Roland Barthes

between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary. There is no reason why the letters produce exactly the image. Semiotics is the language expression expresses the discursive process, rather than a static structural relationships or rules. As Roland Barthes mentioned in his book “Mythologies”, “On the one hand, an ideological critique of the language of so-called mass culture; on the other, an initial semiological dismantling of that language: sign systems one might hope to transcend pious…

through the opening credits as the spiral’s convey the detectives emotions in the film through the opening credits we know what type of genre the film will be through the sound and visuals. Theories can be applied to the opening credits for example Roland Barthes theory of semiotics and Stuart Hall’s representation theory. We start with an extreme close up of a woman’s mouth and eyes which connotes a…

When Roland Barthes casts his bone into the Rue Servadoni, he is performing the symbolic act of act of letting go. When Boltanski builds shrines to his past self, he too is trying to cast something away from himself, in a process of mourning and of consolidating. Whether we feel the need to dispose of them or hold on to them, there is no denying the ceremony around these objects- the agency they hold and importance they play for us. Our urge to collect, forever juxtaposed with our urge to be…

People take photographs for various reasons. Some take photographs to capture memories but for others, photography may also be used as a tool to create a statement, capture a meaningful message, and raise awareness about certain issues that concern society. Taryn Simon, an American artist, uses photography for this purpose. Although Simon uses various mediums such as graphic design and texts, the artist primarily uses photography to raise awareness about important issues. In Simon’s The…

1.1 A Postcolonial Aesthetic? This thesis seeks to contribute to the dialogue on the postcolonial aesthetic, by using concepts raised in Roland Barthes’ The Pleasure of the Text (1975) as a frame, through which to interrogate the ostensibly thorny issue of aesthetics in postcolonial writing. The idea behind this thesis stems from a reading of Elleke Boehmer’s essay “A Postcolonial Aesthetic” (2010), in which she questions the viability of approaching postcolonial fiction through its “aesthetic,…

Works of literature raise several questions throughout their stories. Each work of art poses a main question that does not quite offer an answer as a critic named Roland Barthes has once stated. Amy Tan illustrates a question that does not completely offer an answer in her novel The Joy Luck Club in which Tan narrates the lives of four different mothers who are part of this club which meets to eat food and discuss things which brought all of them joy. The mothers emigrated from China and those…

The Harry Potter books are some of the most popular fiction series ever written. J.K. Rowling created a story full of magic, excitement, danger, and pure, simple fun that has entertained millions of people around the world. The books have spawned toys, video games, movies, and every kind of merchandise that can be thought of for fans to enjoy. Fans always write to Rowling for information about her world and the many characters she created, but sometimes that has proved to be a problem for the…

Roland Barthes said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” This is true for some novels, yet other novels propose a question and identify several correct answers. In “The Things They Carried”, Tim O’Brien proposes a question and provides several differing answers. Through story telling, story analysis, and different points of view; Tim O’Brien gives the reader the open question of “How does fiction impact the perception of reality?” and allows the audience to form their own opinion.…

recognition over time for a multitude of reasons. Similarly to greeting cards, receipts have a formulaic appearance which makes them recognizable and visible to the public eye. A receipt obtained from Hard Rock Cafe resembled the pieces by Dennis Baron, Roland Barthes, and David Levy. Receipts have become a powerful measure of determining emotional, mental, and cultural assumptions about the reader. Primarily, receipts make emotional assumptions about the reader since they view them as a…

The Absolut Vodka was leading the same advertising campaign for over 20 years, and created over 1500 adverts. Recently they have changed general perceiving their brand. In the past the main role in adverts determined the bottle. The bottle was signifying purity and simplicity. The bottle was uncomplicated and it was based on old Swedish medicine bottle. It indicates the uniqueness of the product. Furthermore, the name of the brand can also be exceptional. The last letter ‘e’ has been removed…