section 1A G325

1. Roland Barthes
Semiology

2. He researched how audiences
interpret what they see.
He said….
“If narratives are episodic this helps our reading.
A chain of cause and effect is expected but the
audience desires to see a story of morals.”

3. He argued that:
“The audience look for signs to help them
interpret the narrative….
….these deeply rooted signs are based on
expectations the audience has due to their
prior knowledge of old tales or myths”

4. His theory of how we interpret is as
follows:
Sign
(the total of the signifier and signified e.g. how we interpret
the combination of the signifier and the signified)
Semiology
(The relationship between the signifier and signified)
Signifier Signified
(The object) (The meaning)

5. So for example what can this symbol
represent?
A fashion brand A Sports Brand
A Sponsor
A global company
Subsidiaries

6. So the Nike symbol has now taken on
many different meanings
• Marketing methods such as these are no
longer needed:
The Symbol itself is recognisable enough and
now has many deeper meanings.

7. Applying the theory to film.
• We can apply the theory of Semiology to film
by looking for deeper meanings in what we
see – rather than accepting the text on face
value.
• Watch the following clip from John Singleton’s
Boyz N the Hood.
• Can we interpret any deeper meanings from
the text that create a representation of this
collective group?

9. Use the flow chart to help you
interpret the symbols from the clip:
Sign
(the total of the signifier and signified e.g. how we interpret
the combination of the signifier and the signified)
Semiology
(The relationship between the signifier and signified)
Signifier Signified
(The object) (The meaning)

10. Some possible interpretations:
The Stop sign (the signifier) is to prevent
traffic going that way (the signified).
We can combine this with the other
images we saw and interpret it to mean
that the stop sign is for the people.
It could be argued that the stop sign implies that the black
community cannot leave this are – This is the ‘Sign’
Therefore, it could be highlighting the fact that the lives of this
collective group are being restricted.

11. Other images that reinforce this:

12. Try and apply theory of Semiology to
our key texts:
• Looking back at each of our key texts come up
with textual analysis that you can apply
semiology to:
• Are there any deeper meanings in the
representations of our collective groups.
• Come up with notes on thesinifier, signified
and the sign.