Narrative Roland Barthes (Safia Shafi)

 Roland Barthes

Roland Barthes is a French literary theorist who suggested that narratives are broken into 5 codes, these codes are

1.       The Hermeneutic Code

The Hermeneutic Code refers to any element of the story that is not fully explained and hence becomes a mystery to the reader. The full truth is often avoided, refers to any element in a story that is not explained and, therefore, exists as an enigma for the reader, raising questions that demand explication.

2.       The Proairetic Code

The Proairetic code refers to plot events that imply further narrative action. For example, a story character confronts an adversary and the reader wonders what the resolution of this action will be. Suspense is created by action rather than by a reader's wish to have mysteries explained.

3.       The Semantic Code (SEM)

This code refers to connotation within the story that gives additional meaning over the basic denotative meaning of the word.

4.       The Symbolic Code

This is very similar to the Semantic Code, but acts at a wider level, organizing semantic meanings into broader and deeper sets of meaning.

5.       The Cultural Code (REF)

This code refers to anything that is founded on some kind of canonical works that cannot be challenged and is assumed to be a foundation for truth. Typically this involves either science or religion.

Roland Barthes five codes can be applied in the film Gothika, it is a thriller Ghost story in which a repressed female psychiatrist wakes up as a patient in the very asylum where she worked with no memory of why she is there and what she has done.

The hermeneutic code -  The mystery is how Halle berry who plays the female psychiatrist became a patient in the asylum where she works, this is then followed by The Proairetic Code- this is the part of the film where she is approached by a ghost who continues to harass her by cutting her, however  psychiatrist believe she is doing it to herself, this builds a lot of tension and suspense as it keeps the audience asking questions such as is she really crazy, how can she be crazy when she used to be a psychiatrist. The Proairetic code works together with the  hermeneutic codes as it builds tension and keeps the audience wondering about the mystery.

The semantic code-

In the film there is a scene in which Halle Berry’s character is possessed by the ghost character, Rachel; in this scene she visibly bursts into flames.  The semantic code is demonstrated when the central antagonist, the sheriff, has a tattoo on his chest of a woman burning in flames.  This image connotes, and reminds the audience of, the possession. 

The symboli code-  the symbolic code can be seen in the film Gothika in the scene before Charles s.dutton who plays DR. Douglas grey dies, with in the that scene DR. Douglas grey says to Halle berry “I love playing god” . the dialogue has a very deep meaning to it and connotes what type of character he  is as we find out at the end.  This dialogue has a very deep meaning at the time when its being said however after DR.Douglas dies, the audience begin to lose meaning to this dialogue as the DR  dies right after that scene, however towards the end the audience begin to see the meaning behind those word as the mystery begins to unravel.

The cultural code- this code can be seen in Gothika in the part of the story where the audience can see she is a psychiatrist working with patients, her working as a psychiatrist forms the basis of truth for the audience as they begin to think she can’t be crazy cause just yesterday she was working with patients, the audience use this foundation of truth to unravel the mystery of how she ended up in an asylum.