FREE ESSAY ON MEDIA & CULTURE - SIGN SYMBOL

MEDIA & CULTURE - SIGN SYMBOL

A sign system is representation through communication which in turn leads to a shared
meaning or understanding. We hold mental representations that classify and organise the
world (whether fact or fiction), people, objects and events into meaningful categories so
that we can meaningfully comprehend the world. The media use sign systems through
newspapers, magazines, television,internet, and the radio etc. 
The conceptual map of meaning and language are the basis of representation. The
conceptual map of meaning, are concepts organised, arranged and classified into complex
relations to one another. The conceptual map of meaning although allows you to
distinguish your own individual interpretation of the world, at the same time as holding
similar views to that of other people in your culture. As the meaning is produced and
constructed and in turn learned by a particular group of people. Therefore sharing
conventions and codes of their language and culture. Signs can only convey meaning if we
possess codes which allow us to translate our concepts into language. These codes are the
result of social conventions which lead to the shared maps of meaning. These shared
meanings are learnt unconsciously as we become members of a culture.If we have a concept
of something in our minds we can say we know the meaning of this concept. 
However we cannot express or communicate this meaning without the second system of
representation, language. Language is the only way in which meanings can be effectively
exchanged between people, as people within the same culture are able to interpret the
sign of language in the same manner. As the meanings become natural through the
conditioning of culture. For example the word white in Australia represents a colour of
purity, however in China it is the colour of death. Demonstrating that different cultures
have not only have different meanings in their shared conceptual maps, but a different
language to express it. As meanings change rapidly throughout cultures to really
understand another culture you must live there and speak the language for some time.
Cultural, social, political, and linguistic conventions are learned over time.
The three theories of representation, reflective, intentional and constructionist
approaches explain how representations through language work. The reflective approach is
where language functions as a OmirrorO of the particular elements perceived meaning. The
intentional approach, is where the authors individual views of the world are expressed.
Whereas the constructionist approach is where we the audience construct the meaning
through our shared conceptual maps and language.
The media use these sign symbols so that an association can be made to the object,
person, event, or idea etc. With this information of representation and language the
media can familiarise people with many things, such as cultural knowledge. As advertising
surrounds consumers, concern is often expressed over the impact on society, particularly
on values and lifestyle. While a number of factors influence the cultural values,
lifestyles, and behaviour of a society, the overwhelming amount of advertising and its
prevalence in the mass media suggests that advertising plays a major role in influencing
and transmitting social values. In his book Advertising and Social Change, Ronald Berman
says;
The Institution of the family, religion and education have grown noticeably weaker over
each of the past three generations. The world itself seems to have grown more complex. In
the absence of traditional authority, advertising has become a kind of social guide. It
depicts us in all the myriad situations possible to a life of free choice. It provides
ideas about style, morality, and behaviour.
While there is general agreement that advertising is an important social influence agent,
opinions as to the value of its contribution are often negative. Advertising is
criticised for encouraging materialism, manipulating consumers to buy things they do not
really need, perpetuating stereotyping, and controlling the media.
The media must consider the cultural variables of each country, such as the complexity of
learned meanings, norms, language, customs, tastes, attitudes, religion, traditions,
education, lifestyle, values, and the ethical/moral standards shared by members of each
society. These variables must be learnt by the media as not to offend the group they are
portraying. Cultural norms and values offer direction and guidance to members of a
society in all aspects of there lives. Every country exhibits cultural traits that
influence not just the needs and wants of consumers but how they go about satisfying
them. The media must be aware of the connotations of words and symbols used in their
messages and understand how advertising copy and slogans are translated. Advertisers can
also encounter problems with the connotative meaning of signs and symbols used in their
messages.
However within a given culture there are found smaller groups or segments, whose
variables (as listed above) set them apart from the larger cultural mainstream. Known as
subcultures the media must also learn about their variables as they are just as important
due to their size, growth and purchasing power. Such as the Asian or Italian communities
in Australia.
The study of culture has led to generalisations that may apply to all cultures. Such
characteristics are known as cultural universals, which are manifestations of the total
way of life of any group of people. These include such elements such as bodily
adornments, court-ship, etiquette, family gestures, joking, food, mealtimes, music,
personal names, status differentiation and trade. These activities occur across cultures,
but their manifestations may be unique in a particular society, bringing about cultural
diversity. Common denominators can be found, but how they are accomplished may vary
dramatically. These elements are both material and abstract.
Primarily through the media these images are where we find references to conjure images
of other countries representations. These signs are made common to the masses through the
media, which in turn through repetition reinforces the image as common. The media use
repetition and consistency of a few stereotypical elements to reinforce the central role
of the image, linking it to a specific culture. These stereotypes produce OothernessO
from the dominant culture, by focusing on a few different attributes of another culture.
This often gets reduced to easy to digest differences such as food, clothes, appearance
and music. Which suggests that culture is based on material things around us, a culture
of possessions. However these representations avoid important issues that could be very
different between cultures. Advertising perpetuates some of the myths associated with
certain cultural groups such as, African American men are good at sports, The French are
arrogant and Australians are lazy. As Chiara Giaccardi said in TV Advertising and Social
Reality;Advertisements tend to capitalise upon recurrent images and forms of
presentation; in so doing they reinforce them, not so much through the individual texts
as through the accumulation and repetition of OritualisedO representation during the
entire advertising flow.
Advertisements refer not only to things and situations but also a way of seeing and
interpreting them. Advertisements constitute a repotoire that viewers can draw upon both
for representing and understanding themselves and for making sense of their external
reality. Advertising shapes reality to serve capitalism and the Opost modernO position,
according to which advertising offers a pleasurable synthetic experience as a surrogate
for reality.(Chiara Giaccardi,TV Advertising and Social Reality) 
Advertising is therefore meaningful as it creates a sense of familiarity with the ways of
experiencing it in a represented form. However as Gillian Dyer states in Advertising as
Communication;We must recognise that the images conveyed by the media have, over the last
thirty years, become so sophisticated and persuasive that they now organise our
experiences and understanding in a crucially significant way. Advertisements encourage
extravagant expectations because they are more dramatic and vivid than the reality -
reality cannot match up to the image.
Therefore cultural knowledge is obtained through the mediaOs sign system. Which is
evident through my knowledge of many countries and cultures without ever travelling
overseas. Stereotypical elements of particular cultures shown through the media allow me
to have perceived meanings and understandings of other cultures. However the stereotypes
of culture portrayed through media signs are predominately tourist stereotypes.
There are many advertisements in the print, audio and visual media that portray cultural
knowledge. Particular signs that we can link to specific cultures, due to the
familiarisation with them through the media. For example the television commercial for
Simpson washing machines which showed Indian Dhobi washer women banging their clothes
against a washing machine to clean them, instead of a nearby rock. Using the tag line
?The hardest working appliances in the worldO, suggesting that the product is trustworthy
and has stamina. The sign systems that the media used where firstly the opening shot of
the Ganges River in the foreground with Indian temples in the background. You then see a
mass of Indian women in traditional dress washing clothes in a traditional manner.
Although hard working the commercial suggested that their product was also as strong as a
rock. The use of the washing machine as a rock for clothes washing and the dumbfounded
look on their faces when they saw the electrical plug, suggests that India is a third
world country and the people do not have electricity. Although they did not know how to
use the machine they continue to use it in place of a rock. Throughout the entire
commercial traditional Indian music was played. The music and appearance of both the
people and the structures clearly suggests to the viewer that it is India. However these
signs would not have been recognised without prior media familiarisation. Therefore
through cultural stereotypes providing cultural knowledge.
