1. MEDIA STUDIES
Theoretical Concepts
SEMIOTICS
ROLAND BARTHES

2. SEMIOTICS WJEC: SPEC THEORIST Roland Barthes
The idea that texts communicate their meanings through a process of signification.
The idea that signs can function at the level of denotation, which involves the ‘literal’ or common-sense meaning of the sign, and at the level of connotation, which involves the meanings associated with/suggested by the sign.
The idea that constructed meanings can come to seem self-evident, achieving the status of myth through a process of naturalisation.
THEORIST
Roland Barthes
Roland Barthes was a French philosopher who explored a diverse range of fields in developing schools of theory (such as semiotics and social theory).

3. SEMIOTICS 1.Denotation: 2.Connotation: 3.Ideology:
Roland Barthes Semiotics theory suggests that when we analyse any visual element, we don’t just see a collection of objects or scenarios, independently, we subconsciously attach meanings to them which help create our overall judgements and opinions.
1.Denotation:
The physical form/what we see – a word, object, photograph or symbol.
2.Connotation:
The meaning of the word, object, photograph or symbol. It is what is suggested by what we see in front of us. It is the ideas, emotions and links that we associate with the element.
3.Ideology:
This is what the word, object, photograph or symbol says about society, or the meaning of life. When we consider the ‘ideology’ of a text, we are looking at the ideas it supports or challenges within the context of the period (political, economic, social, cultural).