Publication in the Diário da República: Despacho nº 9182/2020 - 25/09/2020
4.5 ECTS; 1º Ano, 2º Semestre, 45,0 TP + 3,0 OT , Cód. 96448.
Lecturer
- João Manuel de Sousa Nunes Costa Rosa (1)(2)
(1) Docente Responsável
(2) Docente que lecciona
Prerequisites
Not applicable
Objectives
I Obtain visual literacy in order to communicate visually with imagination but also appropriately
II Critically interpret/reading visual texts
III Apply knowledge of syntax, information, and meaning in visual text design/construction
Program
1.1 - Semiotics and Semiology; Saussure, Peirce, and Hjelmslev. Sign, signifier, signified, object, referent, interpreter, representative, meaning, semiosis. Language is a social act; the arbitrariness of the sign. Language, speech, communication. Grammar; phonetics, phonology, morphology, and syntax. Peirce: index, symbol, and icon. The visual text as communication, but not as language. The concept of the visual text as convention.
2.1 - Denotation vs Connotation: the way we present ideas, concepts, or reality. From what is literal and merely documentary, to what goes beyond. Creating visual texts that go beyond the denotative plane, or how the denotative transforms into the connotative plane: examples in images and in printed visual advertising.
3.1 - Syntagm and Paradigm and their axes. Understanding the processes of articulation and intervention in the axes: what happens to the syntagm due to choices made in the paradigmatic axis and what happens to the syntagm due to changes made in the syntagmatic axis.
Syntagmatic axis, paradigmatic axis, and rhetorical figures. Syntagm and paradigm as processes that influence the definition of the topic in visual text. Examples. 4.1 Minimal elements in images and chains of articulations. Theme and topic and construction of logical chains of presences and meaning. Formative elements of the visual text and their articulations (Arthrology) or interdependencies: correlations of similarity, difference, and complementarity. Examples. 5.1 The reason for codifications in the visual: representing the unattainable and abstractions. Visual symbols and allegories. Symbols of power. Representation of power and ceremonial portraits. Introduction to the importance of the substance of expression in representation and meaning-making. Examples. 6.1 Visual sign and plastic sign. Hjemslev: content, expression, matter, and form. Syntax and axes; pairs of contrasts. Structuring elements of the visual text, paradigmatic relations, and visual syntax. Examples. 7.1- Reading photographic images to deduce syntax and meaning. Graphic marks (GM). Symbol, logo, others. Reading GMs to deduce syntax and meaning. Examples. 8.1- Comic Strips. Structure of the panels: narrative and spatial structure. Codes of this type of communication. Examples. 9.1- General Rhetoric and Visual Rhetoric. Ethos, pathos, and logos in the visual text. Operations and figures of visual rhetoric. Case of ellipsis, prosopopoeia, metaphor, and metonymy. Examples.
Evaluation Methodology
Timely completion and submission of tasks; exercises and tests on topics or content covered in the subject, to demonstrate skills and mastery of the content.
The grading is expressed quantitatively from zero to twenty points. All tasks have the same weight in the final grade.
Attendance during semester contact hours: completion of the proposed tasks and posting them on Teams in the week prior to their discussion, along with the publication of the results obtained.
Approval and exemption from examination period if he grade obtained in all proposed tasks is equal to/or higher than ten points and if students demonstrate regular attendance: having attended at least two-thirds of the classes.
Only students having been assessed in all attendance/tasks,are allowed to take the examination period, if they did not achieve a positive final grade.
Exam consists of a knowledge assessment test.
Bibliography
- Grupo U, . (1989). Retorica general. MadridBarcelona: Ediciones Paidós
- Vilches, L. (2002). Teoría de la Imagen Periodística. Madrid: Ediciones Pirámide
- Villafane, J. (1996). Principios de teoría General de la Imagen. Madrid: Pirâmide
- Zunzunegui, S. (1989). Pensar la imagen. Madrid: Cátedra
Teaching Method
A) Lectures for understanding concepts and meaning construction
B) Reading/decoding visual texts
C) Exercises for experimentation/application of knowledge
D) Reading of print advertising and visual rhetoric operations and figures
Software used in class
Not applicable
