Roland Barthes

Roland Barthes was born on the 12th of November, 1915. He was a French literary theorist, critic, philosopher, and semiotician. He said that texts may be 'open' or 'closed'. Barthes separated the action of a text into 5 codes: 

• The Hermeneutic Code
• The Enigma/ Proairetic Code
• The Symbolic Code
• The Cultural Code
• The Semantic Code  

The Hermeneutic Code

Also known as the voice of the truth, this is used to create mystery by not telling the truth or revealing many facts.

The Enigma/ Proairetic Code

This is the empirical voice that leaves the audience left guessing what may happen next and builds tension.

The Symbolic Code

The voice of symbols; the symbolic code organizes semantic meaning into sets of meaning. They are broader and use antithesis, so opposing and conflicting ideas cause new meanings to arise. 

The Cultural Code

The voice of science. This code looks at the audiences wider ideology, morality, and cultural knowledge. 

The Semantic Code  

This is the voice of the person. It highlights any element within a text that connotes a particular or even additional meaning in the story.