WEST VISAYAS STATE

UNIVERSITY
Reading Visual Arts (ENG 111)

Course Facilitator: Jonalyn Duhaylungsod

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 Unit 1: Reading Visual Art
Introduction:
Today, you live in a visually rich, screen-based
world. You regularly encounter and create meaning and
knowledge through images and visual media. Yet this
participation in a highly visual culture does not in itself
prepare you to engage critically and effectively with
images and media in an academic environment. You
complete your homework on one window of your
computer, send instant messages through a second
window, listen to a personalized playlist on your iPod, and watch television out of the
corner of your eye—simultaneously. You live in a world of almost constant
stimulation. Communication is frequent and multidimensional. You are often a
manipulator and creator of your own information and entertainment. Bombarded by
visual cues, you seem to translate images and information effortlessly, communing in
a conceptual world where “the thought’s the thing.” You also know that it can be
tough to compete with so many fascinating distractions. When a teacher stands in
front of the classroom and instructs you to open your textbook to page forty-seven
don’t excite or motivate you. In fact, some of you describe your adaptation from
independent, technology-based learning to traditional education formats as
“powering down” (Puttnam 2007). Educators know that you still must master
traditional subjects, but the way you learn continues to evolve.

In this unit, you will be guided to identify, evaluate, and critique different
visual texts using varied theoretical approaches.

Let us begin!

Learning Outcomes:
1. Identified and evaluated different signs and symbols found in the images
presented.
2. Critiqued and interpreted various forms of visual texts.

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 Activate Prior Knowledge

Why are courses related to media and visual literacy suddenly ubiquitous in many global
universities? Before we go into details, let us first look at how, according to Nessi (2015)
different generations are labelled on collections of loose generalizations.

In the table below, list down at least five (5) information you know of the different
generations indicated.

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 Checkpoint

Did you match right? Check out the answer key below.

 Idealist  Achieving a  More open-  Grew up playing

 Eager to learn work-life minded with their parents'
 Keen on balance  Liberal mobile phones or
personal  More peer-  Self-expressive tablets.
growth oriented  More focused  Have grown up in a
 Tend to be  Independent on materialistic hyper-connected
over-achievers  Very values world and the
 Associated with interested in  Extremely smartphone is their
rejection or technology comfortable preferred method
redefinition of  More with mobile of communication.
traditional informal devices but  Has
values  Digitally 32% will still entrepreneurial
 Biggest savvy and use a computer desire
consumers of spend for purchases.  Reading
traditional roughly 7  They typically competence is
media like hours a have multiple being transformed
television, week on social media due to their
radio, Facebook accounts. familiarity with
magazines, and digital devices
newspaper platforms and
texts.
 Determined

Were you able to finish the task? Did you have fun listing down your ideas?
Let us analyze why this activity is important.

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In your journal, answer the following questions and be ready to discuss these in the
face-to-face session. You have 20 minutes to write your answer.
 Which generation do your parents belong? Are the information listed tell
much about them? How about your generation? Are the information correct?
 What is the significance of your generation in today’s era?
 Why do you think this subject, Reading Visual Art, was introduced in your
generation?

Are you done? Now read through the lessons for this unit in the next few pages.

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 Acquire New Knowledge

A. Of Signs and Symbols

Signs & symbols are commonly used in everyday situations. They are used
to convey information in pictorial form. These have many advantages over written
instructions. People who talk different languages can understand the same common
signs. Instructions for some tasks can be clearer when given as drawings.

Kinds of Sign
 Directional Signs: indicates directions.
 Identifying Signs: name of a place or thing.
 Informational Signs: gives information.
 Restrictive or Prohibited: informational signs that
restricts the public from entering.

Symbols are abstract or geometric forms

which are associated with an idea. It can also mean as
pictograms.
Example of a symbol: a certain kind of cross
may stand for a hospital Pictograms are
based on recognizable objects closely associated
with the idea they communicate.

TAKE A BREAK!
Do the task below.

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B. Critical View of Visual Art

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 Visual texts are created using still or moving images. It may or may not contain
words. Examples of these are television, film, radio, advertising, billboards, the
Internet, computer games and programs, art works such as paintings, drawings,
sculptures, architecture, book covers, and illustrations.
Visual Text Comprehension

 Understanding images & words in the context it is being used.

o Bring life experiences & background knowledge to what is being
read/viewed.
 All visual texts are influenced by the cultures, values, ideologies and world
views in and through which they are created & consumed.
o Eg. Family photo in your home vs. A family portrait in a magazine
or
o Artists’ impression vs. housing agent’s view of a HDB estate
How to interpret visual texts?
We need to first identify the different elements that make up the text. These
include: images, colors, words – includes title, headlines, captions,
typographical features - type of font, font size, layout – spatial arrangement of
different elements in a text.

IMAGES

Images are mental representations, pictures of objects, people or animals or

any diagram that provides visual information. Images in a visual text may contain: •
People, animals or object participating in an action • Flow charts, maps or labelled
images showing a concept or an idea • Symbols or icons

MORE ON IMAGES…

Angles – looking down vs looking up

• Looking down at someone conveys a sense of power or control

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 • Looking up at a person or object can make us feel vulnerable
Framing – determines amount of information given to viewers
• Close-up shot – closer social relation, lesser details
• Long shot – distant relation, more details

WORDS (Includes titles, headlines, captions)

• Title – main topic of the poster
• Headline – main statement that tells the main message of the poster;
usually the text in the largest and boldest font
• Captions – It is the typed text under photographs explaining the image
and usually in one sentence

TYPOGRAPHICAL FEATURES
Font type and size
• Are the fonts in capital letters or non- capitalized letters?
• Are some words intentionally larger or smaller for any reason?
Why?
• Usually determines the reading paths of the reader/viewer.
• Reader/viewer will tend to be attracted to the larger fonts
used in the text.
• Usually for words that are meant for emphasis.
LAYOUT
• Placement of elements in text can influence the meaning of the image.

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 Types of placement:
• Top/bottom – top contains the ‘attention-grabber’; bottom contains new
information.

• Left/right – left side contains information that is understood; right side

presents new information

Note: not all of these ‘codes’ apply to every image – images are shaped according to
purpose and effect their creators wish to achieve.
Now let us check what you have learned in this module

Apply your Knowledge

Look at the different visual texts below and answer the following
questions.

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Assess your Knowledge

Choose any poster you like to analyze. You may cut it out from magazines,
newspapers or brochures. Do it on your journal. Follow the format presented below.

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What does the image show?
It shows a wheelchair bound man trying to get onto an elevator.
Who do you think are the intended audience?
The intended audience are people without disabilities
What is the headline trying to say to the audience?
The headline is asking audience to be more considerate to people with
disabilities.
What does “to him, it’s the only way” mean?
The wheelchair bound man has only one way to move around, which is to
use the elevator.
What memories and new thoughts do you have that connect to your own
life when you look at this poster?

What I Learned from this Unit

Sign is a symbol which is understood to refer to something other than itself

while Symbol is an object that represents, stands for or suggests an idea or visual
images.
There are different kinds of sign: Directional Signs: indicates directions;
Identifying Signs: name of a place or thing; Informational Signs: gives
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information; Restrictive or Prohibited: informational signs that restrict the public
from entering.
In this lesson, you have learned to analyze visual texts by learning how to
identify and read the different elements in visual texts. These include: images,
colors, words – includes title, headlines, captions, typographical features - type
of font, font size, layout – spatial arrangement of different elements in a text. You
also learned to identify the purpose and intended audience of various visual texts.

References:

https://www.slideshare.net/irishkayegordolan/signs-and-symbols-49918860

https://www.slideshare.net/MsSharonLim/visual-text-comprehension

https://www.slideshare.net/darteyeo/what-are-visual-texts-1e3

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 Unit 2: Semiotic and Multimodal
Approaches
Introduction:
In an era in which communication, within and
without school settings, is suffused with image-intensive
books, icon-laden screens, and streaming videos, the
ground that underlies the role of language in education
would seem to be shifting.

