( f SanFrancisco State'UFrive"rsity ,3'4 COMMUNICATION BOOKS ANNENBERG/LONGMAN Siefert' Editors GeorgeGerbner and Marsha TheAnnenbergSchoolof Communications Philadelphia Universityof

Pennsylvania'

Arthur Berqer /' Asa

IN SIGNS CONTEMPORARY : CULTURE

An Introduction to Semiotics
by lllustrations theauthor

Longmo.n
New York & London

ilt

ili

The voiceis the voiceof Jacob But the hands the hands Esau are of (Gen.27:22)

SIGNSIN CONTEMPORARY CULTURE An Introductionto Semiotics New York, N.Y. 10036 Longman Inc., 1560 Broadway, Associated companies, branches, and representatives throughoutthe world. Copyright@)1984by LongmanInc. All rightsreserved. part of this publicationmay be No or reproduced, storedin a retrievalsystem, transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, without the prior recording,or otherwise, permission the publisher. of Developmental Editor: GordonT. R. Anderson Production/Manufacturing: FerneY. Kawahara GraphicraftTypesetters Composition: Inc. andBinding:MalloyLithographing Printing in Data Cataloging Publication Library of Congress Berger, Arthur Asa,Date. in culture. Signs contemporary (Annenberg/Longman books) communication p. Bibliography: Inclu,les index. 2. I. 1. Signs andsymbols. Semiotics. Title. II. Series. P99.8437 1,984 001.51 83-17529 ISBN 0-582-28487-2 of Manufactured the United States America in ^ 6 - a < 2 1 Y e a r: 9 2 9 1 9 0 8 9 88 87 86 85 84 ^1

Contents

Preface Acknowledgments Definition Henry IV, Part I Honor in Shakespeare's 2 IJow SignsWork SherlockHolmes 16 3 Signs, Symbols, and Signals Empireof Signs 2I 4 Formsof Signs Eight Hypotheses Digilal Watches 29 on 5 VisualAspects Signs of TheJudy ChicagoShow 38 6 Problemsof Signs Pop Art 45 7 Denotationand Connotation Comicsand ldeology 51 I

lx

xi I

19

48

CONTENTS 8 9 Imaginary Signs Freud on Dreams 62 Signs that Lie On Parody 7l

57 67 75

Preface

10 Men's Looks: Signifiers and Life-Style Denimization 80 1l Coherencein Signs Formulas in the Public Arts 85

83
89 95

12 Who UsesSigns? Poetry as Sign 92 13 Signs and ldentitY The Rewards of Myth I04

14 Terms Associatedwith Signs Auteur Criticism 111 15 Signs and Images Photography 11,9 16 No Sign as Sign The Natural Look 124

108
t14

tzz
r27
133
139 148 155 This book is an introduction to semioticor semiological thought and an application semiotics the mass of to media,the arts,and related concerns. It is designed the general for readerwho hasno background semiotics, in althoughI believethat even thosewith a familiaritywith the subjectmay find it useful. signsin Contemporary Culture,unlike manyother semiotics books,is as much concerned with the usesof semiotictheory as it is with the theory itself. Each chapter is divided into two sections:the first deals with a from and the second appliesa concepr toJlc o_lJgpJc_l semiotics ilS.g"tg_tjgl from the theoreticalsection to some aspectof the mafrfrEaTa. Eveiy theoretical section has an application which is meant to suggesthow semioticscan be used to understandbetter the mass medii, poFiiil

17 Signs that Confound 130 Arcimboldo 18 Sign Modifiers Cartooning 136 19 Manifest and Latent Meaning in Signs Robinson Crusoe 143 20 Analyzing Signs and Sign Systems " Reach )ut and Touch Someone" 151 2l Codes Baseball 162

22 Characteristics of Codes FoodsasSigns I70 23 Meaning "The Paper Chase" l"l7

165
LIJ

References A SelectedBibliograPhY Dictionary of Concepts Index

181 184 189 1.93

cult'ffi an?evervfrilrtre.

