Barthes mainly followed Saussure’s approach, which was the study of signs and sign using behaviour. Barthes’ most important theme was avoiding the confusion of culture with nature, as well as being careful with how he used words and other signs. A common trait of Bathes' style, is the systematisation of his work, in which he draws up schemes to categorise the different signs and codes. With this approach, the distinction between the signifier and the signified is crucial. The signifier is the signs physical form, while the signified is the meaning that the sign expresses. However, Barthes does not mechanically apply Saussure’s theory, and largely replaces Saussure’s term ‘arbitrary’ with the term ‘motivated’. Most signs have strong enough connotations to be partly ‘motivated’, and when they are used, they refer back to previous conventional uses.
The Hermeneutic code refers to an element of a text that is
not fully explained, and becomes a mystery to the reader, while the Proairetic
code builds up tension through referring to an action or event that indicates
something else is going to happen, working as a pair to develop the story’s
tension and to keep the reader interested. The Semantic code refers to
connotations within the story that give an additional meaning over the basic
detonative meaning of the word. The Symbolic code acts as a wider level of the
Sematic code, by organising semantic meanings into a broader and deeper set of
meanings. The Cultural code refers to an external body of knowledge, such as
scientific, historical, and cultural knowledge.
