MY CULTURAL QUEST
Semiotics is an outside-in perspective where culture and communication is the object of the study.
Culture is the fabric of meaning in terms of which people interpret their experience and guide their action. The consumers aren’t aware of what influence culture has on their beliefs, values, mindset and behaviour.
The Collective Unconcious
Identity Crisis
The Collective Unconscious consists of archetypes that represent an inherited set of beliefs and understandings, as opposed to the personal unconscious, which is composed of long-forgotten memories and experiences.
These archetypes exist to varying degrees in all humans. Many believe that over time, the collective unconscious evolves and changes to incorporate new information that is globally recognized and accepted.
Decoding the Marriage Institution
The institution of marriage stands as a cornerstone of nature, culture, and humanity, intricately woven into the social fabric of life. Through the lens of semiotics, we decode the cultural framework defining marriage, shedding light on its key domains and the dynamic interplay of forces within.
KEY TERRITORIES defining the Indian culture of marriage are as follows:
- Nature-Union between man and woman forms the foundational domain of marriage, rooted in love, sexual intimacy, and emotional connection.
- The morality & Responsibility domain encompasses the ethical standards and behavioural guidelines governing marital conduct, influenced by sexuality, conditioning, and societal norms.
- Bloodline territory concerns progeny, influenced by genetic heritage, emotional connections, and societal influences.
- The lineage Matrix pertains to inheritance, shaped by legality, economic exchange, and societal norms.
CULTURAL CODES within each territory have evolved over time. Semiotics empowers us to decode and categorize the trajectory of these unwritten rules as residual, dominant, and emergent codes.
RESEARCH PAPERS
“My quest to discover beneath the complex surface, an elegantly simple concept, to explain why things are the way they are. I revel in taking the world we know, and turning it around so we view it from an enlightened angle”
Auroville: Decoding 50 Years of Multi-cultural Experiment
Imagine 50 cultures living together to build a Future City called Auroville, envisioned by The Mother. Auroville, is an international township ( Tamil Nadu, India), where men and women of all countries, live in peace and progressive harmony, aspiring for Human Unity.
India’s Daughter, decoding the Indian gender-bias
The semiotic decoding of the complete text of the documentary film- India’s Daughter, by Leslee Udwin, brings out the underlying cultural construct of the Indian mindset, perpetuating gender inequalities.
The Social Dilemma, decoding the unwritten codes of the Social Media Culture
Recently I encountered a new documentary – The Social Dilemma. It opened my eyes, it shook me to the invisible, all pervasive context, we all live and breath in.
The core of all Art and Culture lies in creating, discerning and negotiating Meaning
Art speaks the Soul of the Culture. The semiotics paper, decoding the artist’s trajectory, brings out the unconscious universe of hidden meanings in the artwork to the surface.