This study aims to furnish a semiotic reading of Sydney's Chinatown by
analysing the environmental meanings codified in that particular context.
The basic unit of analysis is the shop sign. Some features underlying sign
formations in Sydney's Chinatown are identified and the communication
process involved in its organisation of meanings and space is explored.
The thesis is organised into three parts. The first part gives an
introduction to the background of study and examines theories on
architectural semiotics and its relation to visual communication. It consists
of three chapters. Chapter 1 defines the scope of the study and outlines the
objectives and goals of research. Chapter 2 focuses on two related fields of
architectural semiotics, viz. semiotics of objects and semiotics of space.
Evaluation of semiotic approaches and behavioural science approaches to
the study of objects and space is made. Some of the theories discussed are
applied to give a profile of shop signs from a visual semiotic perspective. In
Chapter 3 a description of the methods of research and an outline of the
analytical framework of this study are given.
The two chapters of Part Two provide some background information
on various conceptions of "Chinatown". Chapter 4 discusses the
development features of Chinatowns in North America, which reveal that
there are divergent perceptions of Chinatowns. Chapter 5 describes the
development of Sydney's Chinatown and underlines some of its distinctive
features.
In Part Three the results of the study are presented. Chapter 6 focuses
on the codification of meanings realised in Sydney's Chinatown. Chapter 7
is concerned with elements of sign formations and examines the
communicative functions of shop signs in the Chinatown context. The
analyses made in these chapters are intended to identify some features of
sign formations in Sydney's Chinatown within an architectonic system.
The thesis concludes with a summary of the study and a discussion of
the applicability of architectural semiotic theories. It is suggested that
further study can be pursued in the direction that contributes to an
understanding of architectonic systems and social communication.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/219132 |
| Date | January 1994 |
| Creators | Lo, Elsa, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. Communication |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright Elsa Lo |
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