Frames as pre-signal context: using a semiotic framing approach to explain how prior experiences shape present interpretations of control signals

Aitken, Adam

Abstract

Innes’s “control signals” provides a semiotic perspective for explaining how acts of social control send “signals” about the effectiveness of security mechanisms. A cross-cutting theme infers that “culture and situation matter” in the reception of signals. However, the control signals concept does not explicitly consider the influence that prior experiences may have on present interpretations. Drawing on qualitative research into how members of a residential community perceived control measures within their everyday environment for Glasgow’s 2014 Commonwealth Games, this article outlines the importance of the “pre-signalling” context in influencing how control signals are received. Goffman’s “frame analysis” is used as part of a semiotic framing approach to demonstrate that control signals are framed (or pre-signalled) by the history of relations between sender and receiver of the signal (for example, police and residents).

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 1, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Apr 9, 2024
• Publication Date: Apr 9, 2024
• Deposit Date: Mar 5, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 10, 2025
• Journal: Semiotica
• Print ISSN: 0037-1998
• Electronic ISSN: 1613-3692
• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sem-2023-0025
• Keywords: Literature and Literary Theory, Linguistics and Language, Language and Linguistics