Showing posts with label barthes enigma theory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label barthes enigma theory. Show all posts

Saturday, 25 January 2014

Barthes' Enigma theory

Barthes' enigma code is a theory that suggests a media text portrays a mystery to draw an audience in, pose questions & as such, become intrigued in the piece. For instance, a murder mystery will often not reveal the identity of the murderer until the end of the story which poses the question, 'who is the murderer?'

Barthes' theory of the 5 codes is a way of grouping signifiers according to the role they play in the text.
These are categorized as:

  1.  The Hermeneutic Code- The voice of truth, This is an element in a story that is not explained, & therefore exists as an enigmas for the reader, raising questions. 
  2.  The Proairetic Code- The voice of empirics.
  3.  The Semantic Code- The voice of the person.
  4.  The Symbolic Code- The voice of the symbol.
  5.  The Cultural Code- The voice of knowledge.