Social Semiotics

Social semiotics is a term coined by linguistic theorist, Michael Halliday in 1978 when he wrote the book, Language as Social Semiotic: The Social Interpretation of Language and Meaning ("Glossary of Multimodal Terms"). After quite a bit of research to understand what social semiotics is, I found the definition to be "The media and dissemination and modes of communication that people use and develop to represent their understanding of the world and shape power relations with others (Bezemer, Jewitt). In order to better understand this definition, I think it's important to know what semiotics are. Semiotics is the study of look/feel, of the nonverbal clues and or signals that we pick up on to give context to certain things. Social semiotics is the study of these signals and clues in relation to communication, such as facial expressions. We use social semiotics every day when we notice someone's emotion based on the sound of their voice.

According to the article, "Social Semiotics and Visual Grammar: A Contemporary Approach to Visual Text Research," there are rules associated with social semiotics called visual grammar. The rules of visual grammar include elements and structure, the position of participants, modality, composition, and materiality. Elements and structure are about the relationship between the person creating an image and the person viewing said image. The position of participants is a rule that concerns the interaction of the participants within the image, as well as the relationship with the viewer. Modality is the distinction between if an image is closer to reality, or closer to "fantasy." The composition is how all participants in the image are arranged. There are three ways to interpret composition: Information value, salience, and framing. Lastly, materiality is the use of color to illustrate meaning (Moerdisuroso).

Now that we have a basic understanding of social semiotics, let's take a look at some images through the lens of visual grammar.

Elements/Structure: This photo was taken during the Oregon wildfires less than a year ago. I have an understanding of the image as the participant (living in Oregon) and the creator (also a resident of Oregon). 

Modality: While the photo looks apocalyptic and fake, it provides more of a surprise that the image is real. Given you understand the repercussions of the Oregon wildfires.

Materiality: Adding to the modality of the image, the red lighting is the central element to making the photo look apocalyptic and somewhat wicked. The same would not be assumed if the lighting were yellow for example. 

Position of participants: Both workers are visibly exhausted by their body language shown. Neither of them is facing the camera, which also demonstrates their exhaustion by their failure to notice the photo being taken.

Composition: Both participants in the image are centered in the photo, highlighting their importance. Although the man sitting is closer to the camera, both workers are in focus in the image, demonstrating their equal effort.

Modality: The photo seems to unedited and of a real event. The realism of the photo adds to our empathy for the participants in the image.

Works Cited

Bezemer, Jeff, and Carey Jewitt. “Social Semiotics.” ResearchGate, Jan. 2009,         www.researchgate.net/publication/286459229_Social_Semiotics.

Moerdisuroso, Indro. “(PDF) Social Semiotics and Visual Grammar: A Contemporary Approach to Visual Text Research.” ResearchGate, Apr. 2017, www.researchgate.net/publication/323396576_Social_Semiotics_and_Visual_Grammar_A_Contemporary_Approach_to_Visual_Text_Research.

“Social Semiotics.” Glossary of Multimodal Terms, 22 Nov. 2012, multimodalityglossary.wordpress.com/social-semiotics/.