The way we communicate and share ideas and concepts in our society is complex. How do we conceptualize ideas and explain them to others? How does discourse work and how do we understand each other? What is truth and what is not? Many questions can be asked about how language, discourse and representation are organized and the way they work. Implicit rules of communication exist in our society without even being aware of them. Saussure, Barthe and Foucault are three theorists who took different directions in answering these questions. I will discuss their research and findings which are known as Saussure's Social Constructionist view of language and representation, the Semiotic Approach of Roland Barthe, and Foucault's explication of Discourse, Knowledge, and Power.

Saussure, the father of modern linguistics, contributed to a general semiotic approach. He was interested in how we understand meaning and how representation works. He saw language as a system of signs, which conveys information to us and gives meaning to us. Signs are meant to communicate ideas and concepts. He divided the system of language into three interrelated parts, which are the signifier, the signified and the sign

Film is a medium of communication which offers many types of discourse and in which language and signs are very important to understand a story. The characters as well as the mise en scene and the dialogue are the signs, which give to us meaning and representation of a specific scene. The camera also plays a big role in discourse and makes things exist and receives meaning and knowledge. Foucault's theory of regime of truth can be applied in films because without discourse, nothing would exist in the film. If the camera is not filming a certain object even though it does exist, the viewer will not be aware of it and it will not exist for them.

. The signifier is the real object or written word that everybody can see while the signified is the corresponding concept triggered in our heads. The signified is the idea of the object and, therefore, is not real. It is flexible and the signified changes from person to person. The sign is a whole, which consists of the union of the signifier and the signified. The sign is the package of the real object and the ideas that object triggers in our heads. The signifier and the signified are related and defined by linguistic and social codes. This means that a specific signifier does not trigger identical ideas in every society because the codes change from one society to another. For example, for one society, a bottle of water (the signifier) means life and luxury (the signified), while for another it simply means wet. The codes change because of the different cultural beliefs and social conditions societies have. In addition, all meanings (signified) are produced by historical events within a culture and, therefore, there are no true meanings. Saussure also believed that in order to understand a concept, the signifiers must be organized into a dualistic system of concepts and categories. A signifier must have an opposite to be understood. For instance, high could not be understood without low, in the same way that cold could not be understood without hot. However, this theory was criticized because of its inaccuracy.

Following this theory, it would mean that all the words in between the two extremes would not have meanings, which is not true. Saussure also analyzed language in a more structural way. He divided it into two categories: langue and parole. Langue is the structure of language. It is grammar and the rules of speech and writing. Langue is the structure, which we use to make sentences. It is the order in which we put our words to be understood by others. On the other hand, parole is the specific speech act. It is the surface of language. It is the union of sounds, which creates a word.

Each of these theories tries to explain how language and representation function, and how an individual as well as a society mak

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Approximate Word count = 1883
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)