Semiotics Theory 💡 Flashcards
Who was the Semiotics Theory created by?
Roland Barthes.
Semiotics
The study of signs.
What are signs?
Signs are anything from brands and symbols to colours and camera angles.
What is a signifier?
A sign that creates meaning.
What is a Denotation?
The literal meaning of a sign.
What are Connotations?
The signified meaning or the ideas associated with a sign.
Polysemic
To have multiple meanings.
Why are signs selected by media producers?
To create specific meaning.
What does Barthes argue?
Barthes says that if a sign is used consistently in culture, the sign can become a myth.
What is a Myth?
A widely accepted dominant connotation of a sign.
What is Naturalisation?
The process of establishing myths.
What are the elements in Barthes’ Semiotics Theory?
- Hermeneutic Codes (Enigma Codes)
- Proairetic Codes (Action Codes)
- Symbolic Codes
- Semantic Codes
- Cultural / Referential Codes
What is a Symbol?
An image which has come to represent something else.
What are Semantic Codes?
Parts of a media product that we understand have a hidden meaning.
What are Proairetic Codes (Action Codes)?
The elements of media products which signify that something is going to happen as a result.
- For example, if someone pulls out a gun in a movie, we know that there will be a conflict or some sort of bloodshed that will occur.
What are Hermeneutic Codes (Enigma Codes)?
Enigma = mystery, so it’s any mystery parts of a media text that will engage the audience and makes them watch / read the full media text.
What are Cultural / Referential Codes?
The parts of a media product which you will only understand if you are part of that culture.
- For example, you may only be able to understand a media text if you come from the same society, race, age, gender, ethnicity, historical period, or country that the text is talking about.
Why are Cultural / Referential Codes good and bad?
- They’re good because they engage particular audiences. They also add layers of meaning to create a particular narrative for the audience.
- They’re bad because some audiences may find the text hard to understand as they don’t have the cultural / referential knowledge, excluding some audiences.
