Social Semiotics is a major new textbook in communication
and cultural studies. It offers a comprehensive and original
approach to the study of the ways in which meaning is constituted
in social life.

Hodge and Kress begin from the assumption that signs and
messages - the subject matter of semiotics - must always be
situated within the context of social relations and processes. They
then show what is involved in analysing different kinds of
messages, from literary texts, TV programmes and billboards to
social interactions in the family and the school. While presenting
a judicious assessment of different perspectives, Hodge and Kress
also develop their own distinctive and highly fruitful approach,
demonstrating how semiotics can be integrated with the social
analysis of power and ideology, space and time, and gender and
class.

Social Semiotics is richly illustrated with examples and
written in a clear style which does not presuppose prior knowledge
of the field. It will become a key textbook for courses in
communications, media and cultural studies and will be of general
interest to students of sociology, literature and linguistics.