Task 3 - Semiotics

The cover as a whole, on a denotational level, serves as news report the Falklands War, whilst it has overall connotations of victory and unity.

The first key signifier is the math stead. Whilst it functions as a logo for “The Sun” newspaper, it has clear connotations of being the absolute authority on what is happening in the world, far more so in the eighties, with limited of means of receiving the news, as well as further connotations of “Britishness.”

The two images of ship, and their relationship with the captions below, serve as an extremely effective device in translating the overall message of “victory” to the audience. Whilst the image and captions barely function of their own, the combination of the image of “War Ship,” and “crippled,” and “sunk,” produce very strong imagery of war, explosions, and more importantly, attempts to generate the idea of England as a force to be reckoned with.

“Gotcha,” is the most prominent of all the signifiers on the page. In terms of connotation, it gives the reader a real sense of involvement, almost as if they have participated in the “getting.” Using “Gotcha,” rather than “Victory” for example, clearly acknowledges, and caters for the tabloid readership: it is far more colloquial.

Further contributing to the overall connotation of “victory,” is the opening line of the article: “The Navy had the Argies on their knees last night after a devastating double punch.” The most effective word in this line is “Argies.” Although functions as a word describing people from Argentina, in the context of being in an article on a war, against Argentina, there are clear racial undertones, and ultimately dehumanizes them, by objectifying them and giving them a certain amount of “comedy value,” putting the reader in a position of power. Further reinforcing is idea is “Wallop,” in bold capitals twice in the body text: as the audience is reading the article, this signifier functions as device to give them the impression that they, are also “Walloping” the “Argies”

“Battle for the islands,” serves as an almost branding device for the Falkland’s war, connoting, and reinforcing the idea of the reader’s participation, and calling on them to undertake this participation through reading “The Sun:” reinforced by the signifier “We Told You First.”

However, In contrast, the footer creates a distance between the reader and the war: “£50’000 BINGO! Today’s lucky numbers are on page 20,” giving a feeling of security: “while this all this is happening over there, play our game!”