Barthes, Panzani, and the Semiotics of Advertising

A set of flashcards covering key concepts from Barthes' semiotic analysis of advertising, focusing on the Panzani advertisement.

Roland Barthes

A French literary theorist, philosopher, and critic known for his work in structuralism and semiotics, focusing on how culture produces meaning.

Semiotics

The study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation in communication.

Coded Iconic Message

The symbolic cultural message that creates meaning and incorporates cultural codes beyond the literal interpretation.

Non-Coded Iconic Message

The literal, non-symbolic message that represents what is physically seen in an image.

Linguistic Message

Text in an image that guides interpretation, consisting of product names, slogans, and captions.

Anchorage

The function of text in an image that guides us toward a specific interpretation, preventing multiple meanings.

Relay

The collaboration between text and image to convey a narrative or story.

Denotation

The literal meaning of an image or sign, what you actually see without interpretation.

Connotation

The cultural and symbolic meanings layered onto the literal image, informed by cultural codes.

Visual Semiotic Analysis

The practice of critically analyzing visual messages and their construction for understanding persuasion.

Signifier

In semiotics, the form which a sign takes; the material component of a sign (e.g., a word, an image, a sound).

Signified

In semiotics, the concept or meaning that the signifier refers to; the mental concept invoked by the signifier.

Mythologies (Barthes’ concept)

The concept that cultural myths are constructed through specific systems of signs (semiotics), where everyday objects and practices are made to seem natural, historical, and inevitable, often serving dominant ideologies.