Semiotics, "science signs"and of the codes the of usedto understand them, is an "imperialistic"science, one which hasapplicability many to differentareas life. (Somesemioticians so far as to claimthat it is a of go of ngqler_{i5tdtgg which can be usedto explaineveryaspect communica6*fsuTfrTopibs6:toffi, ltr-L) fnur, in this book you will find discussi6ns

PREFACE

photograsports, fiction, humor, formulaicgenres'advertising, detective pty,f^rf,lon,televisionprograms'cartoons'theatre'artifacts'videogames' foundin semiotics The concepts fairy tales,nr.r, unJ"Jffiate symbols' and many others'as you will soon .un'U" ur"a tg"tgi.ute'these topics discover. even if we don't recognizeit or Actually, y*e -?Ie all semioti-cians' (We are all like the character the understand techiii"Calitf;of fhElilUiect. prose')We all spoke that he always in the Molidreplay*ho n"ut' realized 'tryiqg9.:^ilf we all read we know about s!-llyg!Jg-b-ols; all talk.about about "bod'jliangq::-, ard "dressmagazines articlesin n"*rpup"Fiitl leveland in on a ueiy-iuperficial ing for power.,,w"'uir f.u.ticJ semiotics expect from untutored and *uy, a most tltr.l.y-^*-e-*11i"9 as one might semlotlclans unconscious help you becomeLqigin Signs ContemporaryCulture is .meantto There is a catch that I must semioticians' unO ,n-o-r"',,1g9.19-Il systematic ineriliiiii,'however.s'a*imia-i.averycomplicatedscience..'Ithasitsown you will haveto learn and terminology in order to functionasa semiotician dealingwithlglgq suchas some ofthis languag".s" y"" will find yourself icons' and indexes'I havekept this a"Lc-4'Lq;G;ifi".t ana slg'ninZa,, "od"', sincethis is an introductionto the subject' and, to a 1eryt{t-q-l-Agy minirnum controversy(among semioticians)'^ . avoidedcertain aleas of for 1I"'::.:.YY"";;;; at annoiateduiutiograptry the end of the book and rapidly "" There is a large thosewho wish to pr.r* ,fr" subjectfuriher. in the ttt" subject and many of the b-ookscited growing literature'on-laige hope' also' that I themselves' bibiiograp.hies bibliographycontain will be ableto usesemiological readersof Signsi, i""ii^p"rory"Cilturt of ih"it o*n analyses ov1j45g'ryi!91e-9' to and semiotic 'nutt" "on."ftt nno semioticsa ke3_that unlocksall kinds of doors culture, that they "iiii .fiid-'oifers insights and understunaiffi'Tfr'at are not availableto those without a familiarity with the subject' evenidiosyncra(perhaps in Signs Cortriporary Culturi is a personal of application this theory and of tic) explanation semioticand semiological

Acknowledgments
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lt i i,ir:i ;,,:i',ril;,r,;,i1;,;:r}:} irlf ,;., ;1.11;i;;';:{.'

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the arts'andcul-qgIgll ryry3'l: theoryto the rysl;;"d;;rp*{i+q;' onCe peirce,one of the founiinE-f;ifr'er-s gtiTiIWct, Sanders _- Charles tt ttt t"-9-ry-$t9+," with signs'if ft said "...this uni".rt"'is perfused tor sense it and thisii thecase, I believe is,it makes If of exclusively signs." some to explore and rign, areandhowtheyfunction .,iimad;=i;ftirui signsaboutus' and revealing l of ,n" B--o-*+Llgtgsl]gg, .p"h-*.f "' ' t , U ,i t,. *1 " r-.rn.rv:<''-'x4. "tt " ,/ *{r-'''' r.'-,* t
) , L , '. I

