From Real-Time to Delayed: Reframing Contact in the Six-Function Schema of Jakobson

This presentation demonstrates how the concept of contact in Roman Jakobson's six-function schema can be reinterpreted from the perspective of indexicality to extend the model for understanding asynchronous communication mediated by media. The six-function schema, which includes telephone-mediated communication as a model, presupposes real-time communication, and thus, the element of contact is understood within the context of synchronous message transmission and reception. However, asynchronous communication is prevalent in reality. The original schema, based on synchronous premises, cannot adequately account for the uncertainties associated with asynchronous communication. Considering the concept of contact from the perspective of the notion of index, it becomes possible to introduce an asynchronous factor into the six-function schema.
Jakobson defined shifters as indexical symbols possessing both the dimension of symbols articulated by convention and the dimension of indexicals that maintain an existential relationship with their objects. In this framework, indexicals anchor symbolically constructed propositions to contexts, enabling specific references to real-world objects. Anthropological linguist Michael Silverstein reinterpreted Jakobson's theory of shifters from the perspective of contiguity with the cognition of sign tokens. For instance, Jakobson positioned the past tense as the referential relationship between the speech event and the event being narrated. In contrast, Silverstein linked the speech event to the cognition of sign tokens by the recipient at a given speech time, repositioning the function of indexicals in terms of contiguity from this cognitive moment. This anchoring specifies the context for understanding the speech event.
However, as Silverstein's model focuses on face-to-face, real-time communication, the potential found in anchoring the function of indexicals to the cognition of sign tokens was not fully explored. In real-time communication models, the speech event and its cognition are fundamentally simultaneous. In contrast, applying this concept to a model of écriture that includes transmission delays allows for consideration of cases where the speech act occurs without the immediate cognition of the sign tokens. This scenario offers an understanding of sign tokens in a potential state, lacking the context-specific trigger of cognition.
Overlaying this understanding onto the six-function schema reveals a scenario where the sender, message, and code are materialized, but contact, in the form of sign token cognition, has not occurred, leaving the receiver and context in a potential state. By repositioning contact as an independent event of sign token cognition, the six-function schema can be adapted for asynchronous communication.

Transcript

1. From Real-Time to Delayed -Reframing Contact in the Six-Function Schema of Jakobson- 2024_AIS CONGRESS 1 Kanta TANISHIMA（Nishogakusha University）
2. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 2 Presentation Structure 1. Purpose of the presentation 2. Interpretants and habits in index signs 2.1. Concept of index in media studies 2.2. Triadic relations of signs and interpretants 3. "Time Delay" and the Meaning of Signs 3.1. Six functions schema and writing 3.2. The Passage of Time and the Meaning of Signs 4. Conclusion
3. 1.Purpose of the Presentation 2024_AIS CONGRESS 3
4. What this presentation specifically addresses: 2024_AIS CONGRESS 4 - Reinterpreting the index concept based on the notion of habits as interpretants - Reframing the discussion on shifters into the paradigm of writing with a time delay to address the issues of time and meaning in sign reception
5. 2. Interpretants and Habits in Index Signs 2024_AIS CONGRESS 5
6. 2.1. Concept of Index in Media Studies 2024_AIS CONGRESS 6
7. 7 “Every photograph is the result of a physical imprint transferred by light reflections onto a sensitive surface. The photograph is thus a type of icon, or visual likeness, which bears an indexical relationship to its object.” （Krauss 1977: 75） “Photographs, especially instantaneous photographs, are very instructive, because we know that they are in certain respects exactly like the objects they represent. But this resemblance is due to the photographs having been produced under such circumstances that they were physically forced to correspond point by point tonature. In that aspect, then, they belong to the second class of signs, those by physical connection. “（CP 2.281） A template for handling the concept of index in media (image) studies 2024_AIS CONGRESS
8. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 8 However, the question arises: To what extent is the concept of indexicality valid in the digital media age?
9. A Snapshot of the Concept of Index in Media Studies as of 2007 2024_AIS CONGRESS 9 A special issue on indexicality in the journal “Differences” (18) in 2007
10. Ambiguity of the Index 2024_AIS CONGRESS 10 １） Physical traces Photographs, footprints, death masks, the Shroud of Turin ２） Linguistic shifters/deixis “I”, “this”, “that”, “just now” In Peirce's view, both of these are considered "indexes." It is pointed out that the mystery at the core of this ambiguity involves the question of "referentiality," but no answer is provided (Doane 2007: 6). ☞ ☞
11. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 11 To resolve this ambiguity, we return to Peirce's concept of the sign and re-examine the index.
