Barthes' Narrative Codes

Barthes came up with the theory that there are 5 narrative codes that explain all narrative texts. These codes are: Action Code, Mystery/Enigma Code, Semic Code, Cultural Code, and Code of Oppositions (Binary Code). Each code gives a different theory as to how a narrative hints different things towards the audience.

In our preliminary we subconsciously used several of these codes just from our knowledge of the genre of our piece. Without knowing it we had included examples of each code.

Action Code (Proairetic Code)

The Action Code is the idea that the audience will recognise an action and immediately associate it with the next logical step. This advances the narrative by leading the audience into the next piece of action. For example, a film may show the action of someone packing a suitcase. At this point the audience will automatically make the connection to the character leaving/going on a trip, just from the first initial action.

We used this code in our preliminary piece when we showed the assassin walking in through the door. We immediately led our audience into following the idea that the assassin would then enter another room in which more action would take place. As this was our only example of action code, we could have added extra actions that would automatically lead you to the next logical action. For example, as originally planned, we could have placed the contract, from the interviewer, in front of the assassin who has a pen in their hand. This would have led the audience to automatically assume that the assassin was going to sign the contract and commit himself to the job in hand.

Enigma Code (Hermeneutic Code)

The Mystery Code, or Enigma Code, is used to explain the narrative by controlling what information and how much information is supplied to the audience. This grabs the audience's attention and keeps them interested by setting up a mystery or problem they believed will be solved during the course of the narrative. Unanswered examples of enigma code also seem to frustrate audiences and create a talking point.

In our preliminary piece, we also used examples of mystery code throughout our use of dialogue. We never actually stated that our characters were assassins or that they were meeting about a potential job. We also purposely didn't mention what the job would be, to keep the audience interested and in anticipation throughout the narrative. I feel like we used this code rather well as we managed to create a sense of tension and anticipation in the final edit of the piece.

Semic Code

The Semic Code is all about signs and symbols that tells us/ give us hints about the characters or story line. For example, if an anarchy sign is purposely featured in a scene, it suggests that the next scene will include chaos and destruction.

We didn't use many examples of Semic Code in our preliminary piece of film. We could consider the fact that the antagonist was wearing dark clothes as an example of semic code. I feel like this was the weakest point for our preliminary. If I did it again, I would try to add an example that showed the assassin firm/ interviewer as a higher authority than the assassin/anatagonist themselves.

Cultural Code (Referential Code)
The cultural code is exactly as it says. This is the idea that the narrative can clearly display ideas such as time period and location, without specifically stating this. In our preliminary we unintentioanlly displayed codes of Britain due to our ethnicity, accents and language. These three principles suggest to the audience that we are British. I dont think there is any other way that we could have added extra signs of the location and time period.

Code Of Oppositions (Binary Opposites)
This code refers to the idea of binary opposites, such as black vs white, day vs night and ying vs yang. The only example we used of this in our preliminary task was that the two characters were opposite genders. Oliver, playing the interviewer, clearly contrasted with myself, although our characters seemed equal in strength. We could have added more examples of opposites in our piece.







http://www.learn.columbia.edu/saussure/