I owe a specialdebt of gratitude to George Gerbner, who saw a prototype of this book and urged me to expdh*ii-iiin*6-a*fiitt-length text. I am also grateful for his and-Marsha Siefert's editorial advice and encouragement. They were good enough to provide me with two reviewers, whose commentsand suggestions were of inestimablevalue. I appreciate the close readings they gave my manuscript and their many helpful ideas. I also benefitted from the ideas (and in some casesthe friendship) of the following people: U":tb_":lg.Eqo,Jean-Marie Benoist, Bg"lgqd_B3r$e,-q, JonathanCuller, Ferdinand de Saussure, CharlesSanders Peirce,Fustel de

Cout ges,Johan*iTuizinga, an SGntev-Mitgra;;-cla;a;edidlte, Claude L6vi-Strauss, Ernest Dichter, Vladimir Propp, AaronWildavsky, Mircea Witt as,I rving Louis Horowitz,Al an Dundes, i ali-F-ifi _ YgJ_Pglgl --El]3flg,

,u,,.ti,.,*,. t' /t, or'"/*o't3 ie/\-'zt'+z l,- (,',,;,y 1'a'a, 7-.t*''

.:].-'t.ut-. t\

i?"'lt
{ . - o' r

tr;,

.tr,'t -,':../ j).1:: c" .*,..a,Q.-V. 2.".i ..'> i,.n 14

TerenceHawkes,Robert Scholes, RosalindCoward,FredericJameson, Keir Elam, John Ellis, Alan Gowans,Ed Graham, Edfdi'lffffi, ila*rid^ Noble, SeymourChatman,Jean, Piagj-t, JeanGuenot,Mg_$!A[.-\{fu ltSlr_r. ThomasSebeok,and Gle_gJ8Eiiglpn. Therewere manyothers.Thanlis, alSoJo JE*Biowman f-oi some fine photos.

CULTURE SIGNSIN CONTEMPORARY

His speechon the subject of honor is one of the most is a supreme realig,t. in tne play and one that literary scholars and philos*.^tiifrl--pffi"g.s ophers have found particularly interesting. In Act V, Scene2,IJ.al and Falstaff are having a conversationabout a forthcoming battle and Hal tells Falstaff, half-seriously,that he owes God a death. To which Falstaff rePlies: Tis not due yet: I would be loath to pay him beforehis day. What needI be so me honorpricks on. with him thatcallsnot on me?Well, 'tisno matter; forward how if honorprick me off whenI comeon?How then?Canhonorset Yea, but a leg?No. Or an arm?i.to. Or take awaythe grief of a wound?Nijltiiin<jiiiiili No. What is ho-!or? A word. what is-t6e-f-wor-A ti6'tklrf"in iilig;il;ttreili a h-bnoiflti?::Ai iiir reckoning I Wiio trattrTi{fr;t ffi t ai[i a Wednesd v. D oth then?Yea,to the dead.But it? No. Doth he hearit? No. 'Tis insensible he feel will [it] not live with the living? No. Why? Detractionwill not suffer it. Therefore I'll none of it. Honor is a mere scutcheon-andso ends my (1962:89) catechism. what is honor but a word, and what is a word but air: that is Falstaff's conclusion from his inquiry into honor, its role in society, and related matters. Notice Falstaff's line of inquiry. He asks what honor can do for the wounded soldier and concludesthat-ilgql-dq lg!]lgg' "It has no skill in surgery" and, by implication, in life in general. All that honor, a mere word, air, does is lead people to get themselveskilled in battle. But when they are dead they cannot enjoy their honor. So honor is a mere "scutcheon" or desire fglr-"lgJg!"gn which is dangerous to one's health :*

Two How Signs Work

ano-ili:tls?it&

!.

