makes diamonds valuable, and why do we revere them so much? “…diamonds have meant different things to different societies. Until the 15th century, they were seen by leaders as symbols of supreme strength. The name itself comes from the Greek word "adamas", meaning indestructible. The Greeks were a romantic sort, and for them the dancing sparkle of the diamond was the sign of the extinguishable flame of love” add (Savage, 2008). Diamonds are now easily accessible to us and all we have to do is visit the nearest jewelry store with deep pockets. However, we have no knowledge about where those diamonds came from. Kanye West addresses the contingent issues of conflict, or “blood” diamonds as well as child slave labor in a music video called, …show more content…
A crucial part of structuralism is semiotics, which is the study of signs and symbols. Semiotics in structuralism seeks to discover the underlying organization of phenomena in society. In a peer-reviewed scholarly journal titled “Reflections on semiotics, visual culture, and pedagogy”, Deborah Smith-Shank writes, “Through signs, people create culture and the institutions of culture, including religion, government, armies, schools, (Deely, 1982) and curricula in art. Culture, in turn, impacts our lives by determining what is important and what is not; what makes sense and what doesn’t” (Smith-Shank, 2007). She also writes, “By understanding culture as arbitrary sign systems, hegemony is explored, values are questioned, habits are challenged, and art education becomes a broad arena in which to explore, visually, multi-culturally, and historically, what it means to be sensual and sentient creatures coexisting within constantly changing” (Smith-Shank, …show more content…
This fact has important implications for our thoughts about the relation between individuals and society” (Berger 2013). Semiotics is a tool used to uncover how meaning is created, communicated, and perceived in structuralism. The process of semiotics is described by Barthes as, “…a science of forms, since it studies significations apart from their content” (Barthes 1972). By attaching meaning to signs and symbols, semiotics helps us understand the world we live
In the video, the roles of society seem to be reversed as compared to what is traditionally viewed. West is referring to the early ages of our country in which the African American race were enslaved to the Caucasians. This is seen in completely opposite light in West’s video, as all of the Caucasians are in reversed roles with the African-Americans. As Kanye West being a popular icon in the music industry, both whites and blacks are a lump sum of his audience which creates for him to have a larger impact of the common thoughts on racism regarding both groups. Most individuals find themselves very moved by the video as it puts them into a slight state of shock seeing this prominence of reverse racism in our culture today. This goes along in turn with the title of the song being “Monster”, as West is depicting the whites as being monsters toward the black race, and him attempting to put a change on that. Through the use of the vivid and extremely graphic images, West’s music video, forces the viewer into thinking about society and the roles that racism has played both hundreds of years ago and today. West uses scenes in which white individuals are portrayed to be dead, or controlled by the African American race. “A white male is being dragged across the floor by an African American, showing the reverse dominancy regarding race, while in the very next scene the whites are
Lacan’s theory is a form of structuralism because it expansively talks about the tenets of human culture. As advanced by the structuralism theory, human culture is understood from the idea that, there is a larger relationship between structures of human existence. Lacan posits that human culture stems from its relationship with overarching systems. Lacan’s theory argues that human phenomena do not have value without the relationship that ensues with other structures. In other words, Lacan is candid that culture is a product of the systems of structure that build up to a larger structure. According to Lacan, human existence derives its understanding from its ability to develop interrelations. Indeed, Lacan’s psychoanalysis theory has a form of structuralism embedded in it by looking deeply into his ideas about human interactions. According to him, “the unconscious is the discourse of the other”. This implies that human desires are structured in relation to the feelings of others. Psychoanalysis, according to Lacan, is the idea that human culture results from social interaction. In this respect, desire is a social phenomenon that links humans with other structures that form human culture. It is the structural interaction of human desire with other components of human culture, which makes Lacan’s theory a form of structuralism. Linking the space between people in a social-psychoanalysis approach is a form of structuralism. In reference to this idea, it is worth noting that the ability to connect people in a cultural dimension calls for a structural comprehension between different tenets like language and economics. As advanced by Lacan, for instance, capitalism and economics are significant components of human culture that influe...
