Enigma Code

Roland Barthes Enigma Code

Enigma - illusive - secret

A text portrays mystery to draw an audience in to pose questions and as such become intrigued in the piece.

For instance, a murder mystery will often not reveal the identity of the killer until the end of the story which poses the question,'who is the murderer?'

Narrative/enigma codes

Categorised as:

• Hermeneutic Code - Voice of Truth. : Element in a story not explained and therefore exists as an enigma for the reader, raising questions
• Proairetic Code - Voice of Empirics : Tension built up leaving the audience guessing what will happen next
• Semantic Code - Voice of Person : Any element in text suggests meaning by way of connotation which the story suggests
• Symbolic Code - Voice of Symbol : Wider level of semantic code, organises semantic meanings into broader and deeper sets of meaning. New meaning arises out of opposing and conflict ideas
• Cultural Code - Voice of Knowledge : Looks at the audiences wider cultural knowledge, morality and ideology

These codes are important so that the audience read the text with multiple meanings, the audience then take control and take an active role in determining the meaning of the text. The codes are crucial to title sequence as the title sequence is the 'taster' of the film, if the audience aren't satisfied or find themselves 'bored' in the first 2 minutes of the film, they will stop watching or not appreciate the codes.