.1

We find, then, three approachesto the concept of honor in the play. Honor is something to be Hotspur's is the most l"ggl:jrgg-9.999{r{ISgt. gained by outstandingfeats or great heroism. It is aprize to be "plucked" and he has no doubt that he is capableof gaining honor and renown. With Hal the matter is mole_c-omphcelgg He prizes honor but he is extremely calculatingand peifiips even Oeceitfulin the way he goes about attaining it. Does this behavior tarnish the honor he gains?Is Hal shrewd and clever or something worse? Arguments can be made for both cases.Falstaff, on the other hand, rejects honor (and this shortly after he has said "Honor pricks me on.") Honor is only a wol-d aqg ygl-q;.gry-gq!1-qif'.Is Falstaff a

Isaid_earlier signs anything that are that canbe usedto stand something for ets3te9t !ro.w clr-gigns actually*oitt rhere are two rmportantapproaches to the signThatI wo[iilliF6Eptdin. The first is based un rnii'gr,trro,'' on Saussure, who said that signsui" .o'npor"d of two erements-a soundand imai (suchasa word or visuarrepreseniation) 3gryg{rormffi" sound-image stands:
I call the combination a concept of and a sound-imagesign,but in current a usagethe term generallydesignates only a sound-r'u#;-i *ord used for example(arbor, etc.). one tendsto forget that arbor"is'.;ll.d ; sign onry because it-griigl!1"-.,QD-sept "tree," with the result that the idea of the s-:lsoly_-pl1j implies the idea of the whole. the three notioL! itvolved here were desrgnated $g!-|e-iill X-eUl{-9-il-lp!qq.!t conceptand :i:,1".t0.!1e3 sound_rmage respectively by.rigfu4 gignifiq and:ieJtfie:isignifiant);the last two termshavethe advantage indicating opffidi-thui of the ,.purut", th", from eachother and from the whole of *ni.n tn"y are parts.('1966:67)
,l;

realist here, oils rie i-aiioir?iii"g rtit t*n-id*ii?G?rz"lr notior is only a j,US-tig-e-,.--e-g99!!!y,.1_r9-qt? be a drunken Falstaffmay word, what about l-ov-.e,. on and a coward, but in his disquisition honor he posesa sensualist at one that everyone, sometime or importance, problemof considerable other, must come to grips with.

enhlngtestin&na' _Qv.--tb_tS::9rys. dppdi"g th J propd" ro;., en " "th*, (signe)to designate whole and to repface the

in

CULTURE SIGNSIN CONTEMPORARY

(1966:66diagramsto illustratehis ideas Sausureusedthe following 67):

e o n c eT t o u n / - i^o3o

Mccraw-Hill' York' New in.gen,e,r?JLinguistics, A de Ferdinand saussure, course From Publishers' Library witn 1966.Reprinted permissibn'oiFrtirotophical the..unity of sign' sienifi^1^and-si8nified' the The next diagram suggests piecesoi pup"t; one side'was said that sifn-' *"'e like Saussure itself' the sign' ;"^ttgtilr*a' and the paper sienifier, the othercif;;;t

II

orbor

II

Tips for Energy Savers

5,1^,f."r

if S.1". i tJ

itself' The and signified from the sign We cannot separate the signifier

signifiedform the sign' rrg.ii,""0 on.'no'i;i"; ;;;;"ts crucial'For saussure'tlt-gjglglignlllp i, There and a is arbitrary, mattei"of-chance the between signifier""[l'rig"in"a of choice the t6lld Sauisure us,"that the Trrie ciiiinbfrtibn. abetnoir.rJun, but ratherthat it is "unmotivated' is signifier left entirety';;'il speaker"no naturalconnection wr-thlhq iu' i.e. arbitrarv in tttui ; ;c#[
italicslsienifi6A'."?'966:69) [my (except tn ,.,.''A,,' mean (t -r what--signs and .,,kar cionc, to learn whal -wgrgl -mgal One has we words have of ttrecase which'i;iii"-pi;* inortty)'tn cases, certain in the case of words; the conventional meaning in dictionaries which give us bet3-qg'!1;-ig9q'

haie to signs oi'i'rfrf ifi-sbtt"nu airi"'"nt story'-W-e-g-e-4-erallv otl"uiniiigdhit-liighway iH"t, tor'eia,irprf. oneway or anorher.
N o t e : T h e r e i s s o m e d isa g r e e m e n ta b o u tth e a r b itr a r yn a tureofthesi gn,InP ei rce'stheory' ated motiv or non

