Over the past four months I have really become fond of semiotics.
Social semiotics is interesting in the sense that it can be literally applied to anything.
I wrote this paper to basically showcase my semiotic knowledge. On my favourite topic, it explores how meaning is made in Dale Peterson's video but that this meaning can be interpreted in an infinite amount of ways.
I had fun writing this paper mostly because it was on a character that I enjoyed.
It is so rare in English studies to get the freedom that I always associated with writing.
I hope you enjoy this one, I surely did.
And if you need a link to the video. Here you go.
A Meditative Exploration of The Semiotic Operations in Dale Peterson’s Political Campaign
Political campaign ads (specifically videos) no doubt employ tactics to alter the minds of the public. While these semiotic and rhetorical techniques are often a principal element in the triumph of a politician; they are not magic. A virtue of democracy is that society has the opportunity to gauge and evaluate members of state to form opinions. In a Utopia, the social conventions that determine political change would be based purely on the direct notions and goals that a candidate works with. Essentially, opinions would be arbitrary. Interestingly enough, we do not live in a Utopia and therefore must consider the degree of incongruity that exists within Western cultural structures. These are the conditions that allow for the social-semiotic perspective to bridge the gap between cause and effect.
Dale Peterson is a Republican Agriculture Commission candidate for the state of Alabama. His political crusade operates in a place where Southern-American, Republican, and often times Confederate folkways dominate the masses. These folkways propagate values that commonly favour the goals of candidates like Dale Peterson. Given that Dale will probably win this election; why is it important to make note of the semiotics in use? America has flagrantly bifurcated political principles and it is the meanings in videos like this that proliferate indifference between Republicans and Democrats. Since Dale Peterson’s ad engages semiotic strategies, it is crucial to scrutinize the conditions at which meaning is generated, altered, and used. To a home-grown Republican oriented Southerner, Dale Peterson generates an ethos of respectability, authority, and experience while to someone else (perhaps a Democrat in Maine,) Peterson would rub off as a rambling gun-toting maniac who is probably a bigot of some sort. The question is, what are the signs that generate these meanings?
To begin our exploration, it is critical to note the multi-modality of Dale Peterson’s communication. Being that this video contains both images and a narrative, there are multiple levels of interaction for the audience. Furthermore, Peterson’s speech conforms to the idea of a hybrid speech act by both offering information, and offering services. (Halliday, 1985) These two interacts shift between connotative and denotative meanings. For example, Peterson tells it like it is. He was a farmer, a business man, a cop, and a marine during Vietnam (0:08). It is hard to take those offerings of information in any other way; you’d better listen up. However, Peterson also alludes to “Thugs and criminals” (0:21.) Who are the thugs and criminals? This is a situation at which social context can determine the meaning from verbal signs. Secondly, it is hard to miss Dale’s shotgun as he waves it around about three times. Again referring to our Southerner example, this can be interpreted as a sign of security and tradition. On the contrary, our Democrat in Maine could see this as a sign of uncontrollable aggression. Either way, it is the salience of said item that captures the eyes of the audience and creates a spectacle worth analyzing.
There are a number of salient elements in this video that contribute to its composition. It is often difficult to incorporate elements of composition to anything other than a static image. However, with enough consideration of the nuances in this video, composition becomes evident. For example, notice that throughout the video, Peterson is obviously the salient element but he is framed by an environment which suggests that he is in fact on an Alabama farm. On Peterson’s end, this can be considered a rhetorical technique as it places him within an environment that showcases his legitimacy towards his cause. In other words, if Peterson would have shot this ad in a stuffy office (like a Democrat might) it might suggest that he has never even been to a farm and that he is not a suitable candidate. But again, this interpretation is determined by social context. More salient items that can be judged include Peteron’s outrageous hat and attractive horse. These elements provide a nice transition in to studying the discourse of the Peterson’s video with how they represent reality.
Dale’s “Marlboro Man” look is a manifestation of the cultural realities that surround his campaign. While not all Alabamians are gun totting cowboys, Peterson draws upon the fact that many associate with this as a constructed reality of their culture. Essentially, by conforming to this reputation of a hard working, alpha male, shoot you in the goddamn face guy, Dale says “Look. This is us. Get used to it.” Rhetorically, this is intimidating from the Democrat standpoint. While there may be gun-owning and hat wearing Democrats in Maine, they would rarely associate with this stereotype; that is if they had any hope in winning. Whereas for Peterson, he knows that it is comforting for his society to be able to connect with their candidate and that he can put the fear of God in to anyone who does not.