Kress (2000) writes, “The semiotic changes that

characterize the present and which are likely to
characterize the near future cannot be adequately
described and understood with currently existing theories
of meaning and communication.

These are based on language, and so quite obviously if language is no longer the
only or even the central semiotic mode, then theories of language can at best offer
explanations for one part of the communicational landscape only. (153)”

In this unit, you will keep this perspective in mind while we discuss the
different signs, symbols, and codes of semiotic and multimodal approaches.

Let us begin!

Learning Outcomes:
1. Identified and evaluated signs, symbols and other pertinent codes found in
the images presented
2. Identified, described and analyzed different multimodal texts.
3. Analyzed different texts using semiotics and multimodal.

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 Activate Prior Knowledge

Let us see how great you are in analyzing images. List down your analysis of the ad
campaign below.

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 Checkpoint

Did you match right? Check out the answer below.

Were you able to finish the task? Did you have fun?
Now read through the lessons for this unit in the next few pages.

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 Acquire New Knowledge

A. SEMIOTICS

1. COMPONENTS
We begin our journey through semiotics by looking at the fundamental
building blocks of language. Structuralists developed ideas and theories that
demonstrated the arbitrary nature of language and determined the necessary formal
conditions for languages to exist and develop. The study of art and design has
borrowed heavily from these ideas and here we begin to relate these to a visual
language that uses both text and image.

Saussure and Peirce

This new science was proposed in
the early 1900s by Ferdinand de
Saussure (1857–1913), a Swiss
professor of linguistics. At around the
same time an American philosopher
called Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–
1914) was developing a parallel study of
signs that he called semiotics. To avoid
confusion we will use the term semiotics
as it has become more widely known. Although they were working independently,
there were a number of fundamental similarities in both of their studies. Both
Saussure and Peirce saw the sign as central to their studies. Both were primarily
concerned with structural models of the sign, which concentrated on the relationship
between the components of the sign. For both Saussure and Peirce, it is this
relationship between the components of the sign that enables us to turn signals, in
whatever form they appear, into a message which we can understand. Although they
used different terminology, there are clear parallels between the two descriptions of
these models. However, there are also key differences between the studies. The
most significant difference is that Saussure’s study was exclusively a linguistic study
and as a result he showed little interest in the part that the reader plays in the
process. This was a major part of Peirce’s model, as we shall see when we look at

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how meaning is formed in chapter two. There are three main areas that form what
we understand as semiotics: the signs themselves; the way they are organized
into systems and the context in which they appear. The underlying principles, which
have become the cornerstone of modern semiotics, were first heard by students of
Saussure in a course in linguistics at the University of Geneva between 1906 and
1911. Saussure died in 1913 without publishing his theories and it was not until 1915
that the work was published by his students as the ‘Cours de Linguistique Générale’
(Course in General Linguistics).

Crosses
A variety of different crosses.
The meaning of each cross is
dependent on its context for its
meaning.
1. The cross of St. Julian
2. The cross of St. George
3. The Red Cross
4. No stopping sign (UK)
5. Positive Terminal
6. Hazardous chemical
7. Do not wring
8. No smoking

LINGUISTIC SIGNS
According to Saussure, language is constructed from a small set of units called
phonemes. These are the sounds that we use in a variety of combinations to
construct words. These noises can only be judged as language when they attempt to
communicate an idea. To do this they must be part of a system of signs. The
meaning of the individual units (the phonemes), which make up language, has been
sacrificed in order to give a limitless number of meanings on a higher level as they
are reassembled to form words. The word ‘dog’, for example, has three phonemes:
d, o and g. In written form, the letters ‘d’, ‘o’ and ‘g’ represent the sounds. In turn,
these words then represent objects or, more accurately, a mental picture of objects.
What Saussure outlined is a system of representation. In this system a letter, for

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example the letter ‘d’, can represent a sound. A collection of letters (a word) is used
to represent an object. Each of these examples contains the two fundamental
elements which make up a sign: the signifier and the signified. A word became
known as a signifier and the object it represented became the signified. A sign is
produced when these two elements are brought together.

2. HOW MEANING IS FORMED

This lesson looks at the various ways in which meaning is formed in a sign. Both
Saussure and Peirce agreed that in order to understand how we extract meaning
from a sign we need to understand the structure of signs. To help us do this they
categorized signs in terms of the relationships within the structures.
Peirce defined three categories of signs:
Icon – This resembles the sign. A photograph of someone could be described as
an iconic sign in that it physically resembles the thing it represents. It is also possible
to have iconic words, where the sound resembles the thing it represents.
Onomatopoeic words like 'bang' or 'woof' could be described as iconic language.
Index – There is a direct link between the sign and the object. In this category,
smoke is an index of fire and a tail is an index of a dog. Traffic signs in the street are

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index signs: they have a direct link to the physical reality of where they are placed,
such as at a junction or at the brow of a hill.
Symbol – These signs have no logical connection between the sign and what it
means. They rely exclusively on the reader having learnt the connection between the
sign and its meaning. The Red Cross is a symbol that we recognize to mean aid.
Flags are symbols that represent territories or organizations. The letters of the
alphabet are symbolic signs whose meanings we have learnt. As a linguist, Saussure
was not interested in index signs; he was primarily concerned with words. Words are
symbolic signs. In the case of onomatopoeic words, they can also be iconic signs.
Saussure categorized signs in two ways, which are very similar to the categories
used by Peirce: Iconic – These are the same as Peirce's icons. They resemble the
thing they represent. Arbitrary – These are the same as Peirce's symbols. The
relationship between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary. It functions through
agreed rules.

Signs
1. This sign for a shopping center in Manchester is signposted using an iconic sign,
which depends on local knowledge.
2. An index/symbol. The danger of fire is linked to the forest through its physical
position (the sign is on the edge of the forest) and by the use of an ideogram of a
tree.
3. The Red Cross and the subsequent words are all symbols. The reader will have
had to learn the correct coding of all these signs in order to understand their
meanings.

Creator: Dorothy
Title: A Dead Thoughtful Product
Exemplifies: Icon/Value

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 Dorothy designed a set of alternative
Christmas decorations to encourage people to
stop for a second and think about what's
happening elsewhere in the world at
Christmas. The aim of the decorations was to
highlight the effect global conflict has on
communities. The limited-edition ‘Xmas
Declarations’ were packaged in sets of six. For
each pack sold, a donation was made to the
youth initiative to support its campaign
against global conflict. The silver decoration is
unmistakable as an iconic signifier for a hand
grenade. It is made more realistic by its
metallic finish and by its reproduction at a
size not dissimilar from the weapon it represents. The potency of the signifier makes
the relationship between the Christmas tree and the signified all the more powerful.
The message the designers intended is communicated through this transfer of value
from one sign to the other. As Saussure stated, the value of a sign comes from the
other signs around it.

