Rowland Barthes - semiotics

Semiotics began to become a major approach to cultural studies in the late 1960s, partly as a result of the work of Roland Barthes.

Barthes is one of the leading theorists of semiotics, the study of signs. His work pioneered ideas of structure and signification which have come to underpin cultural studies and critical theory today. Barthes articulated a view of the critic as a voice from the margins.

A sign, in this context, refers to something which conveys meaning – for example, a written or spoken word, a symbol or a myth. Such as the colour white as a symbol of purity and red as a colour of danger and warning shown in real life such a warning signs on the road are red.

As with many, one of Barthes’s main themes was the importance of avoiding the confusion of culture with nature. Another important theme is the importance in being careful how we use words and other signs.

One characteristic of Barthes’s style is that he frequently uses a lot of words to explain a few. He provides detailed analyses of short texts, passages and single images so as to explore how they work.

Another trait of his work is his constant categorization. He draws up schemes for categorising the signs and codes with which he works, which can be applied to divide a text, a narrative or a myth into different parts with different functions. He draws up something like a blueprint of the areas of discourse he studies, showing how the different parts hold together.

references:
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem01.html