Semiotics for Beginners by Daniel Chandler

Semiotics for Beginners by Daniel Chandler
The concept of markedness can be applied more broadly than simply to paradigmatic pairings of
words or concepts. Whether in textual or social practices, the choice of a marked form 'makes a
statement'. Where a text deviates from conventional expectations it is 'marked'. Conventional, or
'over-coded' text (which follows a fairly predictable formula) is unmarked whereas unconventional or
'under-coded' text is marked. Marked or under-coded text requires the interpreter to do more
interpretative work.
The existence of marked forms is not simply a structural feature of semiotic systems. Kathryn
Woodward argues that 'it is through the marking out of... differences that social order is produced and
maintained' (Woodward 1997, 33). Unmarked forms reflect the naturalization of dominant cultural
values. The French feminist Hélène Cixous has emphasized the gendered character of binary
oppositions, which are consistently weighted in favour of the male (cited in Woodward 1997, 36 and
Allen 2000, 152). As Trevor Millum notes:
The standards by which mankind in general and societies and individuals in particular have
estimated the values of male and female are not neutral, but, as Simnel puts it, 'in themselves
essentially masculine'. To be male is to be in some way normal, to be female is to be different,
to depart from the norm, to be abnormal. (Millum 1975, 71)
Applying the concept of marked forms to mass media genres, Merris Griffiths, then one of my own
research students, examined the production and editing styles of television advertisements for toys.
Her findings showed that the style of advertisements aimed primarily at boys had far more in common
with those aimed at a mixed audience than with those aimed at girls, making 'girls' advertisements'
the marked category in commercials for toys. Notably, the girls' ads had significantly longer shots,
significantly more dissolves (fade out/fade in of shot over shot), less long shots and more close-ups,
less low shots, more level shots and less overhead shots. The gender-differentiated use of production
features which characterized these children’s commercials reflected a series of binary oppositions -
fast vs. slow, abrupt vs. gradual, excited vs. calm, active vs. passive, detached vs. involved. Their
close association in such ads led them to line up consistently together as ‘masculine’ vs. ‘feminine’
qualities. The 'relative autonomy' of formal features in commercials seems likely to function as a
constant symbolic reaffirmation of the broader cultural stereotypes which associate such qualities with
gender - especially when accompanied by gender-stereotyped content. Readers may care to reflect
on the way in which 'dark goods' and 'light goods' have traditionally been sold in high-street electrical
shops. Dark goods such as televisions, video-recorders, camcorders and sound-systems were
primarily targetted at men and the sales staff focused on technical specifications. Light goods such as
refrigerators, washing-machines and cookers were targetted at women and the sales staff focused on
appearance. The extent to which this particular pattern still survives in your own locality may be
checked by some investigative 'window-shopping'.
'Binarism' has been defined as 'the passion of those who tend to see everything as divided into two
categories' (Hervey 1982, 24). There is a delightfully ironic quip (variously attributed) that 'The world
is divided into those who divide people into two types, and those who don't'. The interpretive
usefulness of simple dichotomies is often challenged on the basis that life and (perhaps by a
misleading 'realist' analogy) texts are 'seamless webs' and thus better described in terms of continua.
But it is useful to remind ourselves that any interpretive framework cuts up its material into
manageable chunks. The test of its appropriateness can surely only be assessed in terms of whether
it advances our understanding of the phenomenon in question.