The Concept of Semiotics

Umberto Eco defines Semiotics as “ Semiotics is concerned with everything that can be taken as a sign” (Eco, 1997, p. 7). Similarly, Hopkins (1998) suggested the semiotics as the studying of signs and sign systems that can be used as a tool for understanding the cultural creations. Jakobson (1968, p. 698) also stated that “Semiotics deals with those general principles which underlie the structure of all signs whatever and with the character of their utilization within messages, as well as with the specifics of the various sign systems and of the diverse messages using those different kinds of signs”.
However, the modern concepts of the semiotics come from Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913), a Swiss linguist, and Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914), an American philosopher, as a mainstream (Chandler, 2007). Saussure defined the term semiology as an “a science that studies signs within society” (Saussure, 1916, p. 16). As a linguist, he tried to analyze the sign systems as a linguistic way through the words and language (Echtner, 1999).

In contrast, the semiotic theory from Peirce included a broader meaning to understand not only for the textual objects but also for the non-textual objects (Metro-Roland, 2009). This was the aim for understanding the whole human experience (Echtner, 1999). He said that “All this universe is perfused with signs if it is not composed exclusively of signs” (Peirce, 1934, p. 302). To analyze our research question, we use a semiotic model by Charles Sanders Peirce. Peirce’s model Peirce (1955, p. 99) stated that “A sign . . . [in the form of a representamen] is something which stands to somebody for something in some respect or capacity. It addresses somebody, that is, creates in the mind of that person an equivalent sign, or perhaps a more developed sign.

That sign which it creates I call the interpretant of the first sign. The sign stands for something, its object. It stands for that object, not in all respects, but in reference to a sort of idea, which I have sometimes called the ground of the representamen.” Based on Peirce’s model of representation, the semiotic process has three core components: sign, object, and interpretant. Pennington & Thomsen (2010) suggested that analyses of representation should be realized that the relationship between sign and object as well as sign and interpretant could not be separated. Furthermore, the examination of the sign-object relationship must be considered as a beginning part of the semiotic process. Then, the signs can be classified as icon, index, and symbol to figure out the sign and object relationship.

Finally, the semiotic model highlights the collateral experience to understand the interpretation of the semiotic process. Collateral experience which means that when someone cognizes the sign, the person will use the previous knowledge for understanding the sign of the particular object. Peirce (1931-58, p. 8179) also defined the collateral experience as a “previous acquaintance with what the sign denotes ”. Therefore, the collateral experience can be applied in our research paper to perceive as a destination image which is based on someone’s past experience and prior knowledge with the specific place. Consequently, a combination of the objects, signs, interpretants, and collateral experience will be used for analyzing the case.