A Comparative Analysis of Print Advertising Applying the Two Main Plastic Semiotics Schools: Barthes’ and Greimas’

Cian, Luca

A Comparative Analysis of Print Advertising Applying the Two Main Plastic Semiotics Schools: Barthes’ and Greimas’

Semiotica, Volume 2012, Issue 190, Pages 57–79, ISSN (Online) 1613-3692, ISSN (Print) 0037-1998, DOI: 10.1515/sem-2012-0039

24 Pages Posted: 10 Mar 2022 Last revised: 14 Feb 2022

See all articles by Luca Cian

Luca Cian

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business

Date Written: May 1, 2012

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze a specific printed advertisement from two different semiotic points of view. First, we apply the interpretative instruments provided by the Barthes’ school of thinking (focused on the description of explicit signs taken in isolation). We then attempt to explore the same print employing the prospective of Greimas’ structural semiotics (where a sign has meaning only when it is interpreted as part of a system).

Keywords: Greimas; Barthes; planar semiotic; semi-symbolic semiotic; advertising; work of art

JEL Classification: M37

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Cian, Luca, A Comparative Analysis of Print Advertising Applying the Two Main Plastic Semiotics Schools: Barthes’ and Greimas’ (May 1, 2012). Semiotica, Volume 2012, Issue 190, Pages 57–79, ISSN (Online) 1613-3692, ISSN (Print) 0037-1998, DOI: 10.1515/sem-2012-0039, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2420820