Influence of Burke and Lessing on the Semiotic Theory of Document Design: Ideologies and Good Visual Images of Documents

Abstract

The syntactic aspect of semiotic theory, especially its “aesthetic principle,” is very influential in document design theories and practices. It has its roots in Burke's and Lessing's gender-related theories of images. Thus, it is laden with ideologies: it embodies our patriarchal attitudes and our iconophobia. Employing the semiotic theory in document design, we are making choices to reinforce the gender-related ideology in Burke's and Lessing's theories. It is time for us to re-conceive the “aesthetic principle” by de-emphasizing it and to adopt the reconciliation approach to design effective documents targeted at various rhetorical situations.