Harry Smith's Filmwork and the Possibility of a Universal Symbology

• Published in: American journal of semiotics 2001, Vol.17 (3), p.217-232
• Main Author: Lewis, Wililam S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cage, John
• ISSN: 0277-7126; 2153-2990
• DOI: 10.5840/ajs200117339

An example of the arbitrary and differential nature of the sign would be the term "cat" which consists for Saussure of the phonetic or written term "cat" and the feline animal object which bears no natural resemblance to the word, but which nonetheless is denoted by it. Because there is no real and natural connection between the word "cat" and the actual animal and because he cannot come up with an example in language where there exists a natural or causal relationship between the signifier of an object and the thing signified, Saussure maintains that all signs are equally arbitrary. [...]to return to the case of "cat", this sign can only be known in its difference from all other signs in a linguistic system which might be, but are not, used to designate felines. What Saussure does with signs that appear to have a genuine causal or figurative relationship to their object is to recognize such gestures or tokens as truly significative but only in an inferior sense. [...]signs as smoke denoting fire or bowing to an emperor as a sign of humility are described by Saussure as either somewhat arbitrary (one does not have to bow) or as signs which have not achieved the ideal of true arbitrariness. Furthermore, Saussure makes the assumption that, because language is the most important of sign systems, it is this system of signs which is most worthy of study and which, if pursued, will eventually yield an understanding of the sign as socially constructed phenomenon (1986: 34). Because of this orientation, Saussure does not so much miss non-linguistic signs (of which Harry Smith's Universal Symbols would be an example) as decide that they are, at least from the standpoint of social psychology, not very interesting. 3.