3. READING THE SIGN

The transfer of meaning from author to reader is not a one-way process, but
a process of creative exchange between author and reader. We introduce Roland
Barthes’ idea that semiotics takes in any system of signs, and the idea of a visual
language. This unit moves through a number of theoretical terms, helping us to
appreciate the several layers of meaning to a sign and to understand how the reader
interprets the way a sign is expressed.
In Europe, it was Roland Barthes, a follower of
Saussure, who took the theoretical debate forward. In the
1960s, Barthes developed Saussure’s ideas so that we
could consider the part played by the reader in the
exchange between themselves and the content. For Barthes the science of signs
takes in much more than the construction of words and their representations.
Semiotics takes in any system of signs, whatever the content or limits of the system.
Images, sounds, gestures and objects are all part of systems that have semiotic

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meanings. In the 1960s, Barthes described complex associations of signs that form
entertainment, ritual and social conventions. These may not normally be described
as language systems but they are certainly systems of signification. Whereas
Saussure saw linguistics as forming one part of semiotics, Barthes turned this idea
upside down and suggested that semiotics, the science of signs, was in fact one part
of linguistics. He saw semiotics as: ‘… the part covering the great signifying unities of
discourse’. 2 Barthes pointed out that there was a significant role to be played by the
reader in the process of reading meaning. To do this he applied linguistic concepts to
other visual media that carry meaning. Like Saussure and Peirce before him, Barthes
identified structural relationships in the components of a sign. His ideas center on
two different levels of signification: denotation and connotation

Denotation and connotation

This first order of signification is straightforward. It refers to the physical reality
of the object that is signified. In other words, a photograph of a child represents a
child. No matter who photographs the child and how they are photographed, in this
first order of signification, they still just represent ‘child’. Even with a range of very
different photographs the meanings are identical at the denotative level. In reality,
we know that the use of different film, lighting or framing changes the way in which
we read the image of the child. A grainy black-and-white or sepia-toned image of a
child could well bring with it ideas of nostalgia; a soft focus might add sentiment to
the reading of the image and a close-up crop of the face could encourage us to
concentrate on the emotions experienced by the child. All these differences are
happening on the second level of signification, which Barthes called connotation.
The reader is playing a part in this process by applying their knowledge of the
systematic coding of the image. In doing this, the meaning is affected by the
background of the viewer. Like Peirce’s model, this humanizes the entire process.
Connotation is arbitrary in that the meanings brought to the image are based on
rules or conventions that the reader has learnt. The consistent use of soft focus, for

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example, in film and advertising has found its way into our consciousness to the
degree that it is universally read as sentimental. As conventions vary from one
culture to another, then it follows that the connotative effect of the conventions, the
rules on how to read these images, will also vary between communities.

TAKE A BREAK!
Do the task below in your journal.

Can you recall what you have read?

Let us test your recall.
Analyze the image for meaning by taking apart all the various components
and applying semiotic analysis. You should consider the signifiers and the signified,
connotations and denotations negotiated and preferred meaning and how they all go
together to make a system of meaning that your audience will understand.
You may browse the previous pages if you cannot do it!
Now you are ready for your new lesson.

B. MULTIMODALITY OF TEXTS

What is a multimodal text?

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 While the development of
multimodal literacy is strongly
associated with the growth of digital
communication technologies,
multimodal is not synonymous with
digital. The choice of media for
multimodal text creation is therefore
always an important consideration.
A multimodal text can be paper – such as books, comics, and posters.
A multimodal text can be digital – from slide presentations, e-books, blogs, e-
posters, web pages, and social media, through to animation, film and video games.
A multimodal text can be live – a performance or an event.
And, a multimodal text can be transmedia– where the story is told using
‘multiple delivery channels’ through a combination of media platforms, for example,
book, comic, magazine, film, web series, and video game mediums all working as
part of the same story. Transmedia is a contested term and Henry Jenkins is worth
reading for more background. Jenkins argues that transmedia is more than just
multiple media platforms; it is about the logical relations between these media
extensions which seek to add something to the story as it moves from one medium
to another, not just adaptation or retelling. Transmedia enables the further
development of the story world through each new medium; for example offering a
back story, a prequel, additional ‘episodes’, or further insight into characters and plot
elements. (Jenkins, 2011). It also can require a more complex production process.

The multimodal text examples here describe different media possibilities –

both digital and on paper and provide links to examples of student work and
production guides.

Print-based multimodal texts include comics, picture storybooks, graphic

novels; and posters, newspapers and brochures.

Digital multimodal texts include slide presentations, animation, book

trailers, digital storytelling, live-action filmmaking, music videos, ‘born digital’
storytelling, and various web texts and social media. The level of digital technology
requirements range from very simple options such as slide presentations through to

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complex, sophisticated forms requiring a higher level of technical and digital media
skills. The choice is yours depending on your skill and experience, level of
confidence, and the resources and tools available to you.

A text may be defined as multimodal when it combines two or more semiotic

systems.
Linguistic: vocabulary, structure, grammar of oral/written language
Visual: color, vectors and viewpoint in still and moving images
Audio: volume, pitch and rhythm of music and sound effects
Gestural: movement, facial expression and body language
Spatial: proximity, direction, position of layout, organization of objects in space.

All five semiotic systems combine to convey meaning in a series of panels. Thanks to
Di Laycock for generously sharing her slide. Image: McCloud, S 1994, Understanding
comics: The invisible art, HarperPerennial, New York, p. 68.

Apply your Knowledge

Graphic Novel Analysis

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Now that you are familiar with the multimodality of texts, identify the different
semiotic systems and analyze its component parts such as the presence of signifiers
and signified found in the comic strip below.

___________________________________________________________
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Assess your Knowledge

Choose any multimodal text available and analyze it for meaning by taking
apart all the various components and applying semiotic analysis. You should consider
the signifiers and the signified, connotations and denotations negotiated and
preferred meaning and how they all go together to make a system of meaning that

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your audience will understand. Identify also semiotic systems. Do this task in your
journal.
You may open this link for referral.
https://ritajarrous.wordpress.com/2015/06/01/analysis-of-diet-pepsi-print-advertisement/

What I Learned from this Unit

Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols. It looks how signs and symbols are
used to communicate and develop interpretations. It is derived from the Greek word
“semeiotikos” which means an observant of signs.

ADVANTAGES OF SEMIOTICS
 Allows us to break down a message into its component parts and examine
them separately and in relationship to one another.
 Allows us to look for patterns across different forms of communication.
 Helps us to understand how our cultural and social conventions relate to the
communication we create and consume.
 Helps us to get beyond the obvious which may not be obvious after all.

FAMOUS THEORISTS
 FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE
 He was a Swiss linguistic who created the term “semiotics”.
 He distinguished between signifier and signified.
o SIGNIFIER AND SIGNIFIED
Sign is made up of:
 Signifier • The image or sound that gives a meaning e.g. blue
colour
 Signified • The concept or meaning that the sign refers to e.g.
blue colour is often associated with sadness or the sea.
 Therefore for a sign to be considered a sign it must have a signifier and the
signified

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  Saussure argues that words are verbal signifiers that are personal to whoever
is interpreting them.
 A signifier can have many different representations which can turn into a
different sign

 CHARLES PIERCE
 He was born on 10 September 1839.
 He followed a career in math , philosophy and was a logician.
o PIERCE ARGUMENT
 Every thought is a sign and every act or reasoning of the
interpretation of signs
 Signs function as mediators between the external world of objects and
the internal world or ideas.
 Semiotics is the process of co-operation between signs, their objects
and their interpretants.
FORMS OF SIGN
 ICON
 The signifier is perceived as resembling the signified.
 A pictorial representation, a photograph, an architect’s model of a
building is all icons because they imitate or copy aspects of their
subjects
 INDEX
 An index has a factual or casual connection that points towards a
subject.
 Example • A nest image is an icon but also an index of a bird.
 SYMBOL
 A symbol has an arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the
signified.
 The interpreter understands the symbol through previous knowledge
and experience.
 Spoken or written words are symbols.
 For example flags.

 ROLAND BARTHES

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  He was a French literary theorist, critic and like Saussure was also interested
in semiotics.
 His semiotic theory focuses on how signs and photographs represent different
cultures and ideologies in different ways.
 These messages are established in two ways through: Denotation • The
literal meaning of the sign. Connotation • The suggested meaning of the sign
and the cultural conventions associated with the sign.

MODE is a socially shaped and culturally given semiotic resource for making
meaning. Image, writing, layout, music, gesture, speech, moving image, soundtrack,
and 3D objects are examples of modes used in representation and communication.
(Kress 2010) In fact, it is now no longer possible to understand language and its
uses without understanding the effect of all modes of communication that are co-
present in any text. (Kress 2000).

