B. Semiotic Connotation of Rolland Barthes
1. Definition of Semiotics
Although semiology or semiotics is a famous approach in analyzing life dimensions, such as art, culture, until photography and
fashion, the writing of semiology history is not that obvious as its application these days. As what told by Morris “the history of semiotics as
a whole yet remains to be written ”.
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Semiology can be etymologically related to semiotics. Therefore, Europe in 18
th
century was familiar to terms such as ‘semiotica’, ‘semiotique’, and ‘semiotica’ which indeed adopted formally from
medicine term as doctrine of symptoms. And those terms above related tightly to symptomatology. Even in Italia, term ‘semeiotica’ still largely
used by people nowadays
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. Whether semiotics or semiology, both are terms in linguistics
referred as study of signs. Both terms, as explained before in the earlier, are not significantly different each other. Both terms, each of each, only
represent different groups. Term ‘semiology’ is a common term used by those who inherit linguistics tradition of Ferdinad de Saussure. While
‘semiotics’ is a common term largely used by those who inherit thought of Charles Sanders Pierce. They who inherit the first are called Saussurian,
20
Panuti Sudjiman, Serba Serbi Semiotika, Jakarta : Gramedia pustaka Utama, 1992, p. 55.
21
Winfried NÖth, Handbook of Semiotics,Indiana Univ. Press, 1990, p. 11.
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and the second as piercian. Therefore, ‘semiotics’ is a synonym of ‘semiology’.
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The difference between both terms above can be traced back through the academic background of tradition and investigation. Term
‘semiology’ took root in linguistics tradition of Ferdinand de Saussure. While term ‘semiotics’ took root in philosophy tradition in 17
th
century when Johann Heinrich Lambert as discussed in the previous page used
the term as a synonym of term logic.
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Simply, semiology is a branch of linguistics which in general studies sign and everything related to it; the way it work, it relationship
with other signs, and also the process of encoding and decoding of the sign itself.
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2. Rolland Barthes Theory a.
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