The semiotics of London's theatre

Abstract

Context is all. Human experience, which is a phenomenon shaped by meaning, can only ever take place in a context. Without a context, we cannot have human experience, or a meaning of it. Semiotic analysis and the urban context are the two key elements which will be discussed in this dissertation. Our semiotic approach will primarily follow that of Ferdinand de Saussure’s ‘signifier’ and the ‘signified’. Our urban context shall be that of London, whose nucleus of the West End and the National Theatre we shall delve into. This analysis will specifically focus on these two mentioned, but it is necessary to point out that other genres of theatre within the city will not be explored, for reasons of focus and time constriction. De Saussure’s theory of the ‘signifier’ and the ‘signified’ was originally intended for the study of linguistics, where the main object being analyzed was speech and language. Elaine Aston and George Savona describe de Saussure’s theory as thus: ‘What emerged from Saussure’s work was an understanding of language as a sign-system, in which the linguistic sign was further presented in binary terms as signifier and signified or ‘sound-image’ and ‘concept’. The two sides of the linguistic sign are arbitrary, which enables language to be a self-regulating, abstract system,capable of transformation.’ (Aston and Savona 1991: 5-6). Later on, theorists made use of the ‘binary terms’ in order to read their own subjects of interest. By replacing language and words with other social fields, the theory would be able to translate the system of meanings at play. Semiotics allows for the reading of meaning in both language and several other social phenomena. To clarify the basic concept of the method: The signifier is a vehicle -- in any form which can be detected by the human senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste) -- which transmits the meaning of something, making it the signified. The two terms give distinctive roles to the scenario in question, and aids the reader in seeing the actions, relationships and/or layout more clearly. The method almost deconstructs the scenario by labeling the different parties at play. But it is all brought together again once the reader has understood the process between the two agents. De Saussure’s terms manage to describe the essentials for the system of a sign to work. That sign can be anything visible, tangible, edible, odorous, and/or heard. What it transmits can be anything perceived by the human brain, which then creates its own meaning or meanings.