U.S. Deparlmenl of Energy Wa s h i ng l o n ,D .C . 2 0 5 8 5

I l* T

ttbitrarv u,-9 ^ryJ"rv -:y*-o-tl,".tt l9i -11] -:ignL .9'p1g

12

IN CULTURE SIGNS CONTEMPORARY

HOWSIGNS WORK 13 who usepeirce'sicon/index/symbol schema identify themserves semioti_ as Mv own incrinationis io ,r" uoil'ryggrys whenever -1t3s' possitiiEiifrcJ each utility. has ..1_ll,practical o";ffi semioticsto be essengigilggigl[4r-ari,r* I ;lr .";;;;;;.r5iio,o* uno they are both concernedwith

mean, driving signals, and so on. We send for a booklet from the Department of Motor Vehicles and learn how various signs are to be interpreted. by any means, though in }.l":_*g:_"-.,!jlygy_r=*1-"_"1_l:".f9en_t many cases meanrng'Tdf-bd--understood fy"interpreting diagrams and prctures. Let us now turn to the second important approach to understanding signs, a system of sign analysis developed by one of America's most brilliant and neglected thinkers, the philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914). Peirce said signs a[q f]gje"d._t_g*o-.b=ie-g.t9_.bffeCp.nbliug_!heq1, tied b,"ilg_SgUSAlU.g-o-Lrf9"S1-Cd t,o_-t_h-eg_r, or b-gr_rlg.g_o-qv-entionally to them. He ca-irtalccinneciion, and used the term iconic for resembla """,'iiiii[g,Tt"i: this symbolfor cqgvg4..!!9r!gl asi&iiiffi. The following'i-hill'makes more

clear. Trichotomy Peirce's lcon/lndex/Symbol

Si g n by: Signify Examples: lcon Resemblance Pictures Statuesof great figures Photoof Reagan Can see lndex Causalconnection Smoke/Fire Symptom/Disease (Red spots/Measles) Can figureout Symbol

Convention Words Gestures Must learn

Process

to varied (and comic) lnterpretations. one of price's droodles follows: 'no." "n,".iu,ning

th"offiffi;rl.;tt^ .itn". bizarre formof humor deverop"i it" that r" price,s Roger d.roodres. They are simple drawings trt"i r."i ""riigsor, trtJrr"tu",

"i";Let usmove from

differs f Peirce f.oTl_g:r_llre the on indeii iEi-ibrati6ns" "rol1r:lffo.1] ;:.?;;t#.:, [nd ]b..nic';eT"riunri#,;wg rmiixmok . -#t T-"j-g-ll_I ve tio ally" associ wiir, i#1^ : i::":T:": e is*not *"p n n " '68-ti6ilitHri""ted.ated

[3:,]ffi :5T;::X'rl""J

Note: There are, Saussure notes, two objectionsfrequently made to his assertion that the reration ;;;;; the signifier ind signified arbitrary' The first is the matter is He saysthat 6nomato_ poeic formations"are never "t-t",iiir"pori". organideT'ffi'ents a ringuistic of system,, are not onrylimitedin number and 6ut also tiosen somewhat arbitrariry, they are onry approximate for and ;;;;""."i"rs conventionar imitationsof certainsounds'"(1966:69) etso ttrese *"ord, and change other like words. The second objection,*i"r^irl'ir31gr1i913r, "uolu" he dismisses of out ;;;-;;;?5ho

