How to use Semiotics for Cultural analysis.
The cultural semiotics analyses very different language of culture. In today’s world, there is a lot of tension between the global and local processes which makes understanding of the need of individual and societies for defining their self, their identity essential. Cultural analysis with Semiotics is increasingly relevant in achieving this understanding. Cultural codes are the signs, symbols and narrative that are relevant to members of a particular culture, which can be utilized to facilitate communication with the ‘inside group’ and also obscure the meaning to ‘outside group’.
Decoding culture with semiotics are dependent upon our ability to interpret them instinctively and instantly. For instance, when we see the different colours of the traffic light, we automatically know what does it indicate and how to react to them. This is a sign which has been established by cultural convention over a long period of time. In this case, the sign system and the language system are synonyms. A human being’s main way of thinking and communicating is language, and language is the preserver of the culture’s collective experience and the reflector of its creativity.
According to the founder of the India’s leading semiotics company, Leapfrog Strategy Consulting, Hamsini Shivakumar through semiotics analysis realized that the consumers aren’t individuals who are working in isolation, rather they are members of groups. Their thought processes and emotional responses are not just a result of their own choices but their responses are conditioned by cultural learning. The consumer’s perception and thought processes are often overlooked but cultural analysis with semiotics helps the company to gain deeper insight into the collective consensus and shred thought processes.
Therefore, semiotics and culture are the two sides of the same coin. Culture helps in better understanding of the sign, symbols and narratives whereas on the other hand semiotics are the signs, symbols and narrative for their embedded meaning in culture.
