Anno's Counting Book: A Semiological Analysis

Before looking analytically at Anno's Counting Book, I'd like to discuss briefly the appropriateness of applying structuralist, and specifically, semiological analysis, to a picture book. The critical theory I will be using is that outlined by Roland Barthes in his early essay "Myth Today," which was his first extended discussion of the science of signs, and his later refinement and extension of that discussion in Elements of Semiology. In the introduction to that volume, Barthes reverses the Saussurean postulation that linguistics forms only a part of the general science of signs. Barthes insists that semiology is a part of linguistics. He argues that "to perceive what a substance signifies is inevitably to fall back on the individuation of language: there is no meaning which is not designated, and the world of signifieds is none other than that of language. . . . Semiology is required, sooner or later, to find language in its path." This notion, central to Barthes' way of thinking, suggests the appropriateness of applying his analytical principles to a wordless picture book, a counting book based on the ten arabic numerals. Simply stated, linguistic analysis won't work; semiological analysis will, but, as Barthes argues, only through the mediation of language.

Allow me to pursue the simplistic notion that a book, Anno's Counting Book, can constitute a complete system of signification, what Barthes calls a corpus, "a finite collection of materials," which can be examined from one point of view at a given time and be shown to be complete and homogeneous, that is, to fulfill the conditions Barthes presupposes for semiological analysis. To begin I must identify certain fundamental concepts with which you are no doubt familiar but which are variously defined. You should know how I will be using them. First is the linguistic principle, formulated by Saussure, that a signifier and signified exist in an arbitrary relationship. The union of signifier and signified constitutes the sign (a term which is problematical but will suffice for my purposes). A sign, itself consisting of signifier and signified, can be a signifier on a second level, or second order of meaning. A group of signifiers can also combine with one signified to form a complex sign. Both of these, second order and group signification, frequently take their meaning from cultural contexts and are what Barthes calls myth. Second is the crucial distinction between language (langue) and speech (parole). Barthes describes language as "a collective contract which one must accept in its entirety if one wishes to communicate . . . [it] is autonomous, like a game with its own rules, for it can be handled only after a period of learning." The number system is as pure an example of language as any and if you consider the didactic aspect of a counting book you will appreciate the relevance of this concept to an analysis of the genre. "Speech"—as described by Saussure—is "the individual act of selection and actualization." This concept especially, "the individual act of selection and actualization," is crucial to my discussion of Anno's Counting Book. Other aspects of Barthes' theory will be discussed as they become relevant.

First Spread: "0"

Just as Barthes divided the garment system into three parts, it is helpful to divide Anno's counting book into three interrelated parts: the numeral on the right side of the page, the scale on the left side of the page, and the scene that comprises the spread. We have within this one system, the book, three analogous systems, none of which allows for linguistic analysis, none of which here means anything. One might argue that the scene is a significant unit, a signifier of the concept of snow and sky and river, but it could as well signify the conept of white and blue. Finally, we simply don't know enough.

Second Spread: "1"

In semiological terms, as we turn the first page, from "0" to "1", all hell breaks loose, but there is order in the chaos. The numeral on the right hand side of the page has changed, but is clearly of a kind with the numeral that preceded...