Week 4 - Visual Syntax, Semantics & Pragmatics

Why is pragmatics an important consideration when examining visual communications? Provide relevant examples to illustrate your point.

Pragmatics is the study of the context which contributes to meaning. It is defined as “study of the interpretation of utterances, especially how the context of a situation influences their meaning” (Hartley, 2011, p.211). It is usually influence the meaning of the signifier and the sign when the meaning is determined by the pragmatics such as codes, modality, sender, receiver, and context.

In addition, some theorists defined pragmatics as the study of general language, some defined as the study of communication, others refers to the study of language for language’s communicative function ( Allot, N., 2010).

It is important to consider pragmatics in visual communication as it is the study of hidden meaning. Whereas. sign is form by the signifiers which is syntax. The signified and connotations of the sign are the semantics. The meaning is determined by pragmatics such as codes, modality, sender, receiver and context. Therefore pragmatics is an important consideration when examining visual communications because to avoid missinterpretation of text and sign.

As an example:

The above picture shows a hand gesture sign. In European countries it is a sign of peace. But people in other country may have different meaning and interpretation for the sign such as it is the sign of number or “playboy”. People Interpretation might be right and might be wrong because they can't predict the image easily. It is clear that "we can predict the degree of tact that required by the situation".(Leech,1980, pg.114). Therefore people can only predict any sign of images where the meaning determined by pragmatics which are coded in certain situation and places.

In conclusion, the study of pragmatics is important cause it helps to understand the issue surrounding a text and interpretation of a meanings where it is found in the text. It can be seen as an answer to certain questions about meaning whether in the text itself or the context.

If all visual communication is subjective, what is the point of studying?

Visual Communication is communication that relies on vision. Why we study visual communication because it is part of our everyday lives and it helps to understand the differences of perceptions and ideologies of society. However, if all visual communication is subjective, it can be concluded that there will be no specific answer or interpretation and it is hard to decide and determine what represents the interpretation of the majorities. Thus this will cause problems to business economics in terms of advertising when they do not know the actual of their product's marketplace.

References

Hartley, J. (2011). Communication, Cultural and Media Studies: The Key Concepts. New York: Routledge.

Allott, N. (2010). Key Terms in Pragmatics. London; Continuum International Publishing.

Leech, G.N. (1980). Explorations in Semantics and Pragmatics. University of Lancaster, Amsterdam : John Benjamins B.V.