Section 2, Part 3 Summary and Analysis

"The Form and the Concept" In this section, the author develops the idea that "form" (signifier) is empty of meaning until endowed with it by "concept" (signified). He suggests that while the black man may have symbolic value of his own (perhaps as a representation of racial tension), that value recedes into the background when juxtaposed with the military patriotism of his posture—he is, essentially, more military and patriotic than he is black. The author makes it clear, however, that the black man's particular symbolic value does not disappear completely. It ebbs and flows in relation to the imperative defined by the overall image—and how, and by whom, that imperative is perceived. He goes on to suggest that a particular "concept" (ie military patriotism) can have several "forms", and those "forms" can come in a...