t'l,"tifr*#;11;;l]"*trffi "',il."rthink;";i;pp,i'p,i,,"ror

u",*en signined their and

o-nrv sv'uor, u.l',,xlio',ilL'iol"l'"sentatib

This chart is derived from Peirce's statement that: of of an analysis the essence a sign.. . leadsto a proof that every sign is of determinedby its .o_[i.gg!, either first, by partakingin the characters the object, when I call the sign an lcon; secondly,by being really and in its when I call the sign connected with the individual_g$-gg!, individualexistence an Index; thirdly, by more or less approximatecertainty that it will be ofa interpretedas denotingthe object, in consequence habit (whichterm I use when I call the signa SymboL(Quotedin J. asincludinga natural disil-o-sitidi), Jay Zeman, "Peirce'sTheory of Signs" in T. Sebeok,A Perfusionof Signs, 1977:36). . ' ;; ._ :"1::jl . _1.... < r <_<r : If Saussure's statemenil6out signifiers and signifieds is the key to the semiological mode of analysis, Peircg]*..-t.-tt-g!g*y is the key to semiotic analysis.Both are concerned with signs and signification,but they have different perspectives. perspectiveand adopt his essentially Scholarswho use the Saussurean of reference in analyzing films, television programs, Itnggir-qg,f-ramefashion, and so on, generally identify themselvesas semiologists.Those

This droodle was interpreted price by three different wavs; Four elephants inspecting grapefruit. a 1 2. Crisisin a pool hail. 3. Four unsportsmanlike gopherhunters.

14

CULTURE SIGNSIN CONTEMPORARY

HOW SIGNS WORK

15

The inventive reader, of course, might find other humorous ways of this drawing. The droodle, which seemsto be a ng&tg*jggf*"SJ first, it is very combinationof doodle and drawing,hastwo characteristics: it and simple,with very little information given;and second, is ambiguous can have many different "meanings." that we are Semiologically would saythat droodles signifiers canhave It is the ingenuity that Pric6'3Iow'Jd-inTh'ink1rt T-?gy*qif.{9,T-9uls!gll-0gqs. which generatedmuch of the humor. (It might also be up zany signifieds asserted that it is the power of the sign to "lie" that is at the heart of the droodle.) The droodlealsoplaysuponthe needwe all haveto find meaning in things,even when very little data is given. For our secondillustration, considera humorousdrawingI made to (Winter 1981:169.) illustratean articlein TheJournalof Communication. The article was on electronicbanking and my problem was to find amount someway of signifyingthat conceptor topic. After a considerable of thinking I did the following drawing:

thatshall.be IJu.nrn, between andyou.And Jhe.Sjg Me throughout generatio"ffi; "f1n" the r;;;;;"g yousha,becircumcisedthe at ageof eightdays." (Gen.17:9_12) Circumcision amongstJews then, ,_!gI is, of the covenant between 3 God and the Jews.It is nlt always; ro";'ffihness since somenon_Jews are circumcised and there are Jewisi'mates r.om nonobservant families who But

between and Me i",,u:o vou,f*.prinet-o'io'o* *hi.t t;;;iiiJ"p, male among shalr circumciJJ. you -you,trutt be .i..u."i.. iiri n"rt,of"u"r, your foreskin, and

God further said to afrl_tram, ,,As for you, you and your offspringro come throughout the ases shat keep rrly ."ri"*",. such inatt be ihe Jonvenant

il:,:"..t".j|:umcised'

for theJews, or t.ls-argtleflgg .ir.ur.irion

i,

3
3
a

From "Eleclronic Banking and the Death of Privacy,"Journal of Communicalion, Winter with permission. 1981 p. 169, Reprinted ,

to The drawing usesiconic and symboliccomponents make its point. It mergesthe "piggy bank" and the electric plug (attachedto the tail) to suggest electronicbanking.The body of the pig and the pig'stail, which is turned into an electric plug, are both iconic; that is, they both resemble pigs,on the one hand, and electricplugs,on the other. But a pig, with a You haveto know about slot on the top to depositmoney, is symbolic. piggy banks to make senseof the drawing. The slot on the top turns a drawing of a pig that is iconic into a piggy bank, the meaningof which comesfrom experience and is symbolic. F.rrally,let us look at the Tolqh, the first five books of the Old Testament.Here we come acrossGod's instructionto the Jewsabout the significance circumcision.I quote here from The JewishPublication of Societyof America'stranslation:

