Language Use in Movies: The semiotic conditions
of possible understandings



Meti, Mallikarjun,
Sahyadri Arts college,
Kuvempu university,
Shimoga. metimallikarjun@yahoo.com



This paper intends to focus the understanding of a language use in movies in terms of ‘social semiotics’. The concept ‘social semiotics’ is a concept of the ‘multi-accentuality’of the sign at the centre of semiotic theory and it also tries to apply the other key concepts like ‘style shifting’-Anti-language and Anti-groups’ (Halliday: 1978) and ‘the transformation of experience in narrative’ (Labove: 1978) of the semiotic theory. These concepts usually draw another semiotic system to express the basic set of meanings.

The focus of this paper is the development of ways of understanding the characteristics of multi-modal texts. That concern entails two independent but related projects. One is the analysis of the major modals of representation, through which a particular text is realized, and which it is produced. The second is an attempt to understand the culturally and historically produced potentials of any one semiotic mode for making meaning. Our assumption is that specific modes- the visual, the gesture, musical sound, images, Metaphors”etc,-have potentials for making meanings and have limitations.

In film, “DHWEEPA”1, the character, Nagi-is the representation of feminist projected character. The film at the surface level, it might depict the story on ANECUT and
its related story. However, the real concern of the implicit representation of the story of screenplay, to show a feminist message to the audience. The other mode is insensitive to the realities of the Indian context. It is feminism without a history. “DHWEEPA” is very much a product of the men-dominated society she lives in. In fact, as she tries to protect her family and family members from the dangerous events. At the same time, at the end of the film her husband “GANAPATHIYAPPA” says that ‘niinu neap maatra, ellaa deevara Daye’ (everything happens, because of god’s grace, you are just namesake), this particular discourse tend to suggest, the way in which men-domination plays an important role in order to build an oriental discourse. The strength of the film lies in its patient unhurried exploration of the experience
of ‘Naagi’ from an appendage to the men-dominated set up to an individual. ‘Dhweepa’ also confronts other things which need to look into; such as the problem of sexuality, in the sense, Naagi’s husband Ganapatiyappa suspects‘Naagi’ ,with Krishna in sexual relation. This is what Kasarvalli makes a subtle feminist discourse. On the one hand, the image / metaphorical discourses. Such as the Mantapa, which creates a myth in this particular film, which Sita- Rama used to stay here and share their feelings. Consequently, Naagi and her husband often go there and share their feelings. Metaphorical discourses are becoming very important to punctuate the possible understandings of the movie. It is very much obvious to note at this point, in the film, ‘TABARANAKATHE’, the dialogue, “surya huTTataanoo muLugutaanoo goottaagatilla”-whether sun rises or sunsets, it reveals several possible meaning potentials or conversational involvement. i.e.Tabar, is in confused state of mind, whether freedom has come or not. In the sense, even after independence, the struggle for justice is still going on beyond the capacity. In this way, the film depicts the flash back in order to understand the society, the system, the bureaucracy, this is one these metaphorical extensions. It also confronts us to derive another possible meaning, whether this lights up or not in his life. Every film depicts images, metaphors, in multi accentual manner, which create a lot of meanings and meaning potentials in order to understand the particular texture. The structuralism of the filmic structure is, are which reveals different possibilities of understandings of the given discourse. In the sense, “Tabarana Kathe’’ is a protagonist film of a system of society, government, and bureaucracy. The mode of representations of the “Tabarana Kathe” are persisting in, moral evaluation of on occurrence, on action, or a psychological stance related to a set of events of the system.

