Barthes Enigma Codes

In the lesson today we began to learn about Barthes Enigma Codes, learning what they represented and meant. Barthes Enigma Codes is a theory that suggests a text (whether that be television, film, poster etc) portrays a mystery to draw an audience in, pose questions and as such, become intrigued in the piece. An example of this is a murder mystery. A murder mystery will often not reveal the identity of the murderer until the end of the story, which poses the question "Who is the murderer?".

Barthes Enigma Codes are as follows:

• The Hermeneutic Code- the voice of truth (this is an element in a story that is not explained and, therefore, exists as an enigma for the reader, raising questions).
• The Proairetic Code- the voice of empires.
• The Semantic Code- the voice of the person.
• The Symbolic Code- the voice of the symbol.
• The Cultural Code- the voice of the culture.