David Chandler
Semiotics: The Basics
2002
I really did not enjoy this reading. The author seemed to confirm my theory that a person willing to write an entire book on verbal meaning and understanding is themselves afraid of being misunderstood. The length to which he went to break down, analyze, reanalyze, word, and reword his thoughts took repetition into the absurd. The biggest problem I had with his initial theories was that he never took into account that most people speak with MULTIPLE meanings in mind, both consciously and subconsciously. His ideas on base meaning were undeniable, if only by merit of their over exhaustive browbeating. But it never took into account that people hardly ever choose words with the intent of only saying one thing. It is the way they say a thing which can not just mean another thing but can ALSO mean another thing. The breakdowns of the different forms of allusion was well stated, if overstated.
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