representation & interpretation.

 

se·mi·ot·ics
noun
The study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation.

As developed by Semiologists Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Pierce, semiotics is the science of signs and how they construct meaning. Saussure and Pierce developed semiotic theory by focussing on how meaning is constructed by the viewer upon observing and decoding such texts. The way in which audiences interpret signs, is partly based upon their personal context, which accounts for their pre-conceived knowledge of the idea which the sign may be signifying.