Barthes' Narrative Theory

Roland Barthes was a French semiologist who suggested that narrative works with five different codes which activate the reader to make sense of it.

Barthes' Codes:

• Action- a narrative device by which a resolution is produced through action, e.g. a shoot-out.
• Enigma- a narrative device that teases the audience by presenting a puzzle or riddle to be solved. works to delay the stories ending pleasurably.
• Symbolic- (Connotation)
• Semic- (Denotation)
• Cultural- a narrative device which the audience can recognise as being part of a culture.