MULTIMODALITY is a new and rapidly developing sub-field of communication

studies which looks beyond language to the multiple modes of communicating or
making meaning - from images to sound and music. Kress (2010) says ‘The world of
meaning has always been multimodal. Now, for a variety of reasons, that realization
is once again moving center-stage.’ Different kinds of modes that we take in
information from other people (Mamiko, 2010). Multimodality is understanding how
meaning is constructed (Barney, 2010).

References:

AVA Book. (2010).Visible Signs: An Introduction to Semiotics in the Visual Arts . (2nd
ed). SA Rue des Fontenailles 16 Case Postale 1000 Lausanne 6 Switzerland. AVA
Publishing SA 2010

Ho et al. (2011). Transforming Literacies and Language Multimodality and Literacy in

the New Media Age. The Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane 11 York Road Suite 704
London SE1 7NX New York, NY 10038. Continuum International Publishing Group
https://creatingmultimodaltexts.com/

28 |READING VISUAL ARTS

https://sites.google.com/site/aismultimodaltext/1-what-is-multimodal-text

https://resourcelinkbce.wordpress.com/tag/multimodal-texts/

Unit 3: SOCIOLOGICAL
ANALYSIS OF VISUAL TEXTS
Introduction:
Visual sociology is an area of sociology concerned with the visual dimensions
of social life. It is the study of role of
sight and vision in the construction of
social organization and meaning; Iconic
Communication, or the study of how
spontaneous and deliberate
construction of images and imagery
communicate information and can be
used to manage relationships in society. Doing Sociology Visually, or concerned with
how techniques of producing and decoding images can be used to empirically
investigate social organization, cultural meaning and psychological processes.

In this unit, you will be exploring different visual texts in the society and learn
how to analyze such.

Let us begin!

Learning Outcomes:
1. Identified and discussed sociological approach.
2. Manifested awareness and demonstrated skills by analyzing visual texts about
people and the society.

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 Activate Prior Knowledge

Let’s check how much do you know. Write your answer before the number.
A. Discrimination F. Racism
B. Group G. Sexism
C. Ingroup bias H. Social categorization
D. Modern racism I. Stereotype
E. Prejudice J. Implicit racism

_____1. Prejudice and discrimination based on a person's racial background, or

institutional and cultural practices that promote the domination of one racial group
over another.
_____2. Prejudice and discrimination based on a person's gender, or institutional and
cultural practices that promote the domination of one gender over another.
_____3. A belief or association that links a whole group of people with certain traits
or characteristics
_____4. Negative feelings toward persons based on their membership in certain
groups
_____5. Behavior directed against persons because of their membership in a
particular group
_____6. A form of prejudice that surfaces in subtle ways when it is safe, socially
acceptable, and easy to rationalize
_____7. Like own group more, try to stop the other group from achieving, people
are more likely to take personal losses if it means they will do better than outgroup
_____8. Positive feelings and special treatment for people we have defined as being
part of out ingroup and negative feelings and unfair treatment for others simply
because we have defined them as being in the outgroup
_____9. Two or more persons perceived as related because of their interactions,
membership in the same social category, or common fate
_____10. Racism that operates unconsciously and unintentionally

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 Checkpoint

Did you match right? Check out the answer below.

1. F
2. G
3. I
4. E
5. A
6. D
7. H
8. C
9. B
10. J

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Are you done? Now read through the lessons for this unit in the next few pages.

Acquire New Knowledge

A. THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

Sociology it is the study of society, patterns of social relationships, social
interaction and culture of everyday life using the principles of psychology
neuroscience and network science. It is a social science that uses various methods of
empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about
social order, acceptance, and change or social evolution.
The different traditional focuses of sociology include social stratification,
social class, social mobility, religion, secularization, law, sexuality, gender, and
deviance. As all spheres of human activity are affected by the interplay between
social structure and individual agency, sociology has gradually expanded its focus to
other subjects, such as health, medical, economy, military and penal institutions, the
Internet, education, social capital, and the role of social activity in the development
of scientific knowledge.
The range of social scientific methods has also expanded. Social researchers
draw upon a variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques. The linguistic and
cultural arts turns of the mid-20th century led to increasingly interpretative,
hermeneutic, and philosophic approaches towards the analysis of society.
Conversely, the end of 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s have seen the rise of
new analytically, mathematically, and computationally rigorous techniques, such as
agent-based modelling and social network analysis.
Social research policy makers, educators, planners, legislators, administrators,
developers, business magnates, managers, social workers, non-governmental
organizations, non-profit organization, and people interested in resolving social
issues in general, There is often a great deal of crossover between social research,
market research, and other statistical fields.
The sociological perspective is important because it provides a different way
of looking at familiar worlds. It allows us to gain a new vision of social life. This
perspective stresses the broader social context of behavior by looking at individuals’

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social location, employment, income, education, gender, age, and race –and by
considering external influences –people’s experiences –which are internalized and
become part of a person’s thinking and motivations. We are able to see the links
between what people do and the social settings that shape their behavior. The
sociological perspective enables us to analyze and understand both the forces that
contribute to the emergence and growth of the global village and our unique
experiences in our own smaller corners of this village.

Subject Matter of Sociology

Sociological analysis: An analysis of human society and culture with a sociological
perspective. It is the study of primary units of social life: It is concerned with social
acts and social relationships, individual personality, groups, communities,
associations, organizations and populations.

B. STEREOTYPES, PREJUDICE, AND DISCRIMINATION

Contemporary increases in globalization and immigration are leading to more
culturally diverse populations in many countries. These changes will create many
benefits for society and for the individuals within it. Gender, cultural, sexual
orientation, and ethnic diversity can improve creativity and group performance,
facilitate new ways of looking at problems, and allow multiple viewpoints on
decisions (Cunningham, 2011; Mannix & Neale, 2005; van Knippenberg & Schippers,
2007).
The principles of social psychology, including the ABCs—affect, behavior, and
cognition—apply to the study of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination, and
social psychologists have expended substantial research efforts studying these
concepts. The cognitive component in our perceptions of group members is
the stereotype—the positive or negative beliefs that we hold about the
characteristics of social group. We may decide that “French people are romantic,”
that “old people are incompetent,” or that “college professors are absent minded.”
And we may use those beliefs to guide our actions toward people from those groups.
In addition to our stereotypes, we may also develop prejudice—an unjustifiable
negative attitude toward an outgroup or toward the members of that outgroup.
Prejudice can take the form of disliking, anger, fear, disgust, discomfort, and even

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hatred—the kind of affective states that can lead to behavior such as the gay
bashing you just read about. Our stereotypes and our prejudices are problematic
because they may create discrimination—unjustified negative behaviors toward
members of outgroups based on their group membership.

Social Categorization and Stereotyping

Thinking about others in terms of their group memberships is known
as social categorization—the natural cognitive process by which we place
individuals into social groups. Social categorization occurs when we think of someone
as a man (versus a woman), an old person (versus a young person), a Black person
(versus an Asian or White person), and so on (Allport, 1954/1979). Just as we
categorize objects into different types, so do we categorize people according to their
social group memberships. Once we do so, we begin to respond to those people
more as members of a social group than as individuals.

Social categorization is occurring all around us all the time. Indeed, social
categorization occurs so quickly that people may have difficulty not thinking about
others in terms of their group memberships.

If you are like most people, you will have

a strong desire to categorize this person as
either male or female. Source: Chillin by Sabrina
C. used under CC BY 2.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

The tendency to categorize others is

often quite useful. In some cases, we categorize
because doing so provides us with information
about the characteristics of people who belong to certain social groups (Lee, Jussim,
& McCauley, 1995). If you found yourself lost in a city, you might look for a police
officer or a taxi driver to help you find your way. In this case, social categorization
would probably be useful because a police officer or a taxi driver might be
particularly likely to know the layout of the city streets. Of course, using social
categories will only be informative to the extent that the stereotypes held by the
individual about that category are accurate. If police officers were actually not that

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knowledgeable about the city layout, then using this categorization heuristic would
not be informative.
Although thinking about others in terms of their social category memberships
has some potential benefits for the person who does the categorizing, categorizing
others, rather than treating them as unique individuals with their own unique
characteristics, has a wide variety of negative, and often very unfair, outcomes for
those who are categorized.
One problem is that social categorization distorts our perceptions such that we tend
to exaggerate the differences between people from different social groups while at
the same time perceiving members of groups (and particularly outgroups) as more
similar to each other than they actually are. This overgeneralization makes it more
likely that we will think about and treat all members of a group the same way.

