Becoming a dominant misinterpreted source: The case of Ferdinand de Saussure in cultural sociology

Stoltz, Dustin S.

doi:10.1177/1468795x19896056

Cited by 11 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…As a result of this wide-spread theoretical commensurability, social scientists are beginning to use word embeddings (Boutyline, Arseniev-Koehler, and Cornell 2020;e.g., Hofstra et al 2020;Jones et al 2020;Kozlowski, Taddy, and Evans 2019;Linzhuo, 17 It is important to emphasize that words' meanings can be inferred from their linguistic contexts, and thus "difference of meaning correlates with difference of distribution" (Harris 1954:156 emphasis added) . This is contrary to problematic neo-Saussurean formulations in sociology (Stoltz 2019) , wherein words' meanings are said to be entirely constituted by their linguistic context alone. See Bender and Koller (2020:7) for a similar critique of Wittgensteinian formulations: "the slogan 'meaning is use'... refers not to 'use' as 'distribution in a text corpus' but rather that language is used in the real world to convey communicative intents to real people."…”

Section: Language Modeling and Relational Theories Of Meaningmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…15 Saussure is often ritualistically cited to motivate such a "relational" approach to language. While his view was relational, he largely ignored semantics to focus on phonology (Norris 1985:62;Stoltz 2019) . 16 Along with Firth, Wittgenstein ([1953] 2009:80, 109) is often cited as positing a similar theory.…”

Section: Language Modeling and Relational Theories Of Meaningmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cultural Cartography with Word Embeddings

Stoltz¹,

Taylor²

2020

Preprint

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Using the presence or frequency of keywords is a classic approach in the formal analysis of text, but has the drawback of glossing over the relationality of word meanings. Word embedding models overcome this problem by constructing a standardized meaning space where words are assigned a location based on relations of similarity to, and difference from, other words based on how they are used in natural language samples. We show how word embeddings can be put to the task of interpretation via two kinds of navigation. First, one can hold terms constant and measure how the embedding space moves around them—much like astronomers measured the changing of celestial bodies with the seasons. Second, one can also hold the embedding space constant and see how documents or authors move relative to it—just as ships use the stars on a given night to determine their location. Using the empirical case of immigration discourse in the United States, we demonstrate the merits of these two broad strategies to advance formal approaches to cultural analysis.

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Section: Language Modeling and Relational Theories Of Meaningmentioning

confidence: 73%

Section: Language Modeling and Relational Theories Of Meaningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural Cartography with Word Embeddings

Stoltz¹,

Taylor²

2020

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…Nauta emphasizes that semiotic analysis describes a target language's meaning and application (Sobur, 2017). Cultural analysts in sociology typically cite Ferdinand de Saussure's work to motivate a narrow theory of meaning (Stoltz, 2019). In other words, semiotic are an approach to explore how communicators use signs when saying something meaningful to others.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Context Culture in CDC's Health Alert: For All Travelers

Randy¹,

Vera²

2021

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The high number of covid-19 cases and the US's mortality rate encourage The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to socialize and promote prevention guidance to stop the spreading. One of the preventive measures is by issuing travel warnings. Scholars have noted that the linguistic and cultural concept conveys norms of behavior and values in society at a particular stage of its development. In brief, advertisements messages are influenced by communicators' cultural backgrounds and references. It means the signs in the CDC poster can show American values. To examine and explore those cultural values in CDC publication materials, the authors conducted a semiotic analysis on a poster entitled Health Alert: For All Travelers. The method used is Ferdinand de Saussure's semiotic model. The study shows that the signs presented on the CDC poster are simple, use direct communication structures, and are equipped with universal meaning to understand the message conveyed easily. It indicates a representation of the dominant culture in the United States, the low-context culture with a high level of individualism values. Multidisciplinary research is needed to help create a universal communication model so that messages conveyed in advertisements can reach a wider audience.

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“…The Baduy calendar serves information about agricultural determination (Wulandari, 2022). An exposure to the case of cultural semiotics is attributed to Saussure's theory, stating that the meaning of a sign is arbitrary (Stoltz, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Animal Signs in Determining Good and Bad Days in the Ala Ayuning Dewasa on Balinese Caka Calendar

Swandana,

Paramarta

2024

IJEFL

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Time determines the good and bad day to start doing something in Balinese society. This study aims to analyze the sign system in the Ala Ayuning Dewasa on the Balinese Caka Calendar. Data is taken from the Balinese Caka Calendar 2023. There are two types of data in this study, namely written and oral data. Written data is in the form of animal name terms and their meanings. Oral data is a description of the relationship between signifiers and signifieds. Written data were collected through observation assisted by note-taking techniques. Researchers observed the sign system in the Ala Ayuning Dewasa on the Balinese Caka Calendar and noted it in the sheets provided. Oral data were obtained from three informants who wrestled with the Ala Ayuning Dewasa on the Balinese Caka Calendar through interviews. The results showed that (1) signifiers were formed from a combination of times called wewaran, wuku, and penanggal/pangelong, (2) there were 20 animal terms consisting of 9 forms of noun phrases, and 11 simple clauses, (3) signifiers and signifieds have a connotation relationship, (4) signifieds are complex which means that one signified can have the meaning of good das, bad day, good and bad days, even one signifier can have up to 5 meanings. This research is a sound guide for Hindus in Bali to discover the meaning of the relationship between animal signifiers and their signifieds in the Ala Ayuning Dewasa on the Balinese Caka Calendar.

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Becoming a dominant misinterpreted source: The case of Ferdinand de Saussure in cultural sociology

Cited by 11 publications

References 72 publications

Cultural Cartography with Word Embeddings

Cultural Cartography with Word Embeddings

Context Culture in CDC's Health Alert: For All Travelers

The Animal Signs in Determining Good and Bad Days in the Ala Ayuning Dewasa on Balinese Caka Calendar

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