CULTURE SIGNSIN CONTEMPORARY

HO W G NS RK SI WO

17

I took the tatteredobjectin my hands, and turnedit over ratherruefu'y. It was a very ordinaryblackhat of the usualroundshape, rr"ra,"."o muchthe worse for wear' The lining had been of red silk, urt *u, a good deal discoloured' Therewasno maker's name;but, as Holmeshal rJmarked, the initials"H.8." werescrawled upon one side.It waspierced the brim in for a hat-securer, but the elastic was missing.por the rest, it ,"u* .rucr.eo, exceedingly dusty' and spottedin severafpraces, althoug; ;;"r" seemed to have beensomeattemptto hide the discoloured patches smearing by them with ink. (Doyle, 1975:159_160) other facts made known in the story are that the hat was large, hair ends were stuck to the lower end of the rining, there were brown dust and wax stains on the hat, it hadn't been brushe-d weeks, and ih"r" *u, in u good deal of moi stureo n t he hat band.. . I seenot hing, , ,Wat sonsays., , O n the contrary, Watson, you can see everyrhing. Vou yiit, ho;;;;;,' to reason

Here I advance the thesis that Sherlock Holmes is really a practicing semiologist and that our fascination with him is connectedto the ingenious iay'in'ifrch he applies semiology to problems he faces.

SHERLOCK HOLMES: MASTER SEMIOTICIAN/SEMIOLOGIST. One of the greatest appeals of Sherlock Holmes is his ability to find .meaningwhere there seems to be nothing. He is, like most of the great detectives (of the classical,deductive school) a master semiotician, who understands signs and what they can tell to the one who knows how to "read" them. One of the more interestingexamplesof Holmes's ability to interpret phenomena comes in one of his more celebratedcases,"The Blue Carbuncle." The story begins with Watson visiting Holmes several days after Christmas (to wish him well) and finding Holmes examining a "very seedy and disreputable hard felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several places." The hat had been recoveredby a policemanon Christmas who found a group of young toughs attacking a man carrying a goose.The toughs knocked the hat off the man, who swung his cane to protect himself and broke a window. When the man saw the policeman, he dropped the goose and also fled-leaving the hat and the goose. Holmes saysthe hat should not be looked upon as just an old hat but rather as an "intellectual problem." He then asks Watson what he can deduce from the hat about its wearer. What can you You kno,wqy mg-thods. Holmes says,"HeIg is my,l-ens. gather yourself as to*t-lie-fiAii/iAualfiy-'oT ifre ma;'f;?io has worn this arti cl e ? " I ier e is W at s o n ' s d e s c ri o ti o no f th e h a t:
* Af t erlwro t e t h i s s e c t i o n l d i s co ve r e d a wo n d e r fu l e ssa yo n th e semi oti caspectsofH ol mes's w ork . Se e T h o m a s A . S e b e o k a n d Je a n Um ike r - Se b e o k, "Yo u K now My Method: A 26, J ux t apos i t i o n o f C h a r l e s S . Pe ir ce a n d Sh e r lo ck l{ o lm e s," ,Se mi oti ca nos. 3-4 (1919).

how neglectfulwe were and discover that all tho.wn the information we neededto solve ttr".*yrr".y was given to us. Now ret us see al l the i nformati on Holm es is able t o nnO in t he hat :

ftSU-U-hUl:^U:5. Youaretoo timid in iro*ing your inferen stands, here, thetypical for reader aetective?ffi;#"ffilGG";;;:;; "r.,i"#1# or dealof information (:*=)_uu, is unable rnterpret io them, neglects them, or misinterprets therii.Tii is whythedenouementmystery of stories so is exciting: we are finaily

