B Rhetoric of the lmage ROLAND BARTHES ccording to an ancient etymology, Ihe word image should be linked to the root imitari. Thus we find ourselves immediately at the heart of the most important problem facing the semiology of images: can analogical representation (the "copy") produce true systems of signs and not merely simple agglutinations of symbols? Is it possible to conceive of an analogical "code"(as opposed to a digital one)? We know that linguists refuse the status of language to all communication" by analogy-from the "language" of bees to the "language" of gesture-the moment such communications are not doubly articulated, are not founded on a combinatory system of digital units as phonemes are. Nor are linguists the only ones to be suspicious as to the linguistic nature of the image; general opinion too has a vague conception of the image as an area of resistance to meaning-this in the name of a certain mythical idea of Life: the image is re-presentatiory which is to say ultimately resurrection, and, as we know, the intelligible is reputed antipathetic to lived experience. Thus from both sides the image is felt to be weak in respect of meaning: there are those who think that the image is an extremely rudimentary system in comparison with language and those who think that signification cannot exhaust the image's ineffable richness. Now even-and above all if -the image is in a certain manner thelimit of meaning, it permits the consideration of a veritable ontology of the process of signification. How does meaning get into the image? Where does it end? And if it ends, what is there beyond? Such are the questions that I wish to raise by submitting the image to a spectral analysis of the messages it may contain. We will start by making it considerably easier for ourselves: we will only study the advertising image. Why? Because in advertising the signification of the image is undoubtedly intentional; the signifieds of the advertising message are formed a priori by certain attributes of the product and these signifieds have to be transmitted as clearly as possible. If the image contains signs, we can be sure that in From Image - Music - Text. Sei. and Trans. Stephen Heath. New York: Hill and Wang, 1,977.32-51,. 152
aql 'u8rs raqlo aql ui 1+I Sulpunorrns ajnpord l rn1 u ar{} ol }uale^inba ala^{ url aql ul al rlua)uor alil qsnoql s rat{lo ar{l uo pue qslp pajupi q dgn;arec e ro; dressaoau Sutqldrana paqslujn] ruezued q8noql se pu q auo aql uo'ejrlras d.reurlnr plol e Jo eapr aql sllusue4 slcalqo ]uarajtlp Jo uollral -loj parjras aq+ 'lsjij aql u1 :su31s rar{lo oml }s al } 8ur'rarrocstp ur dllnrrgrp ou sr arar{l '(acue18 lsrrj ar{l le realr d1a.rrlua lou si tri leql des o} }ou si t{rlqzrt) a8eurr aql aroldxa o1 Surnurluo3 'saddloarals lsrrnol ul lral qlim dlireiiiurej uo paseq'(raddad pue oleurol;o dlnrueryell ar{l plnom aq ueql dlqeqord a'rour ou'aureu ar{l Jo uope}ouuo) arll a.trar.rad dlareq plnom u rpll ue) a8pal,raoml,,qruarg,, dgerryrads si lr lrelnr4red arour dpealp sr uodn s.t,rerp 1r a8pa -lrntornl aql pu Quazuarl aureu aql Jo ajueuosse ueiieli