Roland Barthes – Semiotics
Who is Roland Barthes
Barthes is a French literary theorist, philosopher ,critic and semiotician and explored a diverse range of fields and he influenced the development of many schools of theory, including structuralism, semiotics, social theory, anthropology and post-structuralism. He looked at semiotics meaning that he thought that all media was made to be decoded by the audience and was encoded by the writers. This theory can be looked at by all media types also.
Example of applying his theory.
For example, Bathes’ theory can be used in this 1980s Tide poster of a then stereotype woman dressed fine and neatly hugging a box of tide with the large red heading, “Tide’s got what the women want!” emphasising the hackneyed view housewives and providing for their husband. The hyperbole of this poster is the comic like scenario of the women using the tide products as they’re intent with the products showing the audience of married women that they should get this product. Bathes looked at the ideology and the context in his theory and can be proven that it can be looked at in this poster of a stereotypical housewife and as a modern audience, you can see a large difference in what life was like then and how it is now and how over time, women have fought and gained for equal rights and how it’s slowly being achieved.
The history behind the Tide advert.
The advertisement for Tide was launched around 70 years ago, it is important to consider the world in which it was produced in order to be able to discuss the product in relation to relevant contexts.
- America joined in World War II in 1941. This changed the employment picture of the USA dramatically as, just as in the UK , it became a national necessity for women to work as the men left to fight in the armed forces. This would mean higher family incomes and more money to buy food and household durables.
- However, with the end of the war, women were encouraged or forced to return to their pre-war roles and the importance of nurturing roles. This was actively echoed across the advertising of the time.
(pasted from ‘Advertising: Component 1 slide)
Public Service Broadcasting
What is it?
Public Service Broadcasting is broadcasting made, financed and controlled by the public, for the public. It is neither commercial nor state-owned, free from political interference and pressure from commercial forces. Through PSB, citizens are informed, educated and also entertained.
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