The controversial artist Kanye West has always attempted to make known what he thinks, no matter if he has to be disrespectful or graphic in his illustrations of said topic. So it wasn't a real surprise when he chose to focus his energy into reveling to the American public horrors happening that had a direct connection with the beloved diamond stone. West's 2005 music video “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” shows the corrupted underground diamond trade in the African country, Sierra Leone. From this groundbreaking video, West showed the devastated lives those who worked on the mining rivers live. However upon further investigation into the issue of diamond workers in Sierra Leone there emerged the true source of the situation, a violent conflict between the government and rebel leaders. Due to this conflict the entire country was thrown on a downward spiral. This downward spiral eventually resulted in the people longing for the conflict to stop and for the country to come together as one again. The people of Sierra Leone want to forget about the events that transpired during their civil war, however the more we look and attempt to learn from what happened, the better we set ourselves up for the future. West's video only depicts one side of a multifaceted struggle of the diamonds in Sierra Leone, however from this one side the public is encouraged to research more into the conflict themselves and uncover the truth behind the diamonds that we so desperately love.
Chapter three of the text, Inside Social Life by authors Cahill, Sandstrom and Froyum; discusses the importance of symbolism and how each individual within society comprehends the realities which surround them. Humans have the capacity to relate, internalize and interpret in their own words; the objects they visualize, smell, taste, hear and see on a daily basis. The chapter discusses how symbolism helps regulate human life and activity; alongside forming cohesion and stability within society. For example, if humans stayed at the level of sensation, experiencing everything around them; soon all would become overwhelmed and utterly distracted. (Sandstrom, 2014). This short paper will aim to critique and analyze author Sandstroms’ chapter on Symbols and the Creation of Reality. Discussed within the paper will be points which to the reader are deemed as ones of great value; in conjunction with points which may have brought the chapter to lose its major emphasis.
It’s hard to imagine that a mineral could be fueling wars and funding corrupt governments. This mineral can be smuggled undetected across countries in a coat pocket, then be sold for vast amounts of money. This mineral is used in power tools, parts of x-ray machines, and microchips but mostly jewelry. Once considered the ultimate symbol of love, the diamond has a darker story. "Blood" diamonds or "conflict" diamonds are those mined, polished, or traded in areas of the world where the rule of law does not exist. They often originate in war-torn countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola, and Côte d'Ivoire were rebels use these gems to fund genocide or other questionable objectives. Even with a system known as the Kimberly process which tracks diamonds to prevent trade of these illicit gems, infractions continue as the process is seriously flawed. The continuation of the blood diamond trade is inhuman, and unethical, and in order to cease this illicit trade further action to redefine a conflict diamond, as well as reform to the diamond certification prosess is nessasary.
Deep within African mines, elusive diamonds lay enveloped in the Earth’s crust. Possessing much influence, beauty, and tension, nature’s hardest known substance causes parallel occurrences of unity and destruction on opposite sides of the globe. Diamonds, derived from the Greek word "adamas", meaning invincible, are formed deep within the mantle, and are composed entirely from carbon. Moreover, only under tremendous amounts of heat and pressure can diamonds form into their preliminary crystal state. In fact, diamonds are formed approximately 150km- 200km below the surface and at radical temperatures ranging from 900-1300 C°. When these extremes meet, carbon atoms are forced together creating diamond crystals. Yet how do these gems, ranking a ten on Moh’s hardness scale, impact the individual lives of millions of people besides coaxing a squeal out of brides-to-be? These colorless, yellow, brown, green, blue, reddish, pink, grey and black minerals are gorgeous in their cut state, but how are these otherwise dull gems recognized and harvested? Furthermore, how and why is bloodshed and violence caused over diamonds in Africa, the supplier of approximately 65% of the world’s diamonds? (Bertoni) The environmental, social, and economic impact of harvesting, transporting, and processing diamonds is crucial because contrary to popular belief, much blood has been spilled over first-world “bling”.