These elements of discourse also bring to light the idea of the myths that surround a video of this genre. To explore these myths, it is first important to define genre. Van Leeuwen says that texts are characterized by their means of expression, use of media, and what they do. (123)Political videos have their own genre; however, they can be divided in to several sub-genres. These genres are usually defined by the balance of persuasive appeals that operate within them. For example, at various points in the video, Peterson conforms to a genre of self-praise. This has a higher appeal to ethos and almost diminishes pathos and logos. Furthermore, Peterson also engages in the attack genre. Dale defames his competition by referring to the common sense “Who on earth would support such a dummy?” (0:46) This takes the appeal away from himself and focuses it on logos. It is important to consider rhetorical appeals and how they define genre because they are an initial source for what the video does in society. Roland Barthes explored how signs like these governed myths. To him, it would be of value to take in to account genre. There are definite myths in society about a political attack. Many feel that this form of advertising oneself is slanderous and poor-form. From that, society might think that the Peterson is insecure and foolish for calling his opponent dumb. Likewise, videos of self-praise can generate the myth that the candidate is inadequate and lacks policy so he/she must boost their image. It is hard to apply this myth to Peterson since his self-praise is so blatant and serious. This discrepancy is a good way of showing that even though these myths exist in society, they may not always be true.
Dale Peterson became a YouTube celebrity with this video. This success is the result of Peterson seemingly unintentionally employing a degree of humour. Peterson is a sensational figure of his culture. His over-the-top expressions and in-your-face expressions of southern lifestyle (the gun) almost make this ad seem like a parody. Parodies are intriguing because their satire can smear the value of the subject. Obviously, Peterson is dead-serious about his campaign and is probably not trying to be very funny. However, not all political campaign videos reach millions of hits on YouTube. The reality is that many people think this video is hilarious. The beauty of analyzing a YouTube video is that right below it are thousands of actual testimonies. The most “liked” comment (with a grad total of 524 “thumbs-up”) on this video is a person saying “When the gun came out I’ll admit I laughed.” The degree of humour in this situation makes politics a casual ordeal. Again, while Peterson is dead-serious, the funny perspective makes him more approachable. This video familiarizes those who are not actively involved in Alabamian politics with the social and political issues that Dale is so fervently engaged with. Peterson’s video reached an entirely new audience just by being funny; a quality that should not be ignored.
In regards to this audience; YouTube is also very helpful by providing the age and gender information of the registered users that viewed this video. This takes the hard work out of guessing the intended and actual audience of the video. From the video’s page we learn that of the 2,349,813 views, this video is most popular with males between 35 and 64. Looking at this video, there is no question why that is the result. Peterson appeals to the mature male with voting on his mind. His no-guff attitude, guns, and manly disposition make him seem like oh hell of a guy. So what does this say about society? We can guess that this age demographic of males like to associate themselves with figures like Dale, perhaps even looking up to him. Further reading of the comments reveal some evidence that supports this claim. One male from Mt. Rainer said that “Dale Peterson is my kind of candidate!” while a student from Finland said, “I love you Dale.” This type of exploration in to audience is extremely helpful in learning about semiotics. However, it is also rather disturbing.
Since men obviously have some strange fascination with Dale it might also be said that women find him appealing too. Studying one gender in an audience will not illustrate the broad picture. Women must be taken in to account since ultimately, they will account for almost half of Peterson’s votes. We can also assume that while this video reached millions of hits, not all of them were male. There was still a massive number of females that watched this video. The female perspective allows us to consider the abstraction that maybe Peterson is employing the notion that sex sells. Though in the end, this is just another myth.
Analysis of this video could be infinite. As a point of reference, this video can be used to comment on the limitless layers of society and culture. The fascinating conclusion is that no answer is entirely true. Meanings can be interpreted differently depending on context, prejudices, constraints, and opinions. In the end, it is fascinating to imagine how Dale Peterson’s video might function in a Utopia. In a world where there are no dictating discrepancies in society could this video even exist? It is humbling to think that we are able to take advantage of a world plagued by indifference to find meaning and reason. Ultimately, it is our inability to agree with one another that makes semiotics so brilliantly fascinating.
