Tag Archives: Cognitive Metaphors

semiotics of ageing May 10

The Semiotics of Ageing in Advertising: Our changing discussion on age

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How we think about age is partially constructed by the way that advertising communicates themes, values and behaviour. By looking at some of the metaphors about ageing used in different socio-cultural contexts, this provides a frame for developing a semiotic map of the meaning in age related advertising. It also raises considerations for how society will ‘talk’ about age, in an area of science and medicine that is taking larger strides every year.

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culture decanted May 07

Is there a modern mythology of immortality or is it that some stories never die?

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Is the modern obsession with immortality new? Looking at immortality though from the perspective of mythology this reveals a lot about how we talk about aging today. The dominant stories that are told in popular culture are all reflections of myths that have lived forever.

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Culture Decanted September 13

Cradle to Coffin: A Semiotic Model of Life and Death

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There is nothing that influences human behavour as strongly as the power of life and death. It is possible to create a semiotic model that conceptualize how we create meaning on the journey from the womb to the grave.

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culturedecanted.com September 07

Emerging Metaphors for the Human Body

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Emerging Metaphors for the Human Body   Metaphors are the cognitive tools through which we understand ourselves and the world (Lakoff and Turner 1989: xi). One of the primary metaphoric resources is the human body. Probably, since we first became self-aware, we have been fascinated with our bodies: psychologically and culturally. “Man is the measure […]

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birdcage August 27

Semiotics of the Birdcage

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A semiotic analysis of the birdcage as a cultural status symbol. Why is this symbol used so consistently by luxury and fashion brands? What is the history of the birdcage through to today? What are the psychological drivers that influence the engagement with the birdcage in society today? Since the birdcage is linked with fashion, what does this suggest about women and how they are framed in societal discourse?

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Semiotics of the Doppelganger July 14

The Semiotics of the Doppelgänger: the Double in Popular Culture

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The Semiotics of the Doppelgänger: the Double in Popular Culture   One of the themes from the last blog I wrote on ‘evil’, was the nature of how this is depicted in popular culture from a semiotic perspective. This started out with a Kantian perspective, that evil is something that all of us have the […]

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