Once we begin to see the members of outgroups as more similar to each

other than they actually are, it then becomes very easy to apply our stereotypes to
the members of the groups without having to consider whether the characteristic is
actually true of the particular individual. If men think that women are all alike, then
they may also think that they all have the same positive and negative
characteristics (e.g., they’re nurturing, emotional). And women may have similarly
simplified beliefs about men (e.g., they’re strong, unwilling to commit). The outcome
is that the stereotypes become linked to the group itself in a set of mental
representations. The stereotypes are “pictures in our heads” of the social groups
(Lippman, 1922). These beliefs just seem right and natural, even though they are
frequently distorted overgeneralizations (Hirschfeld, 1996; Yzerbyt, Schadron,
Leyens, & Rocher, 1994).
Stereotypes are the beliefs
associated with social categories. The
figure shows links between the social
category of college professors and its
stereotypes as a type of neural
network or schema. The
representation also includes one
image (or exemplar) of a particular
college professor whom the student knows. Image courtesy of Dan Gilbert.

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 Although in some cases the stereotypes that are used to make judgments
might actually be true of the individual being judged, in many other cases they are
not. Stereotyping is problematic when the stereotypes we hold about a social group
are inaccurate overall, and particularly when they do not apply to the individual who
is being judged (Stangor, 1995). Stereotyping others is simply unfair. Even if many
women are more emotional than are most men, not all are, and it is not right to
judge any one woman as if she is.
In the end, stereotypes become self-fulfilling prophecies, such that our
expectations about the group members make the stereotypes come true (Snyder,
Tanke, & Berscheid, 1977; Word, Zanna, & Cooper, 1974). Once we believe that
men make better leaders than women, we tend to behave toward men in ways that
makes it easier for them to lead. And we behave toward women in ways that makes
it more difficult for them to lead. The result? Men find it easier to excel in leadership
positions, whereas women have to work hard to overcome the false beliefs about
their lack of leadership abilities (Phelan & Rudman, 2010). This is likely why female
lawyers with masculine names are more likely to become judges (Coffey &
McLaughlin, 2009) and masculine-looking applicants are more likely to be hired as
leaders than feminine-looking applicants (von Stockhausen, Koeser, Sczesny, 2013).

Ingroup Favoritism and Prejudice

Dividing people into arbitrary groups produces ingroup favoritism—the

tendency to respond more positively to people from our ingroups than we do to
people from outgroups.
Ingroup favoritism has a number of causes. For one, it is a natural part of
social categorization; we categorize into ingroups and outgroups because it helps us
simplify and structure our environment. It is easy, and perhaps even natural, to
believe in the simple idea that “we are better than they are.” People who report that
they have strong needs for simplifying their environments also show more ingroup
favoritism (Stangor & Leary, 2006).
Ingroup favoritism also occurs at least in part because we belong to the
ingroup and not the outgroup (Cadinu & Rothbart, 1996). We like people who are
similar to ourselves, and we perceive other ingroup members as similar to us. This
also leads us to favor other members of our ingroup, particularly when we can

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clearly differentiate them from members of outgroups. We may also prefer ingroups
because they are more familiar to us (Zebrowitz, Bronstad, & Lee, 2007).
But the most important determinant of ingroup favoritism is simple self-
enhancement. We want to feel good about ourselves, and seeing our ingroups
positively helps us do so (Brewer, 1979). Being a member of a group that has
positive characteristics provides us with the feelings of social identity—the
positive self-esteem that we get from our group memberships. When we can identify
ourselves as a member of a meaningful social group (even if it is a relatively trivial
one), we can feel better about ourselves.
We are particularly likely to show ingroup favoritism when we are threatened
or otherwise worried about our self-concept (Maner et al., 2005; Solomon,
Greenberg, & Pyszczynski, 2000). And people express higher self-esteem after they
have been given the opportunity to derogate outgroups, suggesting that
ingroup favoritism does make us feel good (Lemyre & Smith, 1985; Rubin &
Hewstone, 1998). Furthermore, when individuals feel that the value of their ingroup
is being threatened, they respond as if they are trying to regain their own self-
worth—by expressing more positive attitudes toward ingroups and more negative
attitudes toward outgroups (Branscombe, Wann, Noel, & Coleman, 1993; Spears,
Doosje, & Ellemers, 1997). Fein and Spencer (1997) found that participants
expressed less prejudice after they had been given the opportunity to affirm and
make salient an important and positive part of their own self-concept. In short, when
our group seems to be good, we feel good; when our group seems to be bad, we
feel bad.

Reducing Discrimination
We have seen that social categorization is a basic part of human nature and
one that helps us to simplify our social worlds, to draw quick (if potentially
inaccurate) conclusions about others, and to feel good about ourselves. In many
cases, our preferences for ingroups may be relatively harmless—we may prefer to
socialize with people who share our race or ethnicity for instance, but without
particularly disliking the others. But categorizing others may also lead to prejudice
and discrimination, and it may even do so without our awareness. Because prejudice
and discrimination are so harmful to so many people, we must all work to get
beyond them.
Discrimination influences the daily life of its victims in areas such as
employment, income, financial opportunities, housing and educational opportunities,
36 |READING VISUAL ARTS
and medical care. Even with the same level of education and years of experience,
ethnic minorities in Canada are 40% less likely to receive callbacks for an interview
following a job application (Oreopolous, 2011). Blacks have higher mortality rates
than Whites for eight of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States
(Williams, 1999) and have less access to and receive poorer-quality health care, even
controlling for other variables such as level of health insurance. Suicide rates among
lesbians and gays are substantially higher than rates for the general population, and
it has been argued that this in part due to the negative outcomes of prejudice,
including negative attitudes and resulting social isolation (Halpert, 2002). And in
some rare cases, discrimination even takes the form of hate crimes such as gay
bashing.
More commonly, members of minority groups also face a variety of small
hassles, such as bad service in restaurants, being stared at, and being the target of
jokes (Swim, Hyers, Cohen, Fitzgerald, & Bylsma, 2003). But even these everyday
“minor” forms of discrimination can be problematic because they may produce anger
and anxiety among stigmatized group members and may lead to stress and other
psychological problems (Klonoff, Landrine, & Campbell, 2000; Klonoff, Landrine, &
Ullman, 1999). Stigmatized individuals who report experiencing more exposure to
discrimination or other forms of unfair treatment also report more depression, anger,
and anxiety and lower levels of life satisfaction and happiness (Swim, Hyers, Cohen,
& Ferguson, 2001).
Of course, most of us do try to keep our stereotypes and our prejudices out
of mind, and we work hard to avoid discriminating (Richeson & Shelton, 2007). But
even when we work to keep our negative beliefs under control, this does not mean
that they easily disappear. Neil Macrae and his colleagues (Macrae, Bodenhausen,
Milne, & Jetten, 1994) asked British college students to write a paragraph describing
a skinhead (a member of a group that is negatively stereotyped in England). One
half of the participants were asked to be sure to not use their stereotypes when they
were judging him, whereas the other half simply wrote whatever came to mind.
Although the participants who were asked to suppress their thoughts were able to do
it, this suppression didn’t last very long. After they had suppressed their stereotypes,
these beliefs quickly popped back into mind, making it even more likely that they
would be used immediately later.
But stereotypes are not always and inevitably activated when we encounter
people from other groups. We can and we do get past them, although doing so may

