26 REPRESENTATSON: CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS AND SIGNIFYING PRACTICESeffects. Bul the meaning depends, not on the material quality of íhe sign, butOH its symboMc fanction. l\s because a particular sound or word standsfor,symbolizes or represente a concepí that it can function, in language, as a signaad convey meaniog - or, as the construcíionists say, signify ísign-i-fy).1.5 The language of traffic lightsThe simples! exampie of this point, which is critical fbr an understanding ofhow languages funetion as represeníational sysíems, is the famous trafficlighis exampíe. A teafüc lighí is a machine which produces differentcoloured lights in sequenee. The effect of light of different wavelengths onthe eye - which is a natural and material phenomenon - produces íhesensation of differeBt colours, ISkrar these things certainly do exist in thematerial world. But ií is our cuitare which breaks íhe speetnim of light iníodifferent colours, disíiaguisaes them from one another and aítaches ñames -Red, Green, Yellow, Blue — to them, We use a way of classifying the colourspectruin ío créate colours which are different from one another. Werepresent or symbolize the different colours and cíassify thein according íodiíferest colour-concepís. This is íhe conceptual colour sysíem of ourculture. We say 'our culture' because, of courses other cultures may divide thecolour speeíram differeníly. Whaí's more, they certainly use diíferent actualwords or letters to ideníify different coiours: what we calí 'red', the French cali'rouge' and so on. This is the linguistíc code - íhe one which correlaíes certainwords (signs) wiíh certain colours (concepís), aad tfaus enables us tocommunicaíe about colours to oíher people, using 'the language of colours'.But how do we use this representational or symbolic sysíem to reguláis theíraffic? Colours do not have any 'true' or fixed meaniag in thaí sense. Reddoes noí mean 'Stop' in nature, any more than Green meansr 'Go'. In othersettings, Red may stand for, syroboíize or represent 'Blood' or 'Danger* or"ConuiíiHíism'; and Green may represent 'Ireland' or *The Countryside' or'Envkonmentalism'. Even these meanings can chasge. In íhe 'language ofelecíric plugs', Red used to mean 'the connection wiíh the positive charge'buí íhis was artóírarily and wiíhout explanation changad ío Browní Buí Lhenfor many years the producers of plugs had to attach a slip of paper teliingpeople that the code or convention had changed, otherwise how would íheyknow? Red and Green work in íhe language of traffic lighis because 'Stop' and'Go* are íhe meanings which have been assigned to them in our culture by thecode OF conventions governing íhis language, and this code is widely knownaad alraost universaíly obeyed in our culture and cultures Mee ours - thoughwe can well imagine oíher cultures which did not possess the code, in whichthis language would be a complete myster

Discourses aie ways of referring to oreonsírueíing knowledge about a particular topic of practico: a cluster (orformation) of ideas, images and practices, which provide ways of talkingabout. forras of knowledge and conducí associaíed wiíh, a particular topic,social activiíy or institutioaa! site in society.

Things 'in themselves'rareíy if ever have any onet single, fíxed and unchangíng meanmg. Evensomethíng as obvíous as a stone cao be a stone, a boundary marker or a pieceof sculpíure, depending on what it meams - that ís, wiíbin a certain context ofuse, within what the phüosaphers cali different 'language games' (i.e. íhelanguage of boundaries, the language of sculpture, and so on). It is by our useof things, and what we say, think and feel about íhem - how we represenííhem - that we gíve tkem a meaning

The Freach and English seem to be usingthe same concepí. Bilí íhe concept wbich in English is represented by theword, TREE, is represented in Prendí by íhe word, ARBRE.

That is, íhey bear, in their form, acertaiB resembíance to íhe object,person or eveat to which they refer.A photograph of a tree reproducessome of the actual eonditions of ou

Evea so, we need íoremind ourselves that a drawn or painted or digital versión of a sheep is notexactíy like a 'real' sheep, For one íhing, raost ünages are m íwo dimensionswhereas the 'real" sheep exists in íhree dimensions.

We would be incapableof sharing our thoughís or expressing ideas abouí the worid to each other. Infact, each of us probably does understand and interpret the worid in a uniqueand individual way. However, we are able io communicate because we sharebroadly the same conceptual maps and thus make sense of or interpret theworíd in roughly similar ways.

índeed

They must also be able to read visual images inroughly similar wáys. They must be familiar with broadly the same ways ofproducing sounds to make whaí they would both recognize as 'musie'.

To puí it briefly, lepresentation is the productíon of meaning íhrotighlanguage, The Shorter Oxford Engtísh Dictíonary suggests two relevanímeanings for the

Meanings also regúlate andorganize our conduct and practicas — íhey help to set the rules, norms andconveníions by wMch social life is ordered and goveraed,

It is our use of a pile of bricks and mortar whichmakes it a ehousef; and what we feel, think or say about it that inakes a 'house'a 'home'. In part, we give things meaning by how we represent íhem - thewords we use about thein, íhe sienes we teli abouí íhem, the images of themwe produce, íhe emoíions we associate with íhem, the ways we classify andconceptualize them, the valúes we place on them