Roland Barthes Code Theory

2.  Roland Barthes was born on the 12th of
November 1915 and died on the 26th of
March 1980. He was a French
philosopher, literary theorist and critic. He
has explored a diverse range of fields
and has a large influence.

3. The Codes theory:
 Roland Barthes described a narrative text as “a galaxy
of signifiers , not a structure of signifieds; it has no
beginning; it is reversible; we gain access to it by several
entrances, none of which can be authoritatively
declared to be the main one; the codes it mobilizes
extend as far as the eye can read, they are
indeterminable...the systems of meaning can take over
this absolutely plural text, but their number is never
closed, based as it is on the infinity of language..”

4. By this he means:
 A narrative plot is like a ball of tangled strings and the thread
needs to be unravelled. Once unravelled this plot hold a
massive range of possible meanings. You can look at a
narrative from one perspective, with one set of previous
experience and get one meaning but follow from a different
perspective and past experience and you can get a
different meaning entirely.

5. Roland Barthes further narrowed down his theory into five codes,
these included:
 The Hermeneutic Code (HER)
 The Enigma/ Proairetic Code (ACT)
 The Symbolic Code (SYM)
 The Cultural Code (REF)
 The Semantic Code (SEM)

6. Known as ‘the voice of truth’
This is the way in which a story avoids
revealing main plot points or twists in order
to create mystery for the audience.

7. Also known as the ‘empirical voice’.
This is the mystery/tension that is built up for
the audience.

8. Known as ‘the voice of the person’
The semantic code is an element in a text
that points to a particular, often additional
meaning through connotation.

9. Known as the ‘voice of symbols’
This is very similar to the Semantic Code,
but acts at a wider level, organizing
semantic meanings into broader and
deeper sets of meaning. This is typically
done in the use of antithesis, where new
meaning arises out of opposing and
conflict ideas.

10. Known as ‘the voice of science’
This looks upon the audiences wider
cultural knowledge, morality and ideology.