75940 - Semiotics and Storytelling

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will be able to anlalyze different kinds of texts (newspaper and magazine articles, advertisements, electoral campaign materials, consumption products, etc.) through semiotic methodology, to recognize the fundamental narratives on which they are based, and to evaluate the capability of each text to persuade the audience and inspire their emotions.

Course contents

The course will review and study in more depth the semiotic method already introduced during the first year course of Semiotics, and will pay particular attention to the theories of enunciation, aspectuality and point of view.

The bases of visual semiotics will also be illustrated and the connection between semiotic analytic method and the marketing concepts, which are currently referred to under the label of storytelling, will be explored.

Every concept will always be applied to concrete examples (verbal, visual, audiovisual), taken from contemporary advertising, and from social and political campaigns.

Note

The course presumes that students have a solid understanding of the concepts and methods which have been introduced by the course of Semiotics of the first year in the Communication Sciences undergraduate programme.

Readings/Bibliography

Required textbooks

Giovanna Cosenza, Semiotica e comunicazione politica, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2018: ch. 1, ch. 4, ch. 5, ch. 6.

Giovanna Cosenza, "Semiotica e storytelling. Come la semiotica può contribuire al marketing narrativo", E/C. Rivista dell'Associazione Italiana di Studi Semiotici, 34, 2022, 34, pp. 217-229, available for download from HERE.

Piero Polidoro, Che cos'è la semiotica visiva, Roma, Carocci, 2008.

Maria Pia Pozzato, Capire la semiotica, Roma, Carocci, 2013.

Note 1

The book Segni, linguaggi e testi: semiotica per la comunicazione (Bologna, Bononia University Press, 2015, second edition) by Costantino Marmo – already studied for the exam of Semiotics of the first year in the Communication Studies undergraduate programme – has to be reviewed entirely.

Note 2

It is also important to study the Professor's lecture notes and PowerPoint presentations on the website virtuale.unibo.it.

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Optional textbooks for students who are not able to attend lessons

Jean-Marie Floch, Semiotica, marketing e comunicazione, Milano, Franco Angeli, 1990.

Jean-Marie Floch, Identità visive, Milano, Franco Angeli, 1995.

Jean-Marie Floch, Bricolage, Roma, Meltemi, 2006.

Maria Pia Pozzato, Leader, oracoli, assassini, Roma, Carocci, 2004.

Maria Pia Pozzato (ed.), Variazioni semiotiche. Analisi, interpretazioni, metodi a confronto, Roma, Carocci, 2007.

Christian Salmon, Storytelling. La fabbrica delle storie, Roma, Fazi, 2008.

Christan Salmon, La politica nell'era dello storytelling, Roma, Fazi, 2014.

Stefano Traini, Semiotica della comunicazione pubblicitaria, Milano, Bompiani, 2008.

Teaching methods

Given the practical and applied nature of the course, regular attendance is strongly recommended.

All lectures will draw on real-world case studies from contemporary mass communication.

In addition, many class sessions will be devoted to exercises designed to best prepare students for the final exam. These exercises include:

1. Case Analyses – Advertising, social campaigns, or political discourse will be analyzed collectively in class under the instructor’s guidance, or assigned as homework to be discussed later in class.

2. Multiple-Choice Quizzes – Administered either in class or at home, these quizzes allow students to check in real time whether they have understood and absorbed the concepts presented in lectures and whether they can apply them to concrete cases.

Assessment methods

The exam consists of a multiple-choice test with 41 questions, administered in a computer lab of the DAR Department. Students have 35 minutes to complete it (each correct answer is worth 0.75 points, while each incorrect or blank answer is worth 0).

Of these 41 multiple-choice questions, 30 are “theoretical”, i.e. they concern the theories, concepts, and methods of analysis in semiotics, as explained during the first-year course and later revisited, expanded, and further explored in the Semiotics and Storytelling course. The remaining 11 questions are based on concrete case studies, taken from commercial, social, or political communication campaigns.

Students who are not satisfied with the mark obtained in the written test may request to take an oral examination as well. The oral exam consists of questions regarding the mistakes made in the written test and on the entire syllabus. After the oral exam, the mark may increase if the student demonstrates a greater level of preparation than what emerged in the written test. However, the mark may also remain unchanged or even decrease if the answers are not satisfactory.

Students with disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders are entitled to special adjustments according to their condition, subject to assessment by the University Service for Students with Disabilities and SLD. Please do not contact teachers or Department staff, but make an appointment with the Service. The Service will then determine what adjustments are specifically appropriate, and get in touch with the teacher. For more information, please visit the page:

https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

Teaching tools

During lessons the professor will use the multimedia tools of the University, in order to show some PowerPoint presentations, to analyse images and audiovisual products (videoclips, commercials, electoral spots, etc.), and to browse the Web.

The professor will publish her lecture notes and PowerPoint presentations on Virtuale.

Office hours

See the website of Giovanna Cosenza