I have chosen to do a semiotic analysis of a short thread from the image board of 4chan. I will mainly be focusing on the first post of the thread since that is the most interesting of the bunch, from a semiotic point of view.
In the first thread we have three important signs all of which are signifiers rather than signified. All the signs are in other word representative rather than what the actually seem to be. The three important signs are the text, the Guy Fawkes mask and the eyes and mouth of the mask itself.
All the three signs are connotations which mean they are hard for people not of the community to understand, that you need inside knowledge of the current codes in order to decipher the message as a whole.
The first sign, the text, is an allusion to the film V for Vendetta. The text is a rewritten monologue from the film in which the protagonist gives a fiery introduction of himself using alliteration. In the film the alliteration is based on the letter V but here, as you can see, the author has chosen to use the letter B which alludes to the name of the image board in which the thread was made.
The second sign, the Guy Fawkes mask, is also alluding to the film in which an anonymous horde, all clad in masks, rises up to protest against their totalitarian government. Much like the members of 4chan are all an anonymous horde. This is also an allusion to a meme that has arisen on the boards. Members often proclaim while they are posting anonymously that “We are anonymous! We are legion!” meaning that you can not stop the invisible, anonymous army of 4chan, or something to that end.
The last sign is the eyes and mouth that have been photoshoped onto the mask. This sign signifies one of the oldest memes of 4chan, “cock mongler” or the newer and less provocative name “grin man”. The meme is simply an image of a man, wearing a t-shirt with a dinosaur on it, who is grinning like a madman. The image, and especially the face, is popular to photoshop into other images often with a comic result. The sign signifies the community of 4chan and especially the image board of /b/.
The most important of the signifiers are the eyes and the text. Removing the mask would probably not change the message by a lot. However the mask works to increase the allusion of the text.
The codes needed to understand the signs are: knowledge of 4chan community memes, knowledge of English and knowledge of either the film V for Vendetta or the comic bearing the same name.
Considering what you need to know in order to fully understand the post I would say that the post itself is not open to much interpretation. The connotations to a frequent visitor fo the boards are quite clear and are not really open for interpretation. I guess one could argue that the signs are denotations rather than connotations but if you remove them from the post most of their meaning would change. The signs, although not open for interpretations, are in deed very bound by context hence making them connotations.
The poster is using the signs to create a paradigm that appeals to the anonymous user of the image board itself. And I would say he is quite successful judging by the first couple of answering posts he got.
In the first thread we have three important signs all of which are signifiers rather than signified. All the signs are in other word representative rather than what the actually seem to be. The three important signs are the text, the Guy Fawkes mask and the eyes and mouth of the mask itself.
All the three signs are connotations which mean they are hard for people not of the community to understand, that you need inside knowledge of the current codes in order to decipher the message as a whole.
The first sign, the text, is an allusion to the film V for Vendetta. The text is a rewritten monologue from the film in which the protagonist gives a fiery introduction of himself using alliteration. In the film the alliteration is based on the letter V but here, as you can see, the author has chosen to use the letter B which alludes to the name of the image board in which the thread was made.
The second sign, the Guy Fawkes mask, is also alluding to the film in which an anonymous horde, all clad in masks, rises up to protest against their totalitarian government. Much like the members of 4chan are all an anonymous horde. This is also an allusion to a meme that has arisen on the boards. Members often proclaim while they are posting anonymously that “We are anonymous! We are legion!” meaning that you can not stop the invisible, anonymous army of 4chan, or something to that end.
The last sign is the eyes and mouth that have been photoshoped onto the mask. This sign signifies one of the oldest memes of 4chan, “cock mongler” or the newer and less provocative name “grin man”. The meme is simply an image of a man, wearing a t-shirt with a dinosaur on it, who is grinning like a madman. The image, and especially the face, is popular to photoshop into other images often with a comic result. The sign signifies the community of 4chan and especially the image board of /b/.
The most important of the signifiers are the eyes and the text. Removing the mask would probably not change the message by a lot. However the mask works to increase the allusion of the text.
The codes needed to understand the signs are: knowledge of 4chan community memes, knowledge of English and knowledge of either the film V for Vendetta or the comic bearing the same name.
Considering what you need to know in order to fully understand the post I would say that the post itself is not open to much interpretation. The connotations to a frequent visitor fo the boards are quite clear and are not really open for interpretation. I guess one could argue that the signs are denotations rather than connotations but if you remove them from the post most of their meaning would change. The signs, although not open for interpretations, are in deed very bound by context hence making them connotations.
The poster is using the signs to create a paradigm that appeals to the anonymous user of the image board itself. And I would say he is quite successful judging by the first couple of answering posts he got.
Inga kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar