:: Semiotics 1 ::

The I find it interesting that the study of semiotics hasn't really found mainstream adoption. People seem content to content to study linguistics, semantics, pragmatics, and so forth. Semiotics goes beyond those to more closely examine how meaning is communicated. Everything from written and spoken language, to strictly visual communication, to the observation of natural behavior can be interpereted as meaning. It is this method for creating individual meaning that has profound implications for many schools of thought. Semiotics touches in the areas of psychology, semantics, pragmatics, philosophy, arts, media, and of course linguistics. I would even argue the semiotics could have a large impact on theology and religious studies.

Links:
A little more on Ferdinand de Saussure.