THE CONVENTIONAL SYMBOL BETWEEN LINGUISTIC CONCEPT AND VISUAL REPRESENTATION

Abstract

This research investigates the role of the conventional sign in visual dramatic discourse, focusing specifically on how it functions within television series. It extends the concept of the linguistic sign beyond the spoken or written word, arguing that the relationship between the signifier and the signified in conventional signs is not based on logic or causality but on accumulated cultural and social conventions. These signs gain meaning through repeated use and shared understanding, acquiring a pragmatic function that exceeds their literal value. In visual media, the sign operates through image, sound, movement, and spatial composition, serving as a crucial tool in constructing meaning. The study builds on linguistic and semiotic research that initially addressed literary and rhetorical texts and later expanded into visual arts such as cinema, theater, painting, architecture, and television. It highlights how signs in these contexts never function in isolation but always in interaction with other visual and auditory elements. This interaction produces complex meanings that are interpreted through the viewer's socio-cultural lens. To illustrate this, the research analyzes selected scenes from the Egyptian television series Layali Al-Helmeya, which offers a dense narrative embedded with conventional signs. The study examines how tools such as lighting, costume, set design, dialogue, and camera movement are used to construct characters and reflect their social identities. It emphasizes how the expressive methods used in the series align with its social content. Overall, the study bridges theoretical semiotics and applied media analysis, showing how conventional signs shape meaning in visual dramatic discourse.