Introducing Literary Criticism: A Graphic Guide (Introducing...) by Owen Holland

Author:Owen Holland [Holland, Owen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781848319059
Publisher: Icon Books Ltd
Published: 2016-02-04T06:00:00+00:00

The connection between a signifier, such as “dog”, and its signified will differ in different languages: French speakers use a different signifier (chien) and Spanish speakers yet another (perro).

The relationship between signifier and signified is not entirely random – it is a result of historical development and social convention – but it is arbitrary.

Also important is Saussure’s argument that meanings are determined by difference: no sign has meaning apart from its differential relationship to other signs. For example, the signifier “cat” signifies the mental concept of a four-legged, furry animal because the signifier cat is not equivalent with the signifiers bat or mat, etc., rather than because the word “cat” contains any essential or inherent dimension of cattiness. As for the signifier “bat”, is it a piece of sporting equipment or an animal?

Saussure’s linguistics implies a suspension of language’s referential function: it presents language as a self-contained system of signs that operates according to certain principles. Meaning is arrived at negatively, rather than positively.

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