Changes within a text are accounted for as transformations in the synchronic system, and this meant a tendency to fail to deal with time and social changes, which concerned many of the method's critics from the beginning.
Ferdinand de Saussure offers an explication of the linguistic approach and the meaning of language and contributed to the development of structuralism. He sees the nature of communication as deriving from ongoing processes and also considers the relationship between the human being and language as a social relationship. He offers an analysis of the different planes on which language operates and so points to areas for study and comprehension to be applied to literary criticism as to language studies in general. In emphasizing process, he also emphasizes structure, for he denies that we can begin with units -- with words, say, or phonemes -- and instead sees language as deriving meaning and value from the interplay of elements, from the process of language itself. It is possible in Saussure to see the development of the idea of examining the work as a whole, as a unit unto itself, as a complete entity rather than a collection of smaller parts. Just as Saussure examines a sentence or a paragraph in terms of a process, so the literary critic examines the given work in terms of the process of meaning that is involved in the collection and interplay of its elements (Saussure 160-167). Chandler writes,
Contemporary semioticians study signs not in isolation but as part of semiotic 'sign systems' (such as a medium or genre). They study how meanings are made: as such, being concerned not only with communication but also with the construction and maintenance of reality. (Chandler 4)
Colbert constructs his own reality and uses a number of semiotic signs to achieve it. Many are signs used to signal patriotism, including a number of American flags and a suspiciously vulture-like American eagle that flies right into the camera with its beak wide open, as if devouring the audience. Colbert himself haws the demeanor of a stern schoolmaster much of the time, lecturing his audience in a way that brooks no argument, though he also does so in a way that shows no real malice and that often winks at his own attitude. Jon Stewart on the Daily Show acts as an anchor, imitating the network news to a degree, though he is more folksy and also more varied in his approach than a network anchor would be. The semiotics of the set mirrors that of the network news, however, with a table at which the anchor sits, with rear projections of news footage, and with other correspondents to talk to on the monitor. Stewart creates the aura of a network broadcast precisely to say again and again that this is not a network broadcast at all. He is also often self-reflexive, stating openly that this is fake news and making fun of the correspondents for their feigned seriousness.
Colbert is really imitating a different sort of news show, the ideological talk show format used by real right-wingers like Bill O'Reilly on the Fox Network. His attitude is very much like that of O'Reilly, except that O'Reilly has no trace of self-criticism and no aura of winking at his audience. He is instead deadly serious, and his anger toward guests is used as a club to keep them silent, often to the point of turning off their microphones while he continues his criticism of them. Colbert feigns the same belligerent attitude, but he always knows when to draw back and when to let the audience know that he is not fully serious at all.
He carries his super-patriot act so far that it is clearly over the top, aggrandizing George Bush in a way that his audience clearly does not agree with, and dong so in a way that tells his audience neither does he. He will belligerently ask his guests, "George Bush, a great president or the greatest president," as if that were a sensible and widely different choice. The O'Reilly-like act is recognized as such by his audience and even by O'Reilly, who was a guest on the show last year and thus showed one of...
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