Another example is the West End Gold beer commercial. Animation is used to view two
mosquitoes talking to one another. The setting is a barbecue with a group of
stereotypical macho male friends getting together after a hard days work to eat food and
drink beer. The mosquitoes are happy that the men are now drinking mid strength beer as
they are not falling asleep, making fools of themselves, and they are able to drink more
blood. Although referring to themselves it was clear they were actually talking about the
men involved. Suggesting that they can spend more time with their friends, consume more
beer and have more fun. The commercial was set in a middle class backyard, which features
a run of the mill Australian barbecue in which the beer is helpful to people with subtle
humour. Traditionally Australian beer commercials have portrayed beer as a reward for
hard manual labour or driving through the desert, such as the Victorian Bitter
campaigns.
The Australian cultural signs used were the image of the macho male OokkaO, drinking
beer, having a barbecue with only male mates. I believe these images are used to promote
the Australian barbecue culture. These images are also known across the world due to the
movie OCrocodile DundeeO.
Another example is the use of the Mexican cultural stereotype to promote a new McDonald's
burger. As the burger had an added sauce that was spicy the advertisers used the Mexican
image to portray this. As traditionally the Mexicans eat very spicy food such as Tacos.
You instantly know that the characters are Mexican due to their appearance, dark skinned,
long moustaches, wearing ponchos and sombreros, riding horses through the desert. The
music and appearance of the characters are the main signs used to recognise Mexico.
However the poor dubbing of their voices and the words Oondelay ondelayO are also common
cultural signs portrayed in the media.
Italian signs are also often used to sell food products such as pizza and pasta. For
example the Dolmio commercials that use to be on television. They showed a large Italian
family(Italians like large families) having pasta for dinner(traditional Italian meal),
they had napkins tucked into their shirts(suggesting they were going to eat a lot of food
in a messy manner), the characters were primarily large, they used the words mama and
papa(Italian words for mum and dad) and the main character had pasta sauce on his mouth
with the tag line Odo you wear the Dolomio grinO. All of which are signs the media use to
portray Italian people. Once again the music also played a major role in recognising the
cultural stereotypes. Even the name Dolmio sends a linguistic message of Italianicity.
If the media do not understand the cultural characteristics of a country they would not
be aware of the shared cultural values of the community and could easily offend the
country. For example the eating of beef in India is not practised, the colour white is a
symbol of death in China, and the left hand in some countries is known as the toilet
hand. This demonstrates the differences in culture that could be very embarrassing for
companies. The simplicity of colour or a name could be very offensive and have disastrous
implications, which demonstrates the necessity for market research. However I believe
that cultural values also need to be lived to be learned, for more accurate results. The
media are a very powerful tool of communication. They are used as a tool to educate,
inform and entertain people all over the world. However the common sign sytems in which
they use to portray many groups are often sterotypical. I know that Australian men are
not all like what is portrayed in the beer commercials, due to experience of the culture.
However all I know ofd the other cultures around the world is what the media portray,
therefore providing me with my cultural knowledge.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hall Stuart (1997)
Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices
Sage Publications
Chapter 1
Dyer, Gillian (1982)
Advertising as Communication
Routledge London & New York
Chapter 5
Giaccardi, Chiara (1995)
Television Advertsing and the representation of Social Reality: 
Theory, Culture & Society, Vol.12, pg 109-131
SAGE, London, Thousand Oaks and New Delhi
Wiliamson, Judith (1978)
Decoding Advertsing; Ideology and Meaning in Advertsing
Marion Boyars, London
Kline, Stephen(1995)
The Play on the Market: On the Internationalisation of ChildrenOs Culture,in
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SAGE, London, Thousand Oaks, and New Delhi
Berman, Ronald(1981)
Advertising and Social Change, pg 13
SAGE, Beveley Hills and California
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Global Marketing
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The Dryden Press
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Wells, William, Burnett, John & Moriarty, Sandra (1995)
Advertising Principles and Practice
Third Edition, Chapter 5
Prentice Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey