In Saussurean semiotics, the 'arbitrariness of the sign' means which of the following?
ASigns can mean whatever an individual reader chooses
BThe connection between signifier and signified is conventional rather than natural
CSigns have no stable meaning and constantly shift
DWritten language is less reliable than spoken language
Arbitrariness means the bond between the sound-image (signifier) and the concept (signified) is not motivated by resemblance or nature — there is no natural reason why the sounds 't-r-e-e' refer to the concept of a tree. Different languages use entirely different sounds for the same concept. But once a linguistic community adopts a convention, it becomes binding within that community. Arbitrariness explains variation across languages, not instability within a language.
Question 2 True / False
In Barthes's semiotics, 'myth' refers to ancient stories or folklore that cultures use to explain natural phenomena.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
Barthes uses 'myth' as a precise technical term for second-order signification — the process by which a culturally specific, historically contingent meaning is made to appear natural or universal. His examples are drawn from contemporary French consumer culture: a wrestling match, a detergent advertisement, a magazine cover. Myth is ideology that has forgotten it is ideology.
Question 3 Short Answer
What is the difference between first-order and second-order signification in Barthes's theory of myth?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: First-order signification is the ordinary relationship between a signifier (form) and its signified (concept) within a sign system. Second-order signification takes that complete first-order sign and uses it as the signifier for a new, ideologically loaded meaning — this is what Barthes calls myth.
The mechanism is layering. At the first level, a photograph of a saluting soldier is a photograph of a saluting soldier. At the second level, that whole sign becomes the signifier for 'French imperial unity.' The ideological work of myth is to make the second-order meaning look as natural and unmediated as the first — to hide the historical contingency of the ideology behind the apparent concreteness of the image.