Objet et pratiques sémiotiques : quelques enjeux médiatiques du support photographique

• Main Author: Cédric Honba Honba
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Université de liège 2018-10-01
• Series: Signata
• Subjects: photography; image; mediations; enunciation; objects; practices
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/signata/1580

Although the first reflections on photography were limited to defining the essence of the medium as well as its discursive aspect, the semiotic approach gradually became more interested in the uses of the photographic image and its function in social and cultural practices. Following the evolution of the semiotic methodology, this paper focus on the experience of the body and on intersubjectivity (enunciation theory) as levels of relevance between a semiotic of text and a semiotic of practices. Thus, the photographic medium can be considered as an intermediary level between the organisation of the “text-uttered” in the image, and the experience of a “photographic object” containing and presenting this image. By relating these different theoretical and methodological elements to the case of archives, this paper emphasises that researches on enunciation, object and support shed new light on a more specific question, that is the analysis of photographic archives. Acknowledging the historical and documentary significance of this type of archive, semiotics can elucidate the communication and discursive purposes of photographic archiving in a media environment which is currently undergoing technological transformation.