Page 186 - Communication Cultural and Media Studies The Key Concepts

PAROLE

PARADIGM

In semiotics, a paradigm is the notional set of signs from which a
particular sign is chosen to be included in a syntagmatic combination.
Like syntagm, paradigmatic selection involves a set of choices, but
unlike the former, a paradigm is a set of signs that are interchangeable
within a given context. Importantly, all ‘units in a paradigm must have
something in common [and] they must share characteristics that
determine their membership of that paradigm’ (Fiske, 1990: 57).
Menus are paradigmatic lists: diners choose individual dishes from each
section of the menu, the sequence of such dishes making the syntagm
of the meal.
Paradigmatic analysis is useful in examination of representations,
and in particular for ascertaining what signs have been chosen at the
expense of others. Words, images, even colours, are chosen from a
potential set: sometimes such choices are highly significant, for
instance the decision about whether to use the term ‘soldier’,
‘terrorist’, ‘freedom fighter’ or ‘armed man’ in a news story.
The concept of paradigm is useful also in film studies where the sets
of signs that are considered include characters and settings, as well as
technical elements such as camera angle and lighting. In the depiction
of characters for instance, the selection of certain traits and features
that are assigned to figures of ethnicity and gender may have
implications for howthe narrative is read and what final meaning is
attributed to those who are represented within its framework.
Considering the paradigmatic selection within a text may reveal
particular discursive strategies and ideologies at work.
See also: Representation, Semiotics, Structuralism, Syntagm

PAROLE

In Saussurian linguistics, the activity of speaking. The term was used
by Saussure to separate out those variable and accidental aspects of
speech that were to be excluded from the focus of linguistic inquiry.
As such, parole needs to be understood in relation to its contrasting
term, langue. Parole amounts to individual instances of speaking;
langue to the abstract system that underlies it. Although what people
actually do when speaking may be of interest to the physiologist or the
behavioural psychologist, it cannot form the basis of linguistic study,
because – for Saussure – it was subject to too much random

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