Enigma codes in media texts were firs thought up by a man named Roland Barthes, Barthes was a French literary theorist. born in 1980, he describes texts as "A galaxy of signified: it has no beginning; it is reversible; we can only gain access to it by several entries, none of which can be authoritatively claimed as the main one." meaning he felt a text was better viewed more than once and from more than one viewpoint and only when you've viewed the text in all ways can you fully understand it.
He said that narratives can be open(A text with many different definitions and is open to individuals thoughts and feelings) or closed(Has a single meaning which is set making an other interpretation incorrect and invalided)
He narrowed down this idea into 5 key points that are said to be in every narrative:
The Hermemeutic Code- This refers to an element of a story which is not fully explained leaving it a mystery, This is typically done in order to keep the audience intrigued as they will have to progress in the story to find the answers to the set up enigmas which are commonly revealed at the end.
The Proairetic Code-This is also to build tension but in the from of action rather than mystery, this is achieve by setting up a conflict in which the audience does not know what is going to happen and must continue viewing if the are to find out.
The Semantic Code-This refers to connotation in the text which gives deeper meaning over the basic meaning of the word or item.
The Symbolic Code-This is similar to the Semantic Code only this works on a wider scale organizing semantic meanings into even deeper meaning usually done by setting up opposing or conflicting ideas.
The Cultural Code-This refers to anything that is founded on a canonical work that can not be challenged and is assumed to be the truth this commonly involves science or religion although canons such as magical truths may be used in fantasy texts.
His theories suggest that be creating a mystery it keeps audiences guessing what will happen the same as if certain scenarios, shots, or plot lines are fully explained it leaves the audience questioning what is happening leaving them to go and view the text fully in order to understand.
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