Roland Barthes - Media theorist

Roland Barthes - Media theorist

Roland Barthes' 5 codes:

• The Hermeneutic Code - Any element of the story that is not fully explained and hence becomes a mystery to the reader.
• The Proairetic Code - This builds tension referring to any other action or event that indicates something else is going to happen and which hence gets the reader guessing as to what will happen next.
• The Semantic Code - Connotation within the story that gives additional meaning over the basic denotative meaning of the word.
• The Symbolic Code - This is similar to The Semantic Code but acts at a wider level organising semantic meanings in to broader and deeper sets of meaning.
• The Cultural Code - Anything that is founded on some kind of canonical works that cannot be challenged and is assumed to be a foundation for truth for example, science or religion.

The cultural code:

This code refers to facts known to be true which typically involve science or religion. Roland Barthes theory of cultural code looks at audience's wider cultural knowledge, morals and ides. This cannot be challenged as it is assumed to be foundation on truth.