12. 2.2. Triadic Relations of Signs and Interpretants 2024_AIS CONGRESS 12
13. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 13 Issues with the Concept of Index in Media Studies The omission of the triadic relation in Peirce's semiotics Interpretant Sign Object The focus on the sign-object relationship alone leads to the reification of the index
14. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 14 “An Index is a sign which refers to the Object that it denotes by virtue of being really affected by that Object.” （CP 2.248） We need to understand signs as being inferred through the interpretative framework of "being really influenced by the object." The quality of a sign is determined by what kind of interpretant interprets it.
15. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 15 Nevertheless, how do we explain the evocative power of reality that photographs possess or once possessed? “while no Representamen actually functions as such until it actually determines an Interpretant, yet it becomes a Representamen as soon as it is fully capable of doing this; and its Representative Quality is not necessarily dependent upon its ever actually determining an Interpretant, nor even upon its actually having an Object.” （CP 2.275)
16. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 16 Signs (representamen) function as specific signs by determining interpretants (frameworks of interpretation) To summarize but An interpretant at one point in time does not necessarily determine subsequent interpretants An object at one point in time does not necessarily remain fixed thereafter To take the interpretation a step further. The quality of a sign holds a certain constraint on the nature of the interpretant, but the interpretant always has the potential to change, and consequently, the object also has the potential to change. ☞ ☞
17. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 17 The concept of habit explains the stability and potential variability of interpretants “the general answer to the question of what a sign is, is that it is a thing which determines an interpretant sign; and that this interpretant sign is determined by the habit which has resulted from the coordination of previous signs.”(CP 5.484) Media such as photographs and images are also received as indexes through the habits of how they have been received Of course, habits can also change
18. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 18 "That" cannot be identified without context information such as when, where, by whom, and to whom it was spoken. The subject of a photograph cannot be identified without context information such as when and where it was taken (the direction of the photographer's attention is given within the photograph itself) These two examples are functionally equivalent in terms of reference - Shifter - Photographic image To interpret a sign, it is necessary to take the action of identifying the context
19. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 19 Recognizing the token of "that" and directing attention in the direction the speaker was focused on at the moment of speaking Recognizing a photograph with no spatial-temporal coordinates and seeking information that hints at "when and where was this photograph taken?” Index as a special type of interpretive process Interpretation is not a momentary point, but rather a chain of interpretive actions (semiosis) ☞ ☞
20. The Indexical Interpretation Process Surrounding the Shroud of Turin 2024_AIS CONGRESS 20 Reconstruction of the crucified posture by Giuseppe Ricci X-ray photographs of the reconstruction of the nailed areas using a cadaver by Pierre Barbet “This absent wound will therefore set the stage, by the simple expedient of the tracing of a stain, for the excruciatingly precise scenario of the insertion and removal of the nail, the opening and partial closing of the flesh.”(Didi-Huberman and Repensek 1984: 73)
21. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 21 Indexical signs are those that afford the initiation of an interpretive process oriented towards the causal continuity of the real world What kind of semiotic quality affords what to the receiver depends on the context(habits) accumulated by the receiver. - CT scan images for a surgeon - a holy relic for a religious believer and scientist
22. 3. "Time Delay" and the Meaning of Signs 2024_AIS CONGRESS 22
23. What is a "Shifter"? 23 "I" / "This" / "Earlier" Shifters are called so because the referential targets shift according to the given context. (Jespersen 1922: 123, 124) ※Deixis overlaps to some extent with shifters. Personal Deixis ("I") Spatial Deixis ("This") Temporal Deixis ("Earlier") Additionally, Social Deixis and Discourse Deixis 2024_AIS CONGRESS
24. Shifters and Time Delay 2024_AIS CONGRESS 24 Jakobson's discussion of shifters models real-time, face-to-face communication Re-examine his discussion, overlaying it with the six functions schema, by taking the interpretation of signs, which involves a 'delay in time' mediated by writing, as a case
25. 3.1. Six functions schema and writing 2024_AIS CONGRESS 25
26. Jakobson’ Six functions schema （Jakobson 1985） 2024_AIS CONGRESS 26 Context （Referential） Message （Poetic） Addressee （Conative） Contact （Phatic） Code （Metalinguial） Addresser （emotive) Modeled on real-time communication via telephone, but we attempt to apply it to time-lagged communication
27. Two aspect of Contact 2024_AIS CONGRESS 27 “a physical channel and psychological connection between the addresser and the addressee, enabling both of them to enter and stay in communication.” (Jakobson 1985) Contact: We highlight here the aspect of “physical channel” which was relatively ignored Establishment of physical channel as a semiotic event
28. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 28 Treasure is Here A piece of paper with the message below exists
29. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 29 Since the paper has not been recognized by anyone yet, no contact has occurred, and thus the addressee and context remain potential Context （Referential） Message （Poetic） Addressee （Conative） Contact （Phatic） Code （Metalinguial） Addresser （emotive)
30. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 30 Treasure is Here Someone picks up this paper
31. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 31 Contact occured, activating the addressee, but no context is provided Context （Referential） Message （Poetic） Addressee （Conative） Contact （Phatic） Code （Metalinguial） Addresser （emotive)
32. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 32 If the hypothesis that this text indicates the location of the treasure is correct, we know there is a treasure somewhere in the world, but we do not know where
33. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 33 Written at Topkapı Palace Turning the paper over reveals this
34. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 34 Context provided, it became (somewhat) possible to identify the referent Context （Referential） Message （Poetic） Addressee （Conative） Contact （Phatic） Code （Metalinguial） Addresser （emotive)
35. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 35 “Here” is indexical in that it affords the exploration and inference of "Where is this 'here' in the real world? (A photo of the treasure is also an indexical sign that affords the same exploration and inference of "Where was this photo taken?“) In real-time communication models, the occurrence of a sign (message) coincides with the contact with the sign, so it has not been considered that both the receiver and the context remain potentially latent until the contact (recognition of the sign token) is established
36. 3.2. The Passage of Time and the Meaning of Signs 2024_AIS CONGRESS 36
37. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 37 From a referential perspective, the introduction of the time axis merely further details the steps for identifying the specified referent By introducing the distinction between “reference (Bedeutung)” and “sense (Sinn)”, we can create relevance for media studies
38. “ Reference” and “Sense” (Frege) 2024_AIS CONGRESS 38 - “Reference (Bedeutung)” = the referent itself (e.g. Venus) - “Sense (Sinn)” = the meaning the referring sign has (e.g. the Morning Star, the Evening Star) Indexical signs not only indicate the referent but also generate “sense”
39. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 39 It will rain around here tomorrow Issued by Turkish State Meteorological Service A piece of paper says
40. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 40 “Reference” would remain the same regardless of when you find this paper, as long as you can determine the spatial-temporal coordinates of the utterance しかし意味は異なる Time of contact Sense for the recipient On the day of the forecast It seems it will rain tomorrow, so be careful. Next morning It will rain today, so take an umbrella. Next evening I would have taken an umbrella if I had known. Two days later This is an old forecast, so it no longer matters. A month later Did it rain this month? A year later Oh, it's been a year since it last rained on Earth. However, the “sense” would differ
41. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 41 In “reference”, the object remains unchanged over time, but in “sense”, the sense itself changes over time. The timing of when the contact occurs becomes extremely important Context （Referential） Message （Poetic） Addressee （Conative） Contact （Phatic） Code （Metalinguial） Addresser （emotive)
42. Attention to the dimension of Contact 2024_AIS CONGRESS 42 The question of the organization of contact between the sign and the receiver Dimensions of media distribution that are prerequisites for sign interpretation The interpretation of sign needs to be connected with a concrete analysis of how the contact between the sign and the receiver is organized.
43. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 43 More diverse media can be considered indexical Media whose “sense” changes significantly depending on when it is contacted are considered indexical media - Newspapers: The next day's newspaper becomes outdated - Magazines: Trending topics change over time - Television: There is value in sharing in real-time - YouTube: You can leave comments - SNS: You can expect reactions from others Etc…
44. 4. Conclusion 2024_AIS CONGRESS 44
45. Dual Indexicality in Media 2024_AIS CONGRESS 45 1. Indexicality as affording reactions oriented to reality 2. Indexicality as the intrinsic connection between the sense of media experiences and the events of "when" and "where" the media is contacted The "when" and "where" (2) become crucial as they condition the possibility of reactions oriented to reality (1) - There seems to have been a major accident at the nuclear power plant near here - There is an event where you can win prizes by lottery - There was a chat message saying, "Hurry and turn on the news on TV." Do we need to evacuate? Is it still possible to participate now? Since it's an old message, the news might already be over.
46. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 46 Thank you for your attention! İlginiz için teşekkür ederiz
47. 2024_AIS CONGRESS 47 Bibiliography Didi-Huberman, Georges, and Thomas Repensek. 1984. “The Index of the Absent Wound (Monograph on a Stain).” October 29: 63. Doane, Mary Ann. 2007. “Indexicality: Trace and Sign: Introduction.” Differences 18 (1): 1–6. Jakobson, Roman. 1985. “Metalanguage as a Linguistic Problem.” In Contributions to Comparative Mythology, 113– 21. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton. Jespersen, Otto. 1922. Language: Its Nature, Development and Origin. G. Allen & Unwin Ltd. Krauss, Rosalind. 1977. “Notes on the Index: Seventies Art in America.” October 3: 68–81. Peirce, Charles Sanders. 1974. Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce. Harvard University Press. Cited as CP.