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The Signs of Our Time: The Secret Meanings of Everyday Life
An entertaining and engrossing look, on the basis of the science of semiotics, at the many symbols and descriptive phrases used in today's society to cover or distort meaning. "Engaging, informative, provocative."--Psychology Today
- GenresNonfiction
244 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 23, 2026
This was an interesting read. A random pick-up too!
I only picked this book up out of spite, an excerpt from a chapter was in a reading comprehension activity I did. I managed to only get 50% of the questions correct, which is rare for me, so I decided to read the entire book to prove the reading comprehension activity wrong. Safe to say I was right.
Anyways this book was really interesting, though it was published in the early 90s a lot of the analyses of culture still ring true. Its fascinating to see the breakdown of culture, and how a lot of the symbols we see are shaped by decades of history and culture. My biggest gripe with this book however is the way it managed to completely neglect the impact of African Americans when it came to shaping popular culture from the 70-90s. I feel like there was a huge demographic of people skipped over, and their impact completely neglected. There was also no exploration on how much race plays in a person's ability to interact and engage with culture, which I feel should be extremely relevant to the semiotician. Upon realizing this fact, the rest of the book became increasingly drab to me.
Anyways here are some of my favourite excerpts from the book:
"By reading the signs of American advertising, we can conclude that America is a nation of fantasizers, often preferring the sign to the substance and easily enthralled by a veritable Fantasy Island of commercial illusions." (66)
"The bulk of the TV viewing audience in America regards television as a means of escaping from the need to think, not as a stimulus to thought. For this reason, the most successful programs on commercial TV stick to social stereotypes and cliches, telling stories that never challenge their audiences to think critically about their world. " (127)
"Our preference for single-family houses over rented apartments thus reflects the values of a nation founded on the principles of frontier individualism. " (101)
"What is not televised is hardly thought of at all in a world in which television creates reality as much as it records it. " (124)
I only picked this book up out of spite, an excerpt from a chapter was in a reading comprehension activity I did. I managed to only get 50% of the questions correct, which is rare for me, so I decided to read the entire book to prove the reading comprehension activity wrong. Safe to say I was right.
Anyways this book was really interesting, though it was published in the early 90s a lot of the analyses of culture still ring true. Its fascinating to see the breakdown of culture, and how a lot of the symbols we see are shaped by decades of history and culture. My biggest gripe with this book however is the way it managed to completely neglect the impact of African Americans when it came to shaping popular culture from the 70-90s. I feel like there was a huge demographic of people skipped over, and their impact completely neglected. There was also no exploration on how much race plays in a person's ability to interact and engage with culture, which I feel should be extremely relevant to the semiotician. Upon realizing this fact, the rest of the book became increasingly drab to me.
Anyways here are some of my favourite excerpts from the book:
"By reading the signs of American advertising, we can conclude that America is a nation of fantasizers, often preferring the sign to the substance and easily enthralled by a veritable Fantasy Island of commercial illusions." (66)
"The bulk of the TV viewing audience in America regards television as a means of escaping from the need to think, not as a stimulus to thought. For this reason, the most successful programs on commercial TV stick to social stereotypes and cliches, telling stories that never challenge their audiences to think critically about their world. " (127)
"Our preference for single-family houses over rented apartments thus reflects the values of a nation founded on the principles of frontier individualism. " (101)
"What is not televised is hardly thought of at all in a world in which television creates reality as much as it records it. " (124)
October 15, 2025
As a person open to conspiratorial perspectives, I was going into this book expecting a lot of opinion and perhaps leaps as far as facts go? That is not what I was met with. First of all, this book came out in 1988 and I read it in 2024 - so I was able to see this writers long predictions played out in genuine real time. I spent much of my time while reading underlining and annotating saying "Wow, you definitely see the truth of that in today's age." I would totally recommend this book - if you can find it. My only reason for a lower star is that some of the cultural references were lost on me due to the large gap in publication and when I was able to read it.
April 3, 2021
📚 #12 (1990)
Very interesting book that I've had on my shelf for the longest time without any idea where it came from. Before this I knew nothing about the field of semiotics but now it is one of interest to me. This book addresses things that we may not even think about. Why is gold considered valuable? Why do we draw the line where we do between edible and inedible foods? Why does the concept of 'childhood' exist (it is relatively new)?
I would recommend, though keep it mind that it is a little dated.
#books #selftaughtphilosophy #semiotics
Very interesting book that I've had on my shelf for the longest time without any idea where it came from. Before this I knew nothing about the field of semiotics but now it is one of interest to me. This book addresses things that we may not even think about. Why is gold considered valuable? Why do we draw the line where we do between edible and inedible foods? Why does the concept of 'childhood' exist (it is relatively new)?
I would recommend, though keep it mind that it is a little dated.
#books #selftaughtphilosophy #semiotics
February 28, 2023
Least fave chapters: 8 (on food), 9 (on fashion), and parts of 6 (Architecture)
I enjoyed the chapter on postmodernism (11), toys (5), and the first 3 set up chapters.
I enjoyed the chapter on postmodernism (11), toys (5), and the first 3 set up chapters.
July 20, 2024
Finished. Good intro to semiotics.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews