semiotic analysis

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Course code: CMM19

Assignment: Assessment Item 2: Semiotic Analysis

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Assessment Item 2: Semiotic Analysis of Patek Philippe Text

Signs and Sign Systems

The Patek Philippe advertisement (The World of Interiors, 2012, back cover) is comprised of a

full page image of a woman and girl sitting together drawing. The woman wears a Patek Philippe

watch and ring, also depicted in a smaller image in the bottom right corner. In the bottom left

corner is a description of the products and a contact number. The Patek Philippe logo and slogan

“Begin your own tradition” are in the top right corner. There is also a caption below the main

image “Something truly precious holds its beauty forever”.

If a text is a combination of signs (Thwaites et. al. 2002, p. 77) and a sign is something which

produces meanings (Thwaites et. al. 2002, p. 9), this advertisement is a piece of text and all the

components above signs. Studying the main image the reader immediately has a mental

impression, a “signifier”, as defined by Thwaites et. al., which creates an abstract concept, a

“signified” (2002, p. 31). yes

The woman leans towards the girl smiling, her arm circling the girl’s chair in a protective

manner. Watching the child drawing, her pencil is poised ready to help if needed. Both figures

are attractive and dressed in smart casual attire. Many possible signifieds, or connotations (Study

Guide CMM19 2013, p. 38), can be identified. These possibilities include femininity, elegance,

mother/daughter, innocence and affluence. Yes It is the line, “Something truly precious holds its

beauty forever”, that enables denotations to be determined. Yes Denotations are “the most stable

and objectively verifiable of connotations” (Thwaites et. al. 2002, p. 62). These words remove

ambiguity and anchor the image to the denotation (Study Guide CMM19 2013, p. 28). In this

case the mother and daughter drawing together signifies preciousness and beauty. Yes, good

analysis

Transferring the qualities of a girl onto jewellery is an example of a metaphor (Study Guide

CMM19 2013, p. 34). Yes The Patek Philippe products, like a child, are “truly precious and hold

their beauty forever”, and investing money in Patek Philippe is comparable to investing in one’s

children. The signifier of the sketchpad is another metaphor comparing the product to a piece of

art. The mother and daughter are a metonym as they are a part representing the whole (Study

Guide CMM19 2013, p. 34), in this case a family. yes

Having determined the denotations of the sign, the watch and rings can be classed as fetish items.

Yes but fetish objects displace hidden desires They are not necessities, but “designed to enhance

the consumer’s identity or lifestyle and to suggest hidden desires” (Study Guide CMM19 2013, p.

41). What is the hidden desire? This is supported by the syntagm, or the combination of signs

(Study Guide CMM19 2013, p. 22) that we see in this text. These signifiers were selected from a

paradigm, or range, of choices (Thwaites et. al. 2002, p. 43). They combine into a syntagm

signifying an affluent family full of beauty and preciousness. This is also an example of the

cultural imaginary (Study Guide CMM19 2013, p. 7). Readers aspire to own Patek Philippe

jewellery believing it will signify that they are now living the good life. Generally sound with

some very good points. You’ve missed an opportunity to analyse the hidden desire however.

Commutation Test

A commutation test is conducted to test the paradigmatic value of the signifiers in a text

changing or interchanging different elements of the signifiers present (Study Guide

CMM19 2013, p. 25). ✓ The signifier of the woman could be tested by altering her

appearance. Changing her hair colour from brown to blonde would not necessarily change the

connotation of elegance; however the sign would lose its meaning as a metonym for family and

the connotation of the mother/daughter relationship would not be so apparent. Thus the physical

appearance of the woman and child and the familial resemblance between the two has a high

certain paradigmatic value.

Another signifier that has a high paradigmatic value is the clothes that the mother is wearing.

Exchanging the simple, yet classic top she is currently wearing for a ratty tracksuit would not

alter the mother/daughter connotation, but would alter that of elegance and femininity and the

connotation of Patek Philippe as a luxury brand would disappear. But this is not a likely signifier

here.

A third commutation test could be carried out on the sketchpad as a signifier, replacing the

drawing with maths homework. Whilst the comparison drawn between the product and the

artwork could no longer take place, the connotations of family and beauty are not altered, nor is

the overall meaning of the text. The connotations of preciousness and beauty could still be

drawn, indicating that the paradigmatic value of the sketchpad is not as high as the appearance or

clothes of the people in the image. ✓

Good work.