Evan RC MacKinnon 03/31/2011
Works Cited
We are Better than That!!!!! Prod. ICAUCUSREGION6. Perf. Dale Peterson. YouTube.com. Dale Peterson 2010 Campaign, 16 May 2010. Web. 18 Mar. 2011.
.
Van Leeuwen, Theo. Introducing Social Semiotics. London: Routledge, 2006. Print.
Dale Peterson is a Republican Agriculture Commission candidate for the state of Alabama. His political crusade operates in a place where Southern-American, Republican, and often times Confederate folkways dominate the masses. These folkways propagate values that commonly favour the goals of candidates like Dale Peterson. Given that Dale will probably win this election; why is it important to make note of the semiotics in use? America has flagrantly bifurcated political principles and it is the meanings in videos like this that proliferate indifference between Republicans and Democrats. Since Dale Peterson’s ad engages semiotic strategies, it is crucial to scrutinize the conditions at which meaning is generated, altered, and used. To a home-grown Republican oriented Southerner, Dale Peterson generates an ethos of respectability, authority, and experience while to someone else (perhaps a Democrat in Maine,) Peterson would rub off as a rambling gun-toting maniac who is probably a bigot of some sort. The question is, what are the signs that generate these meanings?
To begin our exploration, it is critical to note the multi-modality of Dale Peterson’s communication. Being that this video contains both images and a narrative, there are multiple levels of interaction for the audience. Furthermore, Peterson’s speech conforms to the idea of a hybrid speech act by both offering information, and offering services. (Halliday, 1985) These two interacts shift between connotative and denotative meanings. For example, Peterson tells it like it is. He was a farmer, a business man, a cop, and a marine during Vietnam (0:08). It is hard to take those offerings of information in any other way; you’d better listen up. However, Peterson also alludes to “Thugs and criminals” (0:21.) Who are the thugs and criminals? This is a situation at which social context can determine the meaning from verbal signs. Secondly, it is hard to miss Dale’s shotgun as he waves it around about three times. Again referring to our Southerner example, this can be interpreted as a sign of security and tradition. On the contrary, our Democrat in Maine could see this as a sign of uncontrollable aggression. Either way, it is the salience of said item that captures the eyes of the audience and creates a spectacle worth analyzing.
There are a number of salient elements in this video that contribute to its composition. It is often difficult to incorporate elements of composition to anything other than a static image. However, with enough consideration of the nuances in this video, composition becomes evident. For example, notice that throughout the video, Peterson is obviously the salient element but he is framed by an environment which suggests that he is in fact on an Alabama farm. On Peterson’s end, this can be considered a rhetorical technique as it places him within an environment that showcases his legitimacy towards his cause. In other words, if Peterson would have shot this ad in a stuffy office (like a Democrat might) it might suggest that he has never even been to a farm and that he is not a suitable candidate. But again, this interpretation is determined by social context. More salient items that can be judged include Peteron’s outrageous hat and attractive horse. These elements provide a nice transition in to studying the discourse of the Peterson’s video with how they represent reality.
Dale’s “Marlboro Man” look is a manifestation of the cultural realities that surround his campaign. While not all Alabamians are gun totting cowboys, Peterson draws upon the fact that many associate with this as a constructed reality of their culture. Essentially, by conforming to this reputation of a hard working, alpha male, shoot you in the goddamn face guy, Dale says “Look. This is us. Get used to it.” Rhetorically, this is intimidating from the Democrat standpoint. While there may be gun-owning and hat wearing Democrats in Maine, they would rarely associate with this stereotype; that is if they had any hope in winning. Whereas for Peterson, he knows that it is comforting for his society to be able to connect with their candidate and that he can put the fear of God in to anyone who does not.
