English translation of "sursémiotisée" - "inundated with signs"

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136 months ago

Kate (a guest user) asked this question:

Language pair:	French > English
Subject:	General
Level of diffculty:	Easy / medium
Word or term in question:	sursémiotisée
Context:	le caractère hyperbolique est devenu la principale source de valorisation des objets dans une société sursémiotisée.
Keywords:	Another one I can't find...tia

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136 months ago

wrote:

in a society that has been overwhelmed with/ deluged by symbols

136 months ago

martynback wrote:

inundated with signs

Comments by other colleagues on this answer:

136 months ago

martynback wrote:

...or, if you want to be technical, "oversemioticized". The difference being that the French reader is more familiar with the notion of semiotics, the theory of signs (thanks to Roland Barthes et al) than the British/American reader.

136 months ago

martynback wrote:

So: Hyperbole has become the main way of setting objects apart in a society inundated with signs.

136 months ago

martynback wrote:

In other words: there's so much visual overload in society nowadays that designers have to go over the top to get their objects noticed.

136 months ago

martynback wrote:

I agree on the allusion to Roland Barthès. Your translation is shorter than Barbara's but both are good.

136 months ago

martynback wrote:

This is being really, really picky, but the problem with "symbol" is that all symbols are signs, but not all signs are symbols. Semiotics deals with signs, which are subdivided into symbols, icons and indices. Something that is "sursémiotisé" has too many signs, not necessarily too many symbols. In other words, a feature of an object can be a sign without being a symbol (it can convey meaning without being a "valant-pour" symbolising something else). But less pedantically, Barbara's solution would be OK too!

136 months ago

Marie-Claire wrote:

I like the idea, but "signs" can be ambiguous. How about "visual images"? "Sign" does not convey the visual aspect.

136 months ago

martynback wrote:

Absolutely - that's why I suggested "visual overload" in a previous comment. I'd avoid "visual images" because it's a bit of a pleonasm.

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