/afc0b7ff-dbce-4740-970f-2f0f0e93c7b7 (Marlboro advertisement photo)  
• https://wordpress.org/openverse/image/406d5b64-c391-4a40-b679-b4990e01b0e9/(Virginia Slims advertisement photo)

I would also like to add a see also section:  

Other Wikipedia articles that I think would benefit readers

• https://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Semiotics
• https://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Semiotic_theory_of_Charles_Sanders_Peirce  

• https://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Models_of_communication  

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Reference

• Chandler, Daniel. Semiotics: The Basics. United Kingdom, Routledge, 2017.
• Eadie, William, and Robin Goret. “Theories and models of communication: foundations and heritage.” Theories and Models of Communication, edited by Paul Cobley et al., Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, 2013, pp. 17-36.
• Fawkes, Johanna. “Public relations and communications.” The Public Relations Handbook, edited by Alison Theaker, Routledge, 2004, pp. 18-31.
• Meagher, Michelle. “encoding/decoding.” The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology, edited by George Ritzer et al., Blackwell Publishing, 2011, p. 185.
• Tiefenbrun, Susan. Decoding International Law: Semiotics and the Humanities. Oxford University Press, 2010.