Multi-modality is a phenomenon; it has always been the case that a text was realized through a number of modes of representation and communication. The film is now much more prominent as a form communication that it has been for several decades, the film, as text, is producing texts, which are Multi-modal. That is, producers of texts are making greater and more deliberate use of a range of representational and communicational modes, which co-occur within, are text. It has become impossible to know texts reliably by paying attention to speech language alone; it exists as one representational element in a text, which always multi-modal and it has to be understood in conjunction with all the other semiotic mode of the text.
‘Taayee Saheba’ reveals the process of the past, being rendered into the present in a manner that does not convert the past into a remote. Static entity that we have to represent in representations of in it (Manu: 2003) in fact, the past comes through in the film with a life of its own and actually portrays a vibrant cultural dynamics in its scheme that seems to suggest a movements into the future. The cultural landmark that helps are traces the growth of feminist awareness in our context. This “Taayi Saheba” is greatly enhanced by the kind of ambivalence they display towards social institutions and historical situations and not because of the resolutions they offer-in any case this film does not resolve anything in simplistic terms. The common sense has come under sustained attack from two sources, one theoretical and, an empirical. The form originated in the broad field of post-modernism, with the writings of Derrida(1976) particularly important ‘Feminist-Theory’ has lunched a sustained attack on ‘logo centrism’ as a major effects of support for the structures of patriarchy representation of the ‘Taayisaheba’,brings a feminist awareness. ‘Taayisaheba’ extrapolate an experience of ‘reality’ from out of the world of ‘realism’ stated differently; it means that empirical reality is transformed into an ‘experimental reality’. Meaning potential is defined not in terms of the mind but in terms of the culture; not as what the speaker knows, but as what he can do- in the special sense of what he can do(abstract) linguistically(halliday:1978). Meaning potentials are very significant features in understanding the texture of a given film. In the film, ‘Taayisaheba’, ‘Waade’ (a palace) signifies the realities of the role of NARMADA, the way in which she suppresses her motherhood and sexuality, in the sense, APPAASAAHEBA has fathered by CHANDRA of a female child, MANJULI. This oriental discourse is the symbol of masculine authority and famine sexuality of feudal-world system. The irony of situation cannot be missed. APPAASAAHEBA has a mistress, and there by, an out let for his desires, where as NARMADA, the woman in a patriarchal setup, can only have a haranguing from the same man when she attempts to fulfill her physical needs(Manu:2003). Potential, what he can do, in the special sense of linguistics, what he/she can mean and avoiding the additional complication of a distinction between doing and knowing. The meaning potential can then be represented as a systematic option in meaning which may be varied in the degree of their specificity-in what has been called delicacy.

Considering the images, metaphors in its social context, then, we can describe them in broad terms as a behavior potential; and more specifically as a meaning potential, where meaning is a form of behaving. This leads to the notion of representing the experience of persons, regional and cultural identity, consequently, rich local text. This given rich local text depicts the individual experience in transforming the universal experience. The narrative structure of ‘TAAYISAAHEBA’ is unfolding the historical conflicts in order to understand the interplay between the past and present. In the post-structuralism’s point of view, the notion decent erring becomes very important for interpreting the feminist insights of the modern time. In the sense, ‘TAAYISAAHEBA’ could be a symbol of cultural and political freedom. The symbolic representation of the images and metaphors, are very much relevant in this film. The creativity, which underlies the sensibility of modern time in this film, is very relevant.
This paper’s focus is on textuality, on the social origins and production of text as much as on the understanding of text\film. We call this practice social semiotics to draw attention to all forms of meaning as a social activity, set in the field of politics; in structures of power; and subject therefore, to the contestations arising out of the differing interests of the markers of texts. This leads to one telling difference between social semiotics and conventional forms of semiotics. These interests of the marker of a sign lead to a sign to a motivated relation between signifier and signified, and therefore to motivated signs in this sense, in the film ‘TAAYISAAHEBA’, BAALASAAHEBA, the representative of the last generation tries to wash away the smell of perfume by washing his hands in the pond and then increasing desperation tries to rub damp soil on his hands hoping it would erase the perfume. However, it clings like the tangled web of money, power and masculinity, which constitutes the feudal-world. Defeated, he curls up in a foetal position, like a tired and helpless child. The other image is the smile, which light up ‘TAAYISAAHEBA’s face when the lawyer tells her about the possibility of freeing BAALASAAHEBA from the curse of his feudal inheritance (Chenni: 2003).

In a response, style shift, there is a regular association between language and social situation. The entry of outsiders to a local group, for example in a particular film, the character, and cook speaks a variety of language that reflects the attitudes of udapi\mangulerian, bhatts. However, this style signifies the derogator’s attitudes. In the film, Chamandudi. The dialect, which is spoken by Chena and his community, is representation of the Dalita community where as in the fiction; the sub-standard dialect is being used. This style shift takes place in this movie in order to bring out the linguistic, cultural\ethnic identity. This identity is something to do with the attitudes of anti-group and anti-language (Remember, sangybyala and ondandondu kaaladalli).

In understanding the cinemas’ communication in a particular language, the first task is to define at least tentatively the speech repertoire to be studied, attempt to gain some understandings of its social organization and other salient aspects of the culture, and formulate possible hypotheses concerning the diverse ways these socio-cultural phenomenon might relate to patterns of communication. It is crucial that the filmic description of communicative events and speech acts are discussed based on semiotic conditions in understanding the film. Because film is not a story-telling process, it is a constriction of metaphors, images and discourse building.