Abstract:

The study conducted in the field of semiotics is related to the book, which holds a significant place in the journey of human knowledge acquisition and meaning finding. The semiotic analysis of five book covers selected from the publications of İletişim Yayınları, one of Turkiye’s leading publishing houses, in the last decade has been carried out. Two principals were taken into consideration in creating the study. The first is the ideological foundation of İletişim Yayınları, which was chosen for the study. The second is that the selected book covers focus on the themes of urban (city) and housing (building). The semiotic analysis of the included book covers was conducted using Roland Barthes’ hermeneutic approach of the relationship between denotation and connotation, within the context of the left-wing ideology attributed to the publishing house. MAXQDA software was utilized in the generation of quantitative data and visual elements included in the study. The analyzed books were evaluated solely based on the visuals on their covers, regardless of their content. As a result of the analysis, it was observed that the indicators used in the analyzed book covers were supported by negative elements containing derogatory and sarcasm, indicating a reflection of a destructive ideological discourse on the book covers rather than a constructive critique method.

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