who is Roland Barthes Roland Barthes' study of semiotics

1. Roland Barthes, a semiotician
By Ella Day

2. Roland is…
• Semiotician- someone who studies signs and
symbols and their use or interpretation.
• A French literary critic, literary and social
theorist, philosopher, and semiotician.
• Was born on November 12, 1915 in the town
of Cherbourg in Normandy.

3. Roland’s ideas…
Argues that language and style are both matters
that appeal to conventions, and are thus not
purely creative.
He said ‘writing’ is the specific way an individual
chooses to manipulate conventions of style for a
desired effect.
Different interpretations of symbols depended
on different cultures/societies

4. semiotics
The symbol that
represents a cigarette
accurately represents
what the item looks
like, the red cross
through it doesn’t
look like the word
“no”, we just associate
it with “no” due to us
decided it represents
that.
This symbol is recognisable
as a dog itself. Even though
it is not as similar to this
symbol of a dog…
it is still recognisable as the
key features both symbols
have in common clarify
what it is representing.

5. More on semiotics…
• It explores how words and other signs make
meaning.
• In semiotics, a sign is anything that stands in
for something other than itself.
• The word 'semiotics' dates back to ancient
Greece, but its use in modern linguistics.
• A code is a learned rule for linking signs to
their meanings.

6. Examples of semiotics…
When we say the word
'rabbit', it is not because
those sounds or letter
symbols have anything to
do with the qualities of a
small, furry herbivore,
the word, sounds, and
letters are all unrelated
to the creature we call
rabbit, except that
humans have assigned a
value to them.
Symbols can have multiple
meanings and we recognise the
difference depending on the
context, for example-
X = the letter x to use in words
X= a symbol of love/ affection,
represents a kiss
X= no, not permitted

7. Different semiotics
• Iconic sign: a sign that looks like the object it
represents, eg. A drawing, a photograph
• Symbolic: the sign has no real link with the object, we
have been taught to have a mutual understanding of
the sign, the meaning is created through cultural
knowledge – words
• Indexical sign: based on senses, a sense detects
something that then reminds you of something else,
eg. A perfume---> a friend, a food dish---> a relative.