Cigarettes and High Heels: The Universe of Signs

Abstract

Using cigarettes and high heels as examples of signs, and how they deliver cultural meanings through their shape and functions, this chapter is a general introduction to semiotics---what it is, what makes it distinct, and what its goals are. The connection of smoking to courtship rituals and the wearing of high heels as part of the romance game provide a concrete introduction to the idea that all human behavior is guided by sign structures and meanings of all kinds. The chapter introduces the two main models of the sign---the binary one associated with Ferdinand de Saussure and the triadic one associated with Charles Peirce. A schematic overview of the origins and development of semiotics as a distinct science is provided in order to set a background to the discussions that will follow. The chapter ends introducing basic principles of semiotics, including the notion that common sense is communal sense, and that cultures are built on the latter.