"And it is again this duplicity of the signifier which determines the characters of signification."
The signifiers in this picture are the American soldier in combat, the barren wartorn landscape, and the spraypainted Iraqi flag. Taken together, these images can lead to a number of different signifieds. The signifier here where exhibits the duplicity that Barthes mentions is the Iraqi flag. One one hand, this could signify that the Americans and Iraqi people are allies and that the American combat presence in Iraq is an extension of America's intention to spread democracy and peace througout the world. However, the Iraqi flag could also signify the sovereignty of Iraq and the fact that an American soldier is essentialy fighting in a place he has no business being. Given the duplicity of this particular signifier, Barthes might contend that this image denotes a positive military situation but connotates the intrusion of Americans in to a foreign land.
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