Post #8-Visual metaphor and the American Patriot(Argumentative)
Posted on: May 27, 2011
This political cartoon can be seen as a visual metaphor. The symbol of the “American patriot” is being compared to both the civil war times, with John Locke and now to the average person. Patriotism, in a sense, has slowly lost its power or its meaning to the American culture. The reading of metaphors in visual text is useful because we see what is beyond the surface. We look at things in a different perspective if we were to take into consideration the vast majority of signs in a system are at work. In the back of our minds, we still keep in mind the original thoughts and ideas we perceive, however we are much more open to formulate other perpectives based upon what we take into consideration.
It is fulfilling its purpose in semiotics because we are able to view signifiers and their signifieds as a part of a system. It is appealing to any audience that is open to exploring the differences and non-conventional aspects of visual metaphors. By obtaining an understanding of making the unfamilar, familiar makes analyzing text more effective. It communicates what is not easily seen on the surface.
Another example of this is in this picture of the SUV being metaphorically compared to a rhinoceros. The car is being compared to the qualities of a rhinoceros’ tough, protective skin associating this with the safety of the car. This is similar to the example the textbook gave about the aeroplane being reffered to as a bird. This visual metaphor involves the function of transference to the particular qualities from one sign to another. The comparsion can also be viewed as a form of an ontological metaphor. Not in terms of the car being personified but more so, the associated qualities and ideas with entities that are most obvious.
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