Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2023
Keywords
hypoicons, image, diagram, metaphor, epistemic pluralism, collateral experience
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.37693/pjos.2023.10.24762
Abstract
In this paper we adopt Charles Sanders Peirce’s concept of iconicity to analyse pictural communication. While visual semiotics has a well-developed structural school, the concepts of visual semiotics stemming from Peirce’s pragmatic sign theory are often overlooked. The specific purpose of this study is to explore the semiotics of visual signs, exemplified by two prominent pictures of former US President Donald Trump. We argue that Peirce’s semiotic framework for iconicity in visual signs (the image, the diagram, and the metaphor) offers a useful framework for discussing how the meaning of visual signs is motivated. On this basis, we propose that Peirce’s concept of hypoicons provides us with a richer understanding of how visual signs acquire meaning and how their interpretation varies across cultural habits, and collateral experience.
Rights Information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Public Journal of Semiotics, v. 10, issue 2, p. 1-15
Scholar Commons Citation
Thellefsen, Martin and Friedman, Alon, "Icons and Metaphors in Visual Communication: The Relevance of Peirce’s Theory of Iconicity for the Analysis of Visual Communication" (2023). School of Information Faculty Publications. 674.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/si_facpub/674