The model of semiosis allows us the investigation of the ¡¥sign¡¦: music, in its structure, in its act and its functionality which means communication and signification. Thus we can identify ¡¥the music-sign¡¦ through the expression of the sense¡Xthe sense that "is conceived as an evidence, as the feeling of comprehension, in a very natural way" (1)¡Xand through the significance. Thus, our guidance implies ¡¥sign¡¦, ¡¥expression¡¦, ¡¥signification¡¦¡Xthe triad that brings together the coordinates of semiosis; defined, it, by Charles S.Peirce through the cooperation of the sign, its object and its interpretant (2) and by U.Eco: "the process through which the empirical individuals communicate and the processes of communication become possible thanks to the systems of significance" (3). This semiosis is put in evidence by different semio...
Waskul, D., & Vannini, P. (2006). Introduction: The body in symbolic interaction. In D. Waskul & P. Vannini (Eds.), Body/ Embodiment: Symbolic Interaction and the Sociology of the BodyRetrieved from http://ia600800.us.archive.org/19/items/BodyembodimentSymbolicInteractionAndTheSociologyOfBody/BodyEmbodiment-WaskulVannini.pdf
As a reader it is difficult to separate ones analysis of such a commanding piece of work from ones own constructed systems of meaning. Because of this, actual meaning is tricky to assert with certainty as it is subject to change as easily as reality is subject to influence. This may be beside the point, however; for it seems as though what matters in structuralism is the recognition that everyone, and everything everyone creates or does, is in some part connected to a system of meaning which informs and influences varying interpretations of what is real and true of the world and its diverse inhabitants.
The cover of this magazine can be analyzed using different theories, including the semiotics of symbolic theory, Performance as Political Action idea and postmodern theories within cultural studies. The first theory used to analyze this magazine is the semiotic theory, developed by C.S. Peirce. This theory is used to find the meaning in signs and claims it is all in the meaning of the signs used.
Herman calls semiotics the 'conventional relation between signifier and signified'. Looking at these conventions would re-establish the contexts of 'production... and reception' (Lanser, 2008, p. 344) so important for feminist criticism, whilst still utilising some of the formal insights of narratology.
...l the flow of conflict diamonds. Both assure consumers that more than 99% of rough stones today come from conflict-free sources which are regulated by the Kimberley process. According to the people who profited from diamonds, the blood diamonds problem is passé5. Further research tells us that it is not. According to Father Rocco Puopolo of the Africa Faith and Justice Network, he says “It’s not passé,” “the diamond industry can claim what they want and the film will always serve as a template for what is going on in Africa today.” This point out that labour exploitation and conflict (for control of precious resources such as gold) may still be going on in Africa.
Symbolic interactionism tends to observe things by paying full attention to the micro level of sociology. Instead of focusing on broader aspects you look at things depending upon the individual and their interactions in society. Through the use of symbols we are able to assign meaning to people and things and then develop our own interpretations of those symbols.
Structuralism was developed by Ferdinand de Saussure in the mid-twentieth century (Cuddon and Preston 923). This creation was brought on, in part, by the French existentialism period and is often combined with the semiotic theory of literary criticism; both are the source of development for other literary criticisms from the formalist schools of thought. As the name suggests, structuralism examines the structure of the work, investigating the ramifications of the organizations of literatures (McManus, 1998). As an image to portray this idea is examining the structure of a building and comparing it to the structures of other buildings in its surroundings, and then subsequently comparing the common features of those buildings to buildings from other cultures and what those architectural discrepancies represent (Brizee and Tompkins, 2011).
An important first step in this discussion is to firmly establish that a stop sign is, in fact, a sign. This may seem obvious, as, after all, it does have the word "sign" in its name, this in an important technical consideration that must be made before we can proceed. According to Charles Pierce, one of the major pioneers of the field of semiotics, a sign has three fundamental parts. These are: the object, the representamen, and the interpretant. The representamen is what most people w...