The Gaze

The addresser and addressee are positions both constructed and linked by the text (Study Guide

CMM19 2013, p 11). In this case the authorial presence of the addresser is indirectly addressing

the reader. ✓ Both the woman and the girl are looking at the sketchpad in front of them, and

the reader “is given the role of voyeur” (Glossary of terms CMM19 2013, p. 6). Bearing witness

rather than voyeurism But however oblivious the woman is to the reader, she would be fully

aware of the image she is projecting: feminine and elegant, yet maternal. As a subject of the

male gaze she is constantly aware of how she appears and her capacity to be looked at by men

(Study Guide CMM19 2013, pp. 13-14). ✓

Sturken and Cartwright (2001, p. 76) suggest that women are presented as being either a sexual

being or a maternal figure by the media. ✓ The demure clothing and conservative hairstyle

chosen from a paradigm of signifiers suggest she is portraying the maternal figure. However she

is still very attractive according to modern conventions: slim and pretty, with a perfect, clear

complexion and glossy hair. Together with the young girl they “conform to a rigid set of

normative codes about beauty” and “go hand in hand with an image culture which incites

women, and increasingly men, to see themselves and their appearance as inadequate in some

way.” (Sturken & Cartwright 2001, p. 82). ✓

The addressee produced by the text is someone who aspires to the myths of beauty and affluence

in the text. A woman who reads the text is a female wishing to be the subject of the male gaze

(Study Guide CMM19 2013, p. 14).

Good work on the gaze, but more needed on the way the two figures are looking in terms of the maternal gaze.

Myth and Ideology

When analysing text, myths are metonyms; they are a single particular idea that ends up

representing everything in that system. (Thwaites et. al. 2002, p. 67)

Myths present in this text include the myth of female beauty, as identified by Dyer (1997, p. 122)

as “the white woman”, the myth of females being the nurturing sex, the myth of the innocence of

childhood and the myth of the good life. Also myth of the nurturing mother

The reader accepts these connotations and myths as normal and they fit together to form a

coherent pattern or ideology (O’Sullivan et. al. 1994, p. 287). ✓ In this case the ideology of the

perfect family. ✓ These myths and ideology ies naturalise the meaning of the perfect family to

being western and white, middle to upper middle class, with two parents of which the mother

takes on the role of nurturing and raising children.✓ avoid running myth and

ideology together. Do not give the impression that they are

one and the same thing

This is an example of binary opposition where the strategy of othering is used (Study Guide

CMM19 2013, pp. 31-32). This ideological family is set up as being normal or unmarked, whilst

any family that does not resemble this is abnormal or marked (Study Guide CMM19 2013, pp.

32-33). This results in the text excluding childless adults, families of other races, single-parent

families or families of lower classes as ever being classed as a perfect family.

Good work

Dominant, Negotiated, and Oppositional Readings

Reading the text at face value, accepting the interaction between the signs and making the

denotations as intended is considered a dominant reading of the text (Study Guide CMM19 2013,

p. 49). The preciousness and beauty of the watch and ring signified in the image is accepted by

the reader, as is the notion that Patek Philippe is a luxury brand and owning their jewellery will

equate to living an affluent lifestyle. The reader would also acknowledge the investment as

comparable to investing in something as precious as children and family. ✓

If “the myths portrayed are questioned” and the reader “does not completely inhabit the

addressee role” a negotiated reading is taking place (Thwaites et. al. 2002, p. 92). Reading this

text it could be acknowledged that wearing an expensive watch and jewellery may be a sign of

affluence, but that buying them does not necessarily make one affluent. The reader could also

start to question the comparison between family and jewellery; having an expensive watch and

ring does not ensure a perfect family. ✓

In an oppositional reading the myths present in the text are exposed and the addressee role is

rejected (Thwaites et. al. 2002, p. 92). The reader does not aspire to be a part of the ideological

perfect family, and recognises that buying a fetish object does not elevate anyone into a higher

class. Investing in luxury items is not attainable for everyone and non-affluent people who aspire

to these ideals would be better investing money in their family, not jewellery. ✓

Good.

Reference List

Patek Philippe advertisement, The World of Interiors, October 2012, back cover

Tony Thwaites, Lloyd Davis and Warwick Mules 2002, Introducing Cultural and Media Studies:

A Semiotic Approach, Palgrave, London.

Study Guide CMM19 Text and Culture 2013, School of Humanities, Griffith University,

Brisbane.

Glossary of terms CMM19 Text and Culture 2013, School of Humanities, Griffith University,

Brisbane.

Sturken, Marita and Cartwright, Lisa 2001, Practices of Looking: an Introduction to Visual

Culture, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

O’Sullivan, Tim et. al. 1994, Key Concepts in Communication and Cultural Studies, Routledge,

London.

Dyer, Richard 1997, 'The glow of the white woman', in Richard Dyer, White, Routledge,

London.

Your analysis needs to:

(i) identify and describe the signs and sign systems at work in the text, including any or all of the following: syntagms, paradigms, metonym, metaphor, connotations, denotations, icon/index/symbol, mode of address, binary oppositions, othering, intertextuality, ambiguity (500 words, 10 marks)

(ii) undertake a commutation test to test the paradigmatic value of one or more of the signifiers (250 words, 5 marks)

(iii) show how the gaze operates in the text (250 words, 5 marks) (iv) show how the text includes and excludes identities and meanings through myth and

ideology (250 words, 5 marks). (v) show how the text can be read in terms of dominant, negotiated, and oppositional readings

(250 words, 5 marks) (vi) Writing, referencing (-5 marks). Marks will be deducted (maximum of 5) for incorrect

grammar, spelling, punctuation, referencing, and essay composition.

This is a very good analysis. Covers most of the elements required and demonstrates strong grasp of

concepts.