Roland Barthes and the rhetoric of the image

In 1964, the French philosopher and professor Roland Barthes (1915–80) wrote the article Rhetoric of the image (in English Rhetoric of the image) [REF]. In this article, he analyzes an Italian advertising poster.

He justifies the choice of an advertising poster from the Italian food manufacturer Panzani with the image's context; in advertising, images contain messages that must be conveyed as clearly as possible. Advertising images are usually formulated for quick and immediate understanding of the message.

Roland Barthes reveals in his analysis that the image contains three messages:

Linguistic; the verbal text content
Denotation; the first primary, direct and "proper" meaning of the image
Connotation; the signs' additional cultural meanings, and the indirect meanings

The linguistic content is the verbal textual message that accompanies the image. This text can be a caption placed near the image, or text that is an integral part of the visual presentation (such as on the advertising poster). Barthes defines two relationships between image and text;

Achorage: this is the verbal text that somehow explains what we are looking at (caption or identifying text in the picture)
Relay; this is a text that explains connection or progression or a text that expresses action. As an example of the latter, Barthes mentions text in comic strips and films.

The text that follows the image is thus often important for understanding the meaning of the image.

The term denotation describes the first immediate understanding you get as soon as you see the image. In the advertising poster, you see, without further thought, a shopping basket filled with spaghetti and several other goods. This recognition appears explicitly without you needing the help of an explanatory verbal text.

We use the term connotation to describe the information or meaning you can reason about after studying the image for a little while. The advertising image can probably mean that it is a person who has just returned home from the shop, that the person has bought food for dinner, and that this has taken place in Italy.

Barthes' starting point for studying what he describes as the rhetoric of images was to investigate how images convey meaning. As images are usually accompanied by text, he asks what function the text (the linguistic message) has with the image (the iconic message). Because every image is polysemic, the text will play an important role in the reading. The image is ambiguous because it is open to many interpretations and more or less free associations. But as soon as we ask for the image's message or meaning, we systematically search for evidence.

Borgersen & Ellingsen, "Flytende bilder", 2004 [REF]

According to Roland Barthes, all meaning will be conveyed using signs; he believes that every sign has an expression and content. The signs can also be in a context that requires the reader to know outside information, such as culture, language, communication or – as in user manuals – a certain technical competence. To understand the advertising image from Panzani, you must understand that it shows groceries in a shopping network. These are also the immediate signs that appear. After thinking about it for a while, you might want to interpret the picture to mean that someone has gone shopping, has come home with the goods, and put them on a table. You will further associate the goods with Italy, despite all the text being in French. You get this because you have eaten spaghetti many times and know that this – combined with onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, sauce and cheese – is an Italian dish.

The advertising agency that created the ad has thus assumed that you understand this. They have analyzed the target group for the ad and most likely bought space in a newspaper or magazine that is aimed at the same target group. In print, the image may end up in a context that provides further understanding, for example, in connection with articles about food.

When creating an illustration for a user manual, you must make corresponding assumptions. Without context and a lack of competence on the reader's part, a block diagram will be perceived as a random collection of blue or red squares with lines in between. A caption will help this reader along a bit, but you still have to assume that he understands the concept of a "block diagram".

Our experience of a work of art will often be rooted in the artist has chosen title. A collection of lines and doodles can certainly give us an understanding of "passionate woman", but only if the painting title is "Female Passion", which is written on a sign at the bottom of the frame.

Referanser

Barthes, Roland: Image Music text (Articles chosen and translated by Stephen Heath), Fontana, London, 1987 (ISBN 000-686-1350)
Borgersen, Terje & Ellingsen, Hein: Flytende bilder — Bildet i skriftkulturen, Cappelen Akademisk Forlag, Oslo, 2004 (ISBN 978-82-0221269-9)

All external links open in a new window. I take no responsibility for information on external websites, even if I have linked to them. Please report links that do not work.

The information on this page represents my personal opinions and my understanding of the topic being described. Feel free to link to the page, but do not copy large parts of the content without permission. I take no responsibility for any errors, misunderstandings or missing information. I also take no responsibility for any mistakes you may make or cause as a result of incorrect or missing information. You are welcome to contribute with comments, relevant experiences or additional information. See Editor and contact information.