These elements of discourse also bring to light the idea of the myths that surround a video of this genre. To explore these myths, it is first important to define genre. Van Leeuwen says that texts are characterized by their means of expression, use of media, and what they do. (123)Political videos have their own genre; however, they can be divided in to several sub-genres. These genres are usually defined by the balance of persuasive appeals that operate within them. For example, at various points in the video, Peterson conforms to a genre of self-praise. This has a higher appeal to ethos and almost diminishes pathos and logos. Furthermore, Peterson also engages in the attack genre. Dale defames his competition by referring to the common sense “Who on earth would support such a dummy?” (0:46) This takes the appeal away from himself and focuses it on logos. It is important to consider rhetorical appeals and how they define genre because they are an initial source for what the video does in society. Roland Barthes explored how signs like these governed myths. To him, it would be of value to take in to account genre. There are definite myths in society about a political attack. Many feel that this form of advertising oneself is slanderous and poor-form. From that, society might think that the Peterson is insecure and foolish for calling his opponent dumb. Likewise, videos of self-praise can generate the myth that the candidate is inadequate and lacks policy so he/she must boost their image. It is hard to apply this myth to Peterson since his self-praise is so blatant and serious. This discrepancy is a good way of showing that even though these myths exist in society, they may not always be true.
Dale Peterson became a YouTube celebrity with this video. This success is the result of Peterson seemingly unintentionally employing a degree of humour. Peterson is a sensational figure of his culture. His over-the-top expressions and in-your-face expressions of southern lifestyle (the gun) almost make this ad seem like a parody. Parodies are intriguing because their satire can smear the value of the subject. Obviously, Peterson is dead-serious about his campaign and is probably not trying to be very funny. However, not all political campaign videos reach millions of hits on YouTube. The reality is that many people think this video is hilarious. The beauty of analyzing a YouTube video is that right below it are thousands of actual testimonies. The most “liked” comment (with a grad total of 524 “thumbs-up”) on this video is a person saying “When the gun came out I’ll admit I laughed.” The degree of humour in this situation makes politics a casual ordeal. Again, while Peterson is dead-serious, the funny perspective makes him more approachable. This video familiarizes those who are not actively involved in Alabamian politics with the social and political issues that Dale is so fervently engaged with. Peterson’s video reached an entirely new audience just by being funny; a quality that should not be ignored.
In regards to this audience; YouTube is also very helpful by providing the age and gender information of the registered users that viewed this video. This takes the hard work out of guessing the intended and actual audience of the video. From the video’s page we learn that of the 2,349,813 views, this video is most popular with males between 35 and 64. Looking at this video, there is no question why that is the result. Peterson appeals to the mature male with voting on his mind. His no-guff attitude, guns, and manly disposition make him seem like oh hell of a guy. So what does this say about society? We can guess that this age demographic of males like to associate themselves with figures like Dale, perhaps even looking up to him. Further reading of the comments reveal some evidence that supports this claim. One male from Mt. Rainer said that “Dale Peterson is my kind of candidate!” while a student from Finland said, “I love you Dale.” This type of exploration in to audience is extremely helpful in learning about semiotics. However, it is also rather disturbing.
Since men obviously have some strange fascination with Dale it might also be said that women find him appealing too. Studying one gender in an audience will not illustrate the broad picture. Women must be taken in to account since ultimately, they will account for almost half of Peterson’s votes. We can also assume that while this video reached millions of hits, not all of them were male. There was still a massive number of females that watched this video. The female perspective allows us to consider the abstraction that maybe Peterson is employing the notion that sex sells. Though in the end, this is just another myth.
Analysis of this video could be infinite. As a point of reference, this video can be used to comment on the limitless layers of society and culture. The fascinating conclusion is that no answer is entirely true. Meanings can be interpreted differently depending on context, prejudices, constraints, and opinions. In the end, it is fascinating to imagine how Dale Peterson’s video might function in a Utopia. In a world where there are no dictating discrepancies in society could this video even exist? It is humbling to think that we are able to take advantage of a world plagued by indifference to find meaning and reason. Ultimately, it is our inability to agree with one another that makes semiotics so brilliantly fascinating.
Evan RC MacKinnon 03/31/2011
Works Cited
We are Better than That!!!!! Prod. ICAUCUSREGION6. Perf. Dale Peterson. YouTube.com. Dale Peterson 2010 Campaign, 16 May 2010. Web. 18 Mar. 2011.
Van Leeuwen, Theo. Introducing Social Semiotics. London: Routledge, 2006. Print.
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