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take some effort on our part (Blair, 2002). There are a number of techniques that we
can use to try to improve our attitudes toward outgroups, and at least some of them
have been found to be effective. Kawakami, Dovidio, Moll, Hermsen, and Russin
(2000) found that students who practiced responding in nonstereotypical ways to
members of other groups became better able to avoid activating their negative
stereotypes on future occasions. And a number of studies have found that we
become less prejudiced when we are exposed to and think about group members
who have particularly positive or nonstereotypical characteristics. For instance, Blair,
Ma, and Lenton (2001) asked their participants to imagine a woman who was
“strong” and found that doing so decreased stereotyping of women. Similarly,
Bodenhausen, Schwarz, Bless, and Wanke (1995) found that when White American
students thought about positive Black role models—such as Oprah Winfrey and
Michael Jordan—they became less prejudiced toward Blacks.
Reducing Discrimination by Changing Social Norms
One variable that makes us less prejudiced is education. People who are
more educated express fewer stereotypes and prejudice in general. This is true for
students who enroll in courses that are related to stereotypes and prejudice, such as
a course on gender and ethnic diversity (Rudman, Ashmore, & Gary, 2001), and is
also true more generally—education reduces prejudice, regardless of what particular
courses you take (Sidanius, Sinclair, & Pratto, 2006).
The effects of education on reducing prejudice are probably due in large part
to the new social norms that people are introduced to in school. Social norms define
what is appropriate and inappropriate, and we can effectively change stereotypes
and prejudice by changing the relevant norms about them. Jetten, Spears, and
Manstead (1997) manipulated whether students thought that the other members of
their university favored equal treatment of others or believed that others thought it
was appropriate to favor the ingroup. They found that perceptions of what the other
group members believed had an important influence on the beliefs of the individuals
themselves. The students were more likely to show ingroup favoritism when they
believed that the norm of their ingroup was to do so, and this tendency was
increased for students who had high social identification with the ingroup.
The influence of social norms is powerful, and long-lasting changes in beliefs
about outgroups will occur only if they are supported by changes in social norms.
Prejudice and discrimination thrive in environments in which they are perceived to be
the norm, but they die when the existing social norms do not allow it. And because

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social norms are so important, the behavior of individuals can help create or reduce
prejudice and discrimination. Discrimination, prejudice, and even hate crimes such as
gay bashing will be more likely to continue if people do not respond to or confront
them when they occur.

C. CONTENT ANALYSIS
What is there to analyze in a visual text?
 Design (balance, asymmetry)
 Copy/Design relationship
 White space
 Photographic angles (significance, look up, down orequal to subjects)
 Lighting, shadows (mood)
 Colors (which and significance of)
Imaginary Ad with a Man, Woman and Text
 Facial expressions, hair color and style, fashion, props,gender, age, race,
signs of occupation, relationship between figures
 What is the ‘action‘? What is the narrative or moment within a broader
narrative?
 Signs, symbols, basic themes, context
 How is language used? (arguments, associations, analogies, typeface)
 Product or service
 Values and beliefs (patriotism, motherly love, success, power, taste)

Sociological Analysis of Fidji Ad

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Based on the woman in the ad, we
can conclude the target audience is
young, sophisticated women who
feel frustrated by the constraints of
their everyday lives in
contemporary urban society and
who want, in fantasy, to escape.
Escaping involves nature and
romantic love, Polynesian woman
as more passionate, less inhibited
than white women.
Buying Fidji means being an elite, if
not economically, in terms of
lifestyle or taste culture (wearing a
refined perfume may define one‘s socioeconomic class)
Fidji attracts a sexual partner and consolidates the belief that the wearer is
sophisticated and desirable.

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 Apply your Knowledge

Look at the picture below and consider your thoughts and feelings about the
person. What are your stereotypes and prejudices about her? Do you think
your stereotypes are accurate? Write your answer in your journal.

Assess your Knowledge

This advertisement has become controversial and was scrutinized by a lot of

consumers. Study this visual text and analyze every detail using sociological
approach. Write your analysis in your journal.

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 What I Learned from this Unit

Beliefs about the characteristics of the groups and the members of those
groups are known as stereotypes.
Prejudice refers to an unjustifiable negative attitude toward an outgroup.
Stereotypes and prejudice may create discrimination.
Stereotyping and prejudice begin from social categorization—the natural
cognitive process by which we place individuals into social groups.
Social categorization influences our perceptions of groups—for instance, the
perception of outgroup homogeneity.
Once our stereotypes and prejudices become established, they are difficult to
change and may lead to self-fulfilling prophecies, such that our expectations about
the group members make the stereotypes come true.
Stereotypes may influence our performance on important tasks through stereotype
threat.
Ingroup favoritism is a fundamental and evolutionarily functional aspect of
human perception, and it occurs even in groups that are not particularly meaningful.
Ingroup favoritism is caused by a variety of variables, but particularly
important is self-concern: we experience positive social identity as a result of our
membership in valued social groups.
Ingroup favoritism develops early in children and influences our behavior
toward ingroup and outgroup members in a variety of ways.
Personality dimensions that relate to ingroup favoritism include
authoritarianism and social dominance orientation—dimensions that relate to less
ingroup favoritism include a desire to control one’s prejudice and humanism.
There are at least some cultural differences in the tendency to show ingroup
favoritism and to stereotype others.
Changing our stereotypes and prejudices is not easy, and attempting to
suppress them may backfire. However, with appropriate effort, we can reduce our
tendency to rely on our stereotypes and prejudices.
One approach to changing stereotypes and prejudice is by changing social
norms—for instance, through education and laws enforcing equality.

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Prejudice will change faster when it is confronted by people who see it occurring.
Confronting prejudice may be embarrassing, but it also can make us feel that we
have done the right thing.
Intergroup attitudes will be improved when we can lead people to focus more
on their connections with others. Intergroup contact, extended contact with others
who share friends with outgroup members, and a common ingroup identity are all
examples of this process.

References:

https://www.slideshare.net/guest22678ea/1-sociology

https://opentextbc.ca/socialpsychology/part/chapter-12-stereotypes-prejudice-and-
discrimination/

https://opentextbc.ca/socialpsychology/chapter/social-categorization-and-stereotyping/

https://opentextbc.ca/socialpsychology/chapter/ingroup-favoritism-and-prejudice/

https://opentextbc.ca/socialpsychology/chapter/reducing-discrimination/

43 |READING VISUAL ARTS

 Unit 4: MARXISM AND
IDEOLOGY
Introduction:
Ideology is a key concept in the fields of
cultural analysis, media studies and literary analysis.

The idea of ideology explains why people hold

beliefs that seem antithetical to their material
position- why do we believe we should continue with
the current system when it is obvious we are not
benefitting from the present state of affairs?- how
‘culture’ is structured in such a way enables the
group holding power to have the maximum control
with the minimum of conflict.

In this unit, you will be exploring ideology from a Marxist perspective.

Let us begin!

Learning Outcomes:
1. Exhibited understanding and demonstrated competence in the analysis of
texts using Marxism theory

Activate Prior Knowledge

Let’s check how much do you know. Write your answer before the number.
_________1. Which one of the following is a reason why Marx cannot be rejected
because of his ideological orientation?
a. Marxism is the only sociological theory that is ideologically biased
b. Marx tried to hide his ideological orientations
c. Marx argued that a violent overthrow of capitalism is the only way to end
exploitation

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d. Marx was essentially a humanist not a blood thirsty revolutionary
________2. For Marx, human potential is actualized
a. when democracy is institutionalized
b. in the objectification of products
c. during the capitalist stage
d. during the primitive stage
_______ 3. According to Marx’s what needs to happen to transform a
society’s culture?
a. the economic foundation would have to be changed
b. new technologies would need to be introduced
c. the mass media would need to be changed
d. the economic foundation would remain the same
_______ 4. The bourgeoisie can transform its false consciousness into true
class consciousness.
a. true
b. false
_______ 5. It Is the amount of socially necessary labor-time needed to
produce an article under the normal conditions of production and with the
average degree of skill and intensity of the time.
a. surplus value b. labor theory value
c. exchange value d. use value

Checkpoint

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Did you match right? Check out the answer below.