He pickedit up and gazed it in the pecuhar at introspective fashion whichwas characteristic him. "It is perhaps of ress suggestive than-itmighthavebeen,,, he remarked, "and yet therearea'fewinferences whichareverydistinct, a and few otherswhich represent leasta at strong. balance ;i;;;;;it,;. tnu, ,r,. man washighlyintellectual of course is obvrous upon the faceof it, and arso th.at wasfairly well_to_do he within the lastthreey"urr, uf*,ougf, he hu, no* fallen upon ollr^.-l-: had tqlgglt, Uut tu, t"r. nolvliun"rorrn"rry, pointingto a"'t, morarretrogressioilffifr, whentaken with rhe decline his in fortunes, seems indicati someevil influence, to probabry drink, at work upon him. This may accountatsofor !he.qb_vje_ui_fgst,t"het_Iis_wife..ias.c=cased'Jgl9ys hr-u' ' He has,however,."tuin"-oion." o'.!.". of self-respect,,, he continued, ,,He disregarding remonstrance. is my a m-an who leads_*gq.qtur), go", IiI", out rittre,is out of trainingentirerv,is middre-aged:;;;g#iE-ffii'wrrich he hashad cut within the rait few days,and whichhe anoints with lime-cream. These the morepatenr are facrs whichareto be deduced fr.. hi;-#. Also, by the w ay' that i t i s extr em erim pr obabr e y t hat he hasgaslaidon in his house. , , (1975:160) To all this Watson replies, ,,you are certainly joking, Holmes.,, Holmes then proceedsto show watson how he urriu"c at his conclusions, crassic a example of semiotic analysisat work. To simplify matters ret me offer a chart which lists the characteristics (or signifieds)and offers the explanations ior signifiers).

18

CULTURE SIGNSIN CONTEMPORARY

Semiotic Analysis the Hatin "TheBlueCarbuncle" of Holmes'

of Characteristics the Man Signilieds Man was intellectual Decline lortunes in Reasoning Behind Deductions the Signifiers

Foresight Moral retrogression Recenthaircut Useslime-cream Goes out little lovinghim Wifestopped Out of training No gas in the house

Cubiccapacity the hat. "A man with so largea of in brainmusthavesomething it." withribbed Hat is threeyearsold,ol bestquality, lining, the man hasn't But silkbankandexcellent been ableto afforda new one. put Man had a hai-securer on hatby special ordersincehatsdon'tcomewiththem. Brokenelaslicon hat-securer hasn't and reolacedit. of Hairends,cleancut by the scissors a barber, stuckto lowerend of hat lining. Smellof lining. not Duston hat is brownhousedust, gray street dust,so hungup mostof thetime. for hasn'tbeenbrushed weeks, --- ..*Hat not . indicates in Muchmoisture. . pergpiration goodshape. Wax stainsfromcandlessuggesthe readsby and havegas. candlelight doesn't

Watson'sreply to all this is "ingenious,"and so it is. it verysimple andquite After Holmesexplains reasoning, all seems his reasonable. Watsonsaw everything that Holmesdid but Watsonpaid no fte to attentionto all the signsthat were presented him, in part because What Watson thoughtthat what he sawwastrivial and of no importance. (semiotics, of lackedwasmethodology semiology) an appreciation tlg and plrengmgla. What semiologydoesis impo-4eq-cS.bj-!a,*i!b!ilnqig,n-i-flcant whichis nothing new,andmakeit to takethe matterof signinterpretation, more systematicand scientific. Becausesigns may lie and becausethe relationshipthat exists between a signifierand signifiedis arbitrary, a interpreting signsinvolves good dealof skill. Holmesis a goodexample for us; he showshow much thereis to seeand know if we only can learn
how to look.

-r-."-ji",. ."/'",,,-.v.'n.{-- t