Notes in Communication – Sign

Sign is a basic concept in communication. Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the study of meaning-making, the study of sign process (semiosis) and meaningful communication. Simply speaking, if X can refer or express Y, the X is the sign of Y.

The importance of communication among people is about exchanging spiritual contents. Since the spiritual contents are invisible, we should rely on certain materials -- like the signal. So the communication actions are the signal's encoding and decoding process.

There are lots of signals in novels or movies, such as numbers, dreams and animals. These signals give power to the stories and enrich the metaphors. They are also keys to understand the deep meanings. Like the best seller The Da Vinci Code, the dramatis persona reveals a controversial opinion of Jesus by analyzing semiotics in paintings of Da Vinci.

There is a well-known film recently, Dying to Survive. The film is based on the true story of businessman Lu Yong — played by Xu Zheng — who was arrested for selling "fake" drugs, as Chinese law deems Indian generics that aren't approved for sale. In the film, the director uses the legendary in India as signals.

There is a scene: when the dramatis persona Cheng Yong went out of a chemist's, he saw two sculptures of gods in the mist of insecticide. One is Kali, and the other is Shiva.

The legendary story is like this: Kali has a fight with the demon Raktabija. Raktabija is undefeated because of his ability to reproduce himself from every drop of his blood that reaches the ground. Countless Raktabija clones appear on the battlefield. Kali eventually defeats him by sucking his blood before it can reach the ground, and eating the numerous clones. But Kali herself has become an evil too. So, her husband, Shiva, calms Kali by sleeping down and letting her step on himself.

The director of Dying to Survive, Wen Muye said, “This scene of India Gods has nothing to do with the other parts, but it can show an interesting expression of the film’s aim. India is a wonderful place, the disorder and the pursuit of faith can survive at the same time.”

It is a signal of Cheng Yong’s mind change.He doesn’t know the road in front. He decides to sell the India drugs again to help friends. He is maybe like the god Shiva who has the spirit of sacrificing himself to look after others.

Back to communication, the signal is a very vital concept that we should remember. When we are reading news or watching movies, we must realize that the creators are using Semiotics to pass information accurately and figuratively. We ourselves should also use signals to make our expressions easy and vivid.

中文：

英语文章：传播学学习笔记——符号

符号是传播学中一个基本的概念。符号学广义上是研究符号传意的人文科学，当中涵盖所有涉文字符、讯号符、密码、古文明记号、手语的科学。简单来说，如果事物X能够指代或表述Y ，X便是Y的符号。

人与人之间传播的目的是交流意义，换句话说即交流精神内容。但是精神内容本身是无形的，传播者只有借助于某种可感知的物质形式，借助符号才能表现出来。所以传播活动是符号化和符号解读的过程。

在小说、电影中，存在很多符象，像数字符号、梦境符号和动物符号等等。这些符号暗含的隐喻智慧既增强了小说的叙事张力,也丰富了作品的哲学意蕴，成为解读其内涵的一把钥匙。在畅销小说《达芬奇密码》中，主角透过符号学分析达芬奇的画作，揭露了耶稣拥有世俗血脉的议论性讯息。

最近很火的电影《我不是药神》，它是一部原型基于陆勇因为“贩卖假药”被逮捕的故事，由徐峥主演，讲述了中国的法律禁止销售印度的仿制药的故事。在电影里面就借鉴了印度的神话故事，是符号在电影中应用的具体案例。

电影中有这样一个场景：主人公程勇走出一家药店，在喷的杀虫剂的烟雾中看到了两尊印度的神像，一尊是迦梨，一尊是湿婆。

这两位神的故事是这样的：迦梨和恶魔罗乞多毗阇打了一架。罗乞多毗阇很难打败，因为他的每一滴滴到地上的血，都可以变成无数他的化身加入战斗。迦梨最终靠着吸尽罗乞多毗阇的每一滴血，把所有的化身都吃掉的方式，才打败了他。但迦梨因此也变成了恶魔。所以她的丈夫，湿婆，就躺倒让她践踏着自己，用这种方式能让她平静下来，不去祸害世界。

《我不是药神》的导演文牧野说：“我就是在印度那一场烟雾的戏里出来了一下，马上回去了。那是跟全片故事毫无关系的一段，你把那段拿掉也就拿掉了，不会影响任何事情…印度这个地方真的很有意思，那种表面的混乱无序和对信仰的那种追索可以并存，根源是无所谓、无妨。酒肉穿肠过，佛祖心中留。”

这一段就是程勇心态变化的一个符号。他不知道前路通向何方。他只是决定要卖印度药帮助他的朋友。他可能就像湿婆一样，做好了为照顾他人牺牲自己的准备。

回到传播学的概念，符号。在平时看新闻，看电影的时候，我们就需要想到，这是创作者在使用符号学，准确、形象地我们传递信息，我们在表达的时候，也要多去使用符号，让自己的表达更生动易懂。