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 11. D
12. B
13. A
14. B
15. B
Are you done? Now read through the lessons for this unit in the next few pages.

Acquire New Knowledge

Who is Karl Marx?

Karl Heinrich Marx was one of nine children

born to Heinrich and Henrietta Marx in Trier,
Prussia, on May 5, 1818.. His father was a
successful lawyer who revered Kant and
Voltaire, and was a passionate activist for
Prussian reform. Although both parents were
Jewish with rabbinical ancestry, Karl’s father
converted to Christianity in 1816 at the age of
35.

Karl Marx began exploring sociopolitical

theories at university among the Young
Hegelians. He became a journalist, and his
socialist writings would get him expelled from
Germany and France. In 1848, he
published The Communist Manifesto with Friedrich Engels and was exiled to London,
where he wrote the first volume of Das Kapital and lived the remainder of his life.

Marx died of pleurisy in London on March 14, 1883. While his original grave had only
a nondescript stone, the Communist Party of Great Britain erected a large tombstone,
including a bust of Marx, in 1954. The stone is etched with the last line of The
Communist Manifesto (“Workers of all lands unite”), as well as a quote from
the Theses on Feuerbach.

IMPORTANT KEY CONCEPTS AND IDEOLOGIES

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 CAPITALISM: Marx believed that Capitalism is not only an economic system
but it is also a political system.

 CLASS STRUGGLES: Marx believed that conflict produces class and

inherently class produces conflict.

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 EXPLOITATION: Marx believed that Capitalism can only thrive exploitation of
the working class

 ALIENATION: The workers are forced to sell their labor to the Capitalist to
survive

MARX ON CAPITALISM
Marx wrote “Capital” to layout the inner
workings of the economic system called
Capitalism. He saw Capitalism as an
economic system by the need to maximize
profit
Two fundamental classes dominate society:
A. A capitalist class that privately owns
society’s means of production.
B. A working class that owns no means
Capitalists make profit by exploiting wage labor.

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Capitalism’s primary characteristic is its profit-driven need to commodify wage
labor. This can only happen if the producers (workers) can be separated from
their means of production (tools, land,
etc.). Historically, this was done by
coercion and force.
Once separated from their tools, workers
have nothing to sell but their labor power,
which they must sell to capitalists who
now own the means of production. (Agri-
business & farm workers in the
countryside. Factory owners and industrial
workers in the city)

CAPITALISM AND COMMODITY

Marx begins his analysis of capitalism by
examining the commodity. The goods and
service produced for sale under capitalism
are commodities. They are “useful”
things or activities designed to be sold in a
market. Thus, commodities have a dual
nature. They have a “use value” & an exchange value”.
Any service, resource or product transformed through labor to make it useful
has a “use value”.
Anything with use value that is exchanges for something else has an “exchange
value” as well.
As the capitalist market expands, the profit motive turns more and more useful
activities and goods into commodities with exchange value.

CONTRIBUTION OF MARXISM IN THE MODERN WORLD SYSTEM

 Elaboration of the conflict model of society, specifically his theory of social
change based on antagonisms between classes.
 The idea that power originates primarily in economic production.
 Concern in with the social origins of alienation.
 Understanding of modern capitalism
 Welfare state-the government is responsible for the individual and social
welfare of its citizens.

Apply your Knowledge

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This Chanel 2011 advertisement has been constructed to allow the audience to
believe that from buying Chanel products will be introduced into a lavish or
glamourous lifestyle. Give 5 reasons that may encourage consumers to buy their
product. Briefly explain your answer. You may write your answers on your journal.

1. _______________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________
4. _______________________________________________________
5. _______________________________________________________

Assess your Knowledge

This advertisement has become controversial and was scrutinized by a lot of

consumers. Study this visual text and analyze every detail using the Marxist
approach. Write your analysis in your journal.

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 What I Learned from this Unit

Marxism is both a social and political theory, which encompasses Marxist class
conflict theory and Marxian economics. Marxism was first publicly formulated in the
1848 pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, which
lays out the theory of class struggle and revolution. Marxian economics focuses on the
criticisms of capitalism brought forth by Karl Marx in his 1859 book, Das Kapital.1

Marx’s class theory portrays capitalism as one step in the historical progression
of economic systems that follow one another in a natural sequence driven by vast
impersonal forces of history that play out through the behavior and conflict between
social classes.

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 Marx believed that the society was made up of two classes, the bourgeoisie, or
business owners who control the means of production, and the proletariat, or workers
whose labor transforms raw commodities into valuable economic goods.

Marx believed that capitalism is based on commodities, which are things

bought and sold.

In Marx's view, an employee's labor is a form of commodity. Workers are also

readily replaceable in periods of high unemployment, further devaluing their
perceived worth.

To maximize profits, business owners have an incentive to get the most work
out of their laborers while paying them the lowest wages possible. They also own the
end product that is the result of the worker's labor, and ultimately profit from its
surplus value, which is the difference between what it costs to produce the item and
the price for which it is eventually sold.

The media and academics, or intelligentsia, produce propaganda to suppress

awareness of class relations among the proletariat and rationalize the capitalist
system.

Marx felt that capitalism creates an unfair imbalance between capitalists and
the laborers whose work they exploit for their own gain. In turn, this exploitation
leads the workers to view their employment as nothing more than a means of
survival.

References:
https://www.slideshare.net/marcusleaning/emt-l3-
ideologyandmarxism

https://www.radford.edu/~junnever/theory/marx.quests.htm

https://www.slideshare.net/usmanaslam114/presentation-karl-marx

https://hellowildan.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/feminist-and-marxist-perspective-on-
advertisements/

https://www.slideshare.net/JaytiThakar94/paper-no-8-marxism

https://www.slideshare.net/CraigCollins2/marx-on-capitalism-an-ecomaterialist-
critique

37 |READING VISUAL ARTS

 Unit 5: PSYCHOANALYTIC
APPROACH
Introduction:

As members of a consumer society we are continuously bombarded by images that

are intended to sell goods or services to us. We are forever persuaded to purchase
commodities that we don’t essentially need for survival, but rather commodities that
will gratify our desires. In order to understand the way our consumer society works
and how this persuasion is achieved, we need to consider the history behind
capitalism, and in particular how psychoanalysis techniques have been used by the
advertising industry to sustain and increase consumer demands for commodities.

In this unit, you will be exploring psychoanalysis theories.

Let us begin!

Learning Outcomes:
1. Enumerated and explained the different Psychoanalytic theories

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 Activate Prior Knowledge

Let’s check how much do you know. Write your answer before the number.
_________1. The kind of therapy developed by Freud that is concentrated on early
childhood experiences and unconscious problems.

a. cognitive therapy

b. free association

c. emotive behavioral therapy

d. psychoanalytic theory

________2. Who was Sigmund Freud’s mentee?

a. Alfred Adler

b. Heinz Hartmann

c. Karen Hormey

d. Carl Jung

_______ 3. "It is the person's presentation put forth to the world. It is structured
from parental introjects, social role expectations, and peer expectations."
a. psyche
b. self
c. animus
d. persona
_______ 4. Which of the following correctly lists the three parts of the psyche?
a. ego, personal unconscious, collective unconscious

b. mind, brain, unconscious

c. id, ego, superego

d. ideas, ego, supraego

_______ 5. Which is NOT a core principle of Freudian thought?

a. The primacy of 'free will' b. Unconscious Motivation

c. Repression d. The power of instinct

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 Checkpoint

Did you match right? Check out the answer below.

16. D
17. D
18. D
19. A
20. A

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 West Visayas State University 2020

Are you done? Now read through the lessons for this unit in the next few pages.

Acquire New Knowledge

Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality

Psychoanalysis is a type of therapy that aims to release pent-up or repressed emotions
and memories in or to lead the client to catharsis, or healing (McLeod, 2014). In other
words, the goal of psychoanalysis is to bring what exists at the unconscious or
subconscious level up to consciousness.

