Introducing Semiotics [Paperback]

Paul Cobley (Author), Litza Jansz (Contributor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1840460733 | ISBN-13: 978-1840460735 | Publication Date: January 7, 1997

Traces the development of sign study from its classical precursors and brings the reader up to date with contemporary post-structuralist theories. The book identifies the key semioticians and their work, and explains the simple concepts behind the often difficult terms used in this field.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Totem Books (January 7, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840460733
• ISBN-13: 978-1840460735
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,916,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a good start, August 1, 2001

By 

"savedacowz" (Denton, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Introducing Semiotics (Paperback)

Introducing Semiotics isn't the best of the Introducing series but it is a good read. I have accumulated several of the Introducing study guides and find them delightful. They are the right length for weekend reading and the illustrations are always amusing.

Introducing Semiotics was one of the more difficult in the series due to the busy style in which it was written. I had to reread about half of the book before completely grasping it, not because of the subject matter but because of the wording. It felt like the author was trying to hard to to make things sound nice rather than trying to elucidate the topic.

Despite the writting style, the book was very helpful. It is a must for anyone who is studying something related to semiotics, like film theory, and needs a jumping off point for research. It isn't too in depth to understand but it still covers all the major topics that you will likely have an essay question or two on.

To sum things up... If you're looking for informative entertainment, get one of the other introducing books, but if you need a semiotics study guide it is definitley worth the nine or ten bucks.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not a cohesive introduction, August 14, 2006

By 

Everyday Joe - See all my reviews

This review is from: Introducing Semiotics (Paperback)

While I found another of this series clear, informative, and entertaining, entitling this work Introducing Semiotics is a misnomer. This work does not serve well for someone hoping to gain an introduction to semiotics which will provide a basic framework to build on.

Though the author does introduce us to key figures in the development of semiotics and gives the reader some idea of the relationships between them - a useful list for further study - the main theme is not coherently presented.

The book reads much more like a very loosely ordered collection of snippets from lecture notes or casual discourses between semioticians planning on writing a book. Topics are interleaved and skipped between in at best a partially constructive manner. Often ideas are introduced in a way that seems like we're joining their discussion midway through. The level of technical jargon is high and the writing style showcase's the author's extensive vocabulary without an equal capacity to bring the terms and ideas into a simpler, working summary with straightforward examples. And many of the examples that are included tend to obscure than clarify the topic.

The illustrations are interesting and give the page layout a welcoming feeling which the text unfortunately does not support. I would look for another book if you want a useful introduction to semiotics.

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not So Hot, December 17, 2003

By 

Raymond McCauley (Mountain View, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Introducing Semiotics (Paperback)

I purchased this title because I was interested in getting a firm grounding in semiotics, with a rich historical background thrown in, and I've had really good luck doing just this with other books in the Intriducing series. I ended up greatly disappointed, to the tune of not even finishing the book (a rarity for me).

The explanations are sadly lacking. For instance, the author spends a whole two pages giving definitions for terms such as icon, symbol, and index. Often, definitions for crucial terms like these are offered in the form of too-short and too-simple examples.

The book also tends to style over substance. Sentences are needlessly obtuse. More time is spent on comparing and contrasting barely differing viewpoints of minor figures in the field that were never explained in the first place. I felt like I was in a poorly-done parody of some post-post-modernistic semiotics seminar.

I still love the Icon Books "Introducing..." series, but I'll look elsewhere for a semiotics primer.