Non-verbal Discourse of the Stripe in the Benin Army: Semiotic Aspects

Carmen Toudonou^1, and Jean Euloge Gbaguidi¹

¹Laboratory for the Study of Media, Information and Communication (LEMIC), Abomey-Calavi, Benin

Cite this paper:
Carmen Toudonou and Jean Euloge Gbaguidi. Non-verbal Discourse of the Stripe in the Benin Army: Semiotic Aspects. Journal of Linguistics and Literature. 2020; 4(2):79-84. doi: 10.12691/jll-4-2-5

Abstract

The military stripe reveals a non-verbal discourse, linked, on the one hand, to the fact that it carries an implicit message: rank, but on the other hand, because beyond this message, which is based on conventions, the stripe also carries different values that ultimately induce social logics. The present study, based on a survey conducted among soldiers of different ranks and different branches within the Benin Army, allows us to highlight the non-verbal discourse of the stripe. This discourse, hardly perceptible to the layman's eye, induces several representations including that of hierarchy, pay grade and a certain notion of class, even of family.

Keywords:
linguistics semiology army ranks stripe

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