An interpretation of “East Meets West： An Infographic Portrait” from the perspective of semiology

【Abstract】An article released in 2013 on The Atlantic about a Chinese-born German artists insight into Chinese and Western cultural differences have thrust into the spotlight. It vividly displays a collocation of illustrations in a contrastive way， presenting a sharp dichotomy between Chinese and Western way of perceiving objects and lifestyle. While these pictures contain signs with metaphors which convey the cultural differences， the process bears close relation to the science of semiology. This paper aims to analyze signs used in pictures and images presented to demonstrate Chinese and Western differences from the perspective of semiology， according to Roland Barthes theory， while also provide reasonable interpretations to the process of conveying the information beyond pictures to readers in the light of semiology.

【key words】semiology； signifier and signified； cultural difference； images and pictures

【作者簡介】肖越月，中国地质大学（北京）外国语学院英语系。

I. Semiotic views of Roland Barthes

In linguistics， Saussure first classified signs into tow parts. A sign is generally a compound of a signifier and a signified. Under this principle， Roland Barthes argues that signifiers build up the plane of expression and signifieds the plane of content. Semiotic signs go hand in hand with society as they derive from daily use， and they are used in a derivative way， to signify something. For instance， a stream of smoke （the signifier） might indicate a fire（the signified）； a knock at the door（the signifier） indicates there must be someone outside the door（the signified）. These can be concluded as semantization， a process that a physical form comes into expression.

Whats more， Barthes enters deeper in the signification and enrich Saussures theory to a large extent. Based on the ERC theory from Hjelmslev， he proposed the secondary signification system. It is a tow-layer system， with a sign in the first system and them morphing into a signifier in the second layer. During this process， a sign is not a single composition of signifier and signified but is taken organically as a signifier in the second system where the signified meaning appearing from the social-cultural background. Its called the signifying process of signs.

II. The secondary stage of interpreting pictures

The first picture includes images as follows： a man in his senility， a dog， and a child. They form the sign in the first system that denotes the picture an elderly in day-to-day life. Furthermore， the organic sign moves to the secondary system， which demonstrates the deeply rooted values set in Chinese and Westerners mind： an elderly left in solitude or accompanies by relatives. The seocnd one is interesting. It contains specific symbols ranging from profiles， food and beverage characterized by indigenous customs， and they set up the new signifier as a whole， namely the general perception. Finally in the secondary system， the signifier indicates the distinctions between the two nations perception of each other.

III. Conclusion

In pictorial， or graphic images， creators prefer to choose angles from an individual side， and construct images according to their own taste. Consequently， when interpreting signs like this we cannot be stuck in the first layer， where simple images are merely the expression and content of the sign. To be aware of the secondary system， we need to employ the sign （which consists of signifier and signified） in the first system to the secondary system， which is the signification process. The latter step is an elevated status of signs with their denotations unfolded. It is in the secondary system that the implicitness approach nearer to the reality and make sense.

It can be concluded that the signification is a process of semantization， because every language or semiotics unit is a semantic one. The unit cannot be separated from text， or any cultural background. Signifiers and signifieds are functioning with each other， and it is in this process that information is delivered and interpreted with accuracy.

References：

[1]Barthes，R.（1991）Mythologies[M].Trans.Annette Lavers.New York：The Noonday Press

[2]Barthes，R.（1967）Elements of Semiology[M].Trans.Annette Lavers& Colin Smith.London：Jonathan Cape，1967.

[3]Saussure，Ferdinand de.（1983）Course in General Linguistics[M].Trans.Roy Harris.London：Duckworth，1983.