FloRida, de Saussure and Barthes

Ferdinand de Saussure’s article from “Course is General Linguistics” has a very profound statement that made me think about past, current, and possible future learning’s. It states, that “Philosophers and linguistics have always agreed in recognizing that without the help of signs we would be unable to make a clear-cut, consistent distinction between two ideas.” This brings up a question. Is de Saussure talking about a physical sign, like hand motions, or interpretive signs, like metaphors and myths? Maybe he is talking about both? Throughout the course of the Critical Media and Cultural Studies major, semiotics has been studied and discussed. Semiotics is the study of codes and signs within texts or visuals. What this article brings up is how closely signs and linguistics are interconnected, an idea I never really thought about. The article states that, “the arbitrary nature of the sign explains in turn why the social fact alone can create a linguistic system.” To me linguistic signs can include both physical and metaphorical meanings. Signs help us understand things better. They create meaning and emotions for us. This can occur through conscious thought and unconscious thought. Sometimes people do not even realize how a specific sign is affecting them. In this case, I believe that signs are representing all sides of the spectrum. De Saussure’s concepts have a relation to Roland Barthes’ article, “The Pleasure of the Text.” His article describes how sometimes we skim or pass over some of readings and that it might not always be a bad thing. We might sometimes identify with something (a sign) in a text and create part of the story. In reference to authors of novels, the article states that, “the author cannot predict tmesis: he cannot choose to write what will not be read. And yet, it is the very rhythm of what is read and what is not read that creates the pleasure of the great narratives.” Both of these articles were definitely eye-opening to the correlation between linguistics and signs and how we as people are effected by them.