Introductions: Theory: Examples: Summaries: Applicaitons: Process:
Semiotics presupposes that there is no single/eternal truth that is not grounded in a time and place—a history and a culture, or a group of people who have particular sets of self interest. This is a part of semiotics' mythology/ideology: it presupposes that all social behavior reflects some personal or group interest. Everything we do/say/wear reflects the the values and beliefs that make up our worldview.
For the semiotician, the key is to recognize how these values shape the way we think and act in order to consciously understand the messages we send and the messages that are sent to us.
Humans construct social values, so who constructs the representations of these values becomes very important. History is, on one level, the conflicts over who gets to define their mythology as TRUTH. The losers of the contest are marginalized and set in opposition to the dominant ideology and acquire a negative label/connotation.
Example:
50s-60s TV Sitcom Families
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At the time they didn't seem political—they seemed like a retreat from the political into personal life. But today, from a historical
distance, which is to say, from the vantage point of a different worldview, the role of the housewife represented there seems
very political. The shows didn't reflect reality, they exhibited the opinions, interests and beliefs of the (usually) upper-class men who created
the shows. (In Father Knows Best, Bachelor Father, My Three Sons, the focus was clearly on the men. Even Lucy was always saved
by Ricky.)
Politics, then, is engaging in these kinds of differing values involved in cultural representations.
French intellectual Roland Barthes is credited with issuing in the political/mythological
approach to popular culture "texts" in his collection of "readings" entitled
Mythologies. Click on Barthes for some sample applications to
pop culture.