BARTHES SEMIOTICS

Roland Barthes is one of the earliest structuralist and poststructuralist theorists of culture. He was born on the 12th of November 1915 and died on the 26th March 1980. Barthes is one of the leading theorists of semiotics which is the study of signs.

Semiotics are the signs which we see and automatically know how to act upon as they are governed by a complex set of cultural messages and conventions which we have the ability to interpret them instantly. For example, the different colours of a traffic light allows us to automatically know how to respond to them- red/amber stop, green go. We know this without even thinking about it because this is a sign that has been established by cultural conventions over a long period of time which we learn as children. 

Semiotics in media

As mentioned before semiotics is the study of signs. A sign refers to something which conveys meaning whether it is written or spoken a symbol or a myth. 

As seen in the image below, all 10 signs are related to cultural message which we interpret. The first sign is Facebook which we immediately identify as a social media website used to find friends and family to communicate. The fourth sign is identified as the recycling sign and it being friendly to the environment and so on.

Signs

According to Barthes there are three signs to the study of semiotics:

1. Iconic signs

These are signs where the meaning of them is similar to the appearance of them. For example, this semiotic blatantly suggests that on the left it is for females and the right for males.

2. Indexical signs

These types of signs have a cause and effect relationship between the sign and the actual meaning behind it, however there is a direct link between the two. For example, this finger print would be immediately associated and thought to be of a humans.

3. Symbolic signs

These signs have a conventional link, for example this semiotic conveys that smoking is prohibited.

Signifier and Signified

The sign can be divided into two parts which is the signifier and the signified. The signifier is the thing, item or code that we read and the signified is the idea or meaning that is being responded with according to the signifier. Together they form a semiotic.

This Nike advert follows Barthes semiotics in many ways. One way in which it is evident is through the famous slogan "Just Do It" which the audience immediately associate with the brand. Also, in the beginning of the advert, the audience is introduced to a close up of bright Nike running shoes in which they stand out against the low key lighting location. The sign of the tick is associated it with the brand.