Roland Barthes

In Mr Smiths lesson the class looked at Roland Bathes theories. Roland Barthes thought that there was two ways to interpret a text, open and closed. if it was open then the text could be unravelled in a lot of different ways. if the text i closed then there is only one way to unravel a text. Roland Barthes also had a 5 codes theory that help to unravel a text. the five codes are;

1. 
   action code- this applies to any actions that implies a further narrative action. e.g. a gunslinger draws his gun on an adversary and we wonder what the resolution of this action will be.
   
2. enigma code- refers to any element in a story that is not explained and therefore exists as an enigma for the audience, raising questions that demand explanations
   
3. the semantic code- any element in a text that suggests a particular often additional meaning by way of connotation.
   
4. the cultural code- element in text that refers 'to a science or a body of knowledge'. in other words the cultural codes tend to point to our shared knowledge about the way the world works. e.g. christian people recognise Santa clause but other religions will not know who he is.
   
5. the symbolic-one thing can only be defined in relation to something it is not e.g. a hero is only a hero if there is a cowardly option that they choose not to take. bindary opposites are to do with the symbolic code. bindary opposites are just opposites e.g. tall & small, rich & poor, old & young.