Image, Music, Text: Rhetoric of the Image
Roland Barthes' essay "Rhetoric of the Image" describes the ability of images to convey messages and create representation through the presentation of their components. Some schools of thought believe that the image is weak in its abilities to represent meaning in comparison to language while others believe that an image's signification does not detract from its purpose. Barthes begins with a paradigm involving a image of pasta that is being advertised. He breaks down the image into text, scene, and the picture itself. The way of processing this division begins with looking at the writing, or code, which can be deciphered with the knowledge of the language itself as well as being able to interpret the invisible meanings of the words. Taking away the words, the pure image is left, framed by a surrounding setting that is used to portray a hidden meaning. More specifically, the image contains three messages; the linguistic message, the denoted message, and the connoted message.
The first being the linguistic message has to do with any writing contained on the image. This message is ever present in today's mass media whether be a title, a caption, accompanying press article, film dialogue, or comic strip balloon which shows society's dependence of the written word. Barthes says it is the text that answers the question, "What is it?" It serves as a guide to the viewer, showing him/her what predetermined meaning to pick up on and others to disregard.
The denoted message or image is the literal intention of the image. According to Barthes, "it is an absence of meaning full of all the meanings." It represents the object the image itself is portraying without transforming into something that cannot be seen on the surface. Barthes continues with an aside on the difference between the denoted drawing and the denoted photograph purporting that because the drawing cannot reproduce everything it is weaker. The denoted image is devoid of the code (mentioned earlier) and therefore is a "recording" of the object it is trying to imitate rather than a transformation of it. The photograph represents the "having been there" of an event, validating its function and diluting the symbolic message of the image.
However, this symbolic message used in the connoted image is also present even unconsciously. This symbolism leads to interpretations of the image which varies across individuals because of "an architecture of signs drawn from a variable depth of lexicons." These lexicons of idiolect are a group of practices and techniques that are used to insert hidden meanings into images. These hidden meanings also called connotators combine to form the rhetoric of the image. Rhetoric, in turn, is used with the denoted image and linguistic message to form a complexly layered image that represents multiple ideas.
In a quick aside located within the essay, Barthe notes that "very few psychological tests resort to photographs while many use drawings." Although photographs validate that a certain event occurred, does it prevent the viewer from inserting their own interpretation into it as opposed to a more open ended interpretation of a drawing?
The first being the linguistic message has to do with any writing contained on the image. This message is ever present in today's mass media whether be a title, a caption, accompanying press article, film dialogue, or comic strip balloon which shows society's dependence of the written word. Barthes says it is the text that answers the question, "What is it?" It serves as a guide to the viewer, showing him/her what predetermined meaning to pick up on and others to disregard.
The denoted message or image is the literal intention of the image. According to Barthes, "it is an absence of meaning full of all the meanings." It represents the object the image itself is portraying without transforming into something that cannot be seen on the surface. Barthes continues with an aside on the difference between the denoted drawing and the denoted photograph purporting that because the drawing cannot reproduce everything it is weaker. The denoted image is devoid of the code (mentioned earlier) and therefore is a "recording" of the object it is trying to imitate rather than a transformation of it. The photograph represents the "having been there" of an event, validating its function and diluting the symbolic message of the image.
However, this symbolic message used in the connoted image is also present even unconsciously. This symbolism leads to interpretations of the image which varies across individuals because of "an architecture of signs drawn from a variable depth of lexicons." These lexicons of idiolect are a group of practices and techniques that are used to insert hidden meanings into images. These hidden meanings also called connotators combine to form the rhetoric of the image. Rhetoric, in turn, is used with the denoted image and linguistic message to form a complexly layered image that represents multiple ideas.
In a quick aside located within the essay, Barthe notes that "very few psychological tests resort to photographs while many use drawings." Although photographs validate that a certain event occurred, does it prevent the viewer from inserting their own interpretation into it as opposed to a more open ended interpretation of a drawing?
posted by Brian J. at
5:24 PM
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