LITERATURE QUESTIONS
LITERARY THEORY AND CRITICISM
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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Signifier and sign
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Sign and signified
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Signifier and signified
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None of the above
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Detailed explanation-1: -In each case, the sign can be broken into two parts, the signifier and the signified. The signifier is the thing, item, or code that we ‘read’ – so, a drawing, a word, a photo. Each signifier has a signified, the idea or meaning being expressed by that signifier. Only together do they form a sign.
Detailed explanation-2: -Signifier: any material thing that signifies, e.g., words on a page, a facial expression, an image. Signified: the concept that a signifier refers to. Sign: the smallest unit of meaning. Anything that can be used to communicate (or to tell a lie).
Detailed explanation-3: -In the Aristotelian tradition, the sign is broken down into three parts: the signifier, the signified and the referent, meaning the concrete thing to which the sign refers (for example, a real horse).
Detailed explanation-4: -According to Saussure (1857–1913), a sign is composed of the signifier (signifiant), and the signified (signifié).
Detailed explanation-5: -For Saussure, the signified and signifier are purely psychological: they are form rather than substance. Today, following Louis Hjelmslev, the signifier is interpreted as the conceptual material form, i.e. something which can be seen, heard, touched, smelled or tasted; and the signified as the conceptual ideal form.