This goal is accomplished through talking to another person about the big questions
in life, the things that matter, and diving into the complexities that lie beneath the
simple-seeming surface.

The Founder of Psychoanalysis: Sigmund

Freud and His Concepts

Freud was born in Austria and spent most of his

childhood and adult life in Vienna (Sigmund Freud
Biography, 2017). He entered medical school and
trained to become a neurologist, earning a
medical degree in 1881.

Soon after his graduation, he set up a private

practice and began treating patients with
psychological disorders.

His attention was captured by a colleague’s

intriguing experience with a patient; the
colleague was Dr. Josef Breuer and his patient
was the famous “Anna O.,” who suffered from physical symptoms with no apparent
physical cause.

Dr. Breuer found that her symptoms abated when he helped her recover memories
of traumatic experiences that she had repressed, or hidden from her conscious mind.

This case sparked Freud’s interest in the unconscious mind and spurred the
development of some of his most influential ideas.

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 West Visayas State University 2020

Perhaps the most impactful idea put forth by Freud was his model of the human
mind. His model divides the mind into three layers, or regions:

1. Conscious: This is where our current thoughts, feelings, and focus live;
2. Preconscious (sometimes called the subconscious): This is the home of
everything we can recall or retrieve from our memory;
3. Unconscious: At the deepest level of our minds resides a repository of the
processes that drive our behavior, including primitive and instinctual desires
(McLeod, 2013).

Later, Freud posited a more structured model of the mind, one that can coexist with
his original ideas about consciousness and unconsciousness.

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 West Visayas State University 2020

In this model, there are three metaphorical parts to the mind:

1. Id: The id operates at an unconscious level and focuses solely on instinctual

drives and desires. Two biological instincts make up the id, according to
Freud: eros, or the instinct to survive that drives us to engage in life-
sustaining activities, and thanatos, or the death instinct that drives
destructive, aggressive, and violent behavior.

2. Ego: The ego acts as both a conduit for and a check on the id, working to
meet the id’s needs in a socially appropriate way. It is the most tied to reality
and begins to develop in infancy;

3. Superego: The superego is the portion of the mind in which morality and higher
principles reside, encouraging us to act in socially and morally acceptable ways
(McLeod, 2013).

The image above offers a context of this “iceberg” model wherein much of our mind
exists in the realm of the unconscious impulses and drives.

Carl Jung’s Jungian Psychoanalytic Theory

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 West Visayas State University 2020

Carl Jung, in full Carl Gustav Jung, (born

July 26, 1875, Kesswil, Switzerland—died
June 6, 1961, Küsnacht), Swiss
psychologist and psychiatrist who
founded analytic psychology, in some
respects a response to Sigmund
Freud’s psychoanalysis. Jung proposed and
developed the concepts of the extraverted
and the introverted personality, archetypes,
and the collective unconscious.

Research, which established him as a

psychiatrist of international repute, led him
to understand Freud’s investigations; his
findings confirmed many of Freud’s ideas,
and, for a period of five years (between
1907 and 1912), he was Freud’s close
collaborator. He held important positions in
the psychoanalytic movement and was widely thought of as the most likely successor
to the founder of psychoanalysis. But this was not to be the outcome of their
relationship. Partly for temperamental reasons and partly because of differences of
viewpoint, the collaboration ended. At this stage Jung differed with Freud largely over
the latter’s insistence on the sexual bases of neurosis.

Over time, cracks in the relationship began to occur. Though Freud had viewed Jung
as the most innovative of his many followers, he was unhappy with Jung’s dismissal
of some of his basic psychoanalytic tenets. Jung felt Freud’s concept of the
unconscious was limited and instead of simply being a reservoir of repressed thoughts
and motivations, as Freud believed, Jung argued that the unconscious could also be a
source of creativity.

Though theoretical differences defined the ultimate breaking point of their friendship,
they both acknowledged that the other man’s respective theories influenced their own
ideas. Jung ultimately formed his own influential psychology school of thought known
as analytical psychology, while much of Freudian psychoanalytic concepts grew directly
out of his work with his patients. As Freud tried to understand and explain their
symptoms, he became increasingly interested in the role of the unconscious mind in
the development of mental illness.

Read some of the basic principles of the psychoanalytic theories devised by Sigmund
Freud and Carl Jung and decide who you most agree with.

Major Freudian Concepts Major Jungian Concepts

 Oedipal Conflict—This occurs  Oedipal Conflict—For Jung,

between the ages of three and the Oedipus complex tended
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 West Visayas State University 2020

five, and the Freudian Oedipus to refer only to the

complex has two parts: hatred experience of male children.
and a death wish for the Female children experienced
parent of the same sex, and the Electra complex in which
love and attachment towards they regard their mothers as
the parent of the opposite sex. the competition for the
 Transference and exclusive love of their fathers.
Countertransference—  Collective Unconscious—The
Transference is the technical unconscious of a person is
term used to describe an comprised of both a personal
unconscious transferring of unconscious (coming from
experiences from one personal the experiences of the
situation to another. This individual) and a collective
happens frequently between a unconscious (issuing from the
patient and therapist. inherited makeup of the brain
Countertransference happens and common to humanity).
when the therapist responds This can be thought of as
to the patient’s transference how we are due to our life
issues with transference issues experience versus how we
of his or her own. are based upon our genetic
makeup and external forces
The Three Aspects of Personality
like societal mores and
conditions.
 Id—The unconscious, the home
 Theory of Meaningful
of our instincts and impulses
Coincidence or
and repressed material.
Synchronicity—Jung’s
 Ego—The organized part of the
notion of synchronicity is that
personality structure which
there is a principle that links
includes defensive, perceptual,
events that have a similar
intellectual-cognitive, and
meaning by their coincidence
executive functions. Conscious
in time rather than linear
awareness resides in the ego,
direction or sequence. He
although not all of the
claimed that there is
operations of the ego are
synchronicity between the
conscious.
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 West Visayas State University 2020

 Superego—Develops from the mind and the phenomenal

Oedipal Complex. The moral world of perception.
part of our personality,  Psychological Development
composed of the ego-ideal, Theory—Jung taught that
the standard of good behavior growth toward the realization
we aspire to, and the of an individual’s true
conscience, that inner voice potential which continues
that tells us when we have throughout an entire lifetime
misbehave. rather than being, as Freud
thought, limited only to
childhood.

Apply your Knowledge

Some products that are usually sold by telling you that the use of the product will
make you attractive to the opposite sex such as

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 West Visayas State University 2020

Include at least 5 pictures of products that you think belong to this group.

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 West Visayas State University 2020

Using the pictures above, answer the following questions:

1. Which of the products make their appeals primarily to the id? Why?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

2. Which of the products make their appeals to the superego? Why?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

3. Are there products included that make an appeal to the ego? Which ones and
how?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Assess your Knowledge

Study this visual text and analyze every detail using the Psychoanalytic approach.
Write your analysis in your journal.

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 West Visayas State University 2020

What I Learned from this Unit

Freudian Theory

Id
The Id is entirely oriented towards gratification. It operates on the pleasure
principle ( behavior guided by the primary desire to maximize pleasure and
avoid pain. The Id is selfish and illogical.

Superego
The Superego is the counterweight to the id. It is a person’s conscience. It
internalizes society’s rules. It works to prevent the id from seeking selfish
gratification

Ego
The ego is the system that mediates between the id and the superego. The
ego tries to balance these opposing forces according to the reality principle,
whereby it finds ways to gratify the id that will be acceptable to the outside
world. Much of this battle occurs in the unconscious mind.

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 West Visayas State University 2020

References:

https://onsphere.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/7/

https://wps.prenhall.com/chet_capuzzi_counseling_4/52/13508/3458142.cw/content
/index.html

https://www.slideshare.net/khimdelacruz07/psychoanalytic-theory-28409476

https://positivepsychology.com/psychoanalysis/

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