Semiotics and Intertextuality

Semiotics is the study of signs and sign processes, propelled by Roland Barthes a French literary theorist; it has become an integral part of any media –particularly music videos. They are defined as ‘the academic study of the relationship of language and other signs to their meaning’ e.g. in religious circles a white dove would symbolise peace. They play a similar role in music videos but are linked with Intertextuality. Structuralist semiotics tend to treat individual texts as, closed-off entities and focus exclusively on internal structures, this limits some music videos and directors and only sends messages from artist to artist. The notion of Intertextuality established by Julia Kristeva connects the text to other texts giving a stronger ‘shared code’ the audience can understand further.  One artist that uses semiotics and Intertextuality in her videos is Lady Gaga, as all her songs have hidden underlying messages. Here is an example of one of her videos and analysis of the Intertextuality and semiotics throughout.

Here is an example of Semiotics and Intertexuality portrayed in a music video by Lady Gaga's Judas.

Obvious forms of semiotics are evident throughout with colours such as red lipstick on Judas which symbolises her lust for him however there are also complicated advanced forms of Intertextuality present. A recurring theme in the video is the presence or absence of tears - when Lady Gaga is moving towards or clinging to Jesus, there are no mascara tears. When she turns towards or thinks about Judas, tears appear. She’s proclaiming her love for Judas but marrying Jesus. She must choose between them, and be either engulfed in the sea which biblically represents (sin) or cleansed in the baptismal waters. She chooses Judas, but is stoned to death and her black hair and nails represent the sin. Black obviously being opposite to white which is associated with peace and love (white dove). Religious imagery and Intertextuality continues throughout the video some of which you would only understand if you were religious. Such as a visual clue ‘love is like a rock’ and peter in Latin means Petrus which in German means rock, however this could also symbolise how love is like a weight around your neck as your thrown into the sea. There are many brief examples of Intertextuality such as a mace Lady Gaga is seen swinging this could refer to the sacrament of confession which the mace is associated with. Lady Gaga can be seen washing in water with Jesus and Judas this shows baptism and cleansing of sins for her loving two men. The Binary Oppositions present in Lady Gaga Judas is good and bad, Jesus and Judas. The modern representation at the beginning shows the Binary Opposition is also modern culture versus religious culture that was once important, people choose love and sex instead of safe and religious. This links in with the Enigma code of the video, it looks like it’s about choosing between men but reflects modern cultures struggle with continuing religious beliefs.

Posted by Dominic