Social semiotics

"Social Semiotics" is a textbook in communication and cultural studies. It offers a comprehensive approach to the study of the ways in which meaning is constituted in social life. Hodge and Kress begin from the assumption that signs and messages - the subject matter of semiotics - must always be situated within the context of social relations and processes. They then show what is involved in analyzing different kinds of messages, from literary texts, TV programmes and billboards to social interactions in the family and the school. While presenting an assessment of different perspectives, Hodge and Kress also develop their own approach, demonstrating how semiotics can be integrated with the social analysis of power and ideology, space and time, and gender and class. "Social Semiotics" is illustrated with examples and written in a way which does not presuppose prior knowledge of the field.