aql) a8essaur rrlstnb -uq aql yo ubrs palouuof, ar{} rillm dcuepunpar Jo uoi}eiar e ui spuels u8rs srql 'fr1nruatpq m{t r ro ^,{p11 sr parpu8rs slr jralsod aql yo (par'uaar8'.uo11ad) sanq pajolorrrl ar{l pue taddad aql'oleurol aqt;o raqlasol Sur8utrq aql si raljiubis slr lluapr^a dlpnba ssal ro ajour si u8rs puoras V 'uo4eziiiaij,,le)iueqjalu,, arour ;o (srolera8ujar'salrasard) dn Surpols ftseq aql o1 pasoddo si,,jias -auo roj punor Surddoqs,, araqm arnllnr pea.rdsapr.tr dran e Jo sllqer{ ar{l Jo lred se palueldtur uos auros ui si qjili.&{ a8pa1,llou1 e dpo sarrnbar u8rs lsrr; srql pear o1 'a1qe1,,'papedun,, ali+ ra^o 1no lpds suorsr,rord ar{} slal qrlqm 8eq uado-1eq aql sl rar;ru8rs sll 'pau4sap a"re daql qjiqm ro; uorle;edard )rlsaurop dle4uassa ar{l Io leql pue slrnpord aql to ssauqsar} aql Jo l ql :sanl A rrloqdna o.u.1 sarldrur Jlaslr qjiqm par;ru8rs V '+a>lreur aq+ wory urnlar e sr paluasardar auals ar{l ui a^er{ a1!t }eqm }er{l eapl aq1 '(rcauq lou a're susrs asaql se luel"rodurrun si rapro agl) lsrlc 'su8rs snonulluo)slp Jo salras e sapll -ord de,r,relq8rerls a8eurr srql '(dplopraue 'li ;o ged arc slaq l aqt p uana) a8erur arnd aql r{llm Ual ar a,u 'a8essaut rrlsrnburl aql aplse 3u41n4 'a8essaru auo se palunoj aq IIIM 1r 'a8en8uel (uapr'rzvr) palep -Jrue Jo 1eq1 dlaureu.'u8rs prrddl a18urs e dpo arar{ a^eq a.u 'la.la.rrroq'arurg 'Ieuorlelouuor pue Ieuorlelouap :(a8eun relncrlred slq] ui 1see 1e) plojoml snql q a8essaur orlsrn8url ar{j,,&ljlu 4eil,, p leql 'paijiubis Ieuoqlppe ue 'a)ueuoss s1r dq 'os1e lnq urrlj aql 'o aureu aqt dldurrs 1ou sarrr8 ruazua4 u8s aql roj'umop ua>lorq raqunj aq JIaslI uer a8essaru s1r{}'ljet ui 'tljuarc pue 3ur -lrrm Jo a8pal.trool e sr 1r.raqdnap o1 parrnbar a8pal.ttoul dluo aql la8en8uel q)uarc aql Io l LIl ueql rar{+o auou si ua>lel uaaq seq asessaru slq} qcrqm urorj apoj aqj,,'awliqa tra,,'aua)s ar{l Jo uolllsodsrp lernleu ar{l olul pagasur Suraq asar{l /slaqel aqt pu 'leur8reru sr qrlqm 'uotldec aql are slroddns s1r lcrlsrn8 -url sr aru lsqns asoqm asessaur 1srr1 e splard dlalerparuurr a8eurr aq1 'sureluo) 1r sa8essaur lualaurp aql,,jjo rur)s,, ol,,ft1 sn 1a1,'punorSpeq par uo suaar8 pue s-^a.o11ad ur '8eq 8urr1s uado-;pq urojj Sur8raua 'uroojqsnur IIe e 'sraddad 'suoluo 'saoleurol aluos 'laqjes e'wr+e'e1sed yo splled auros :luauraslualpe Iuezued e a^ r{ a.tt ajah s:rdvssatrn a!iuhi:ihi 'rrleqdrua lseal +e rc '1uu{ sr a8eurr Sursrua^p aq} :8urpea.r r.unru4do aql ol MaIA e r{ll'rl pauroj 'IInJ are su8rs asaq+ Sursrlra.Lpe 09I a3ou1 a4q lo cuotrtlu :SiIHJuVg 8
1,54 THE RHETORIC OF THE IMAGE composition of the image, evoking the memory of innumerable alimentary paintings, sends us to an aesthetic signified: the"nature morte" or, as it is better expressed in other languages, the "still I'fe"3; the knowledge on which this sign depends is heavily cultural. It might be suggested that, in addition to these four signs, there is a further in{ormation pointer, that which tells us that this is an advertisement and which arises both from the place of the image in the magazine and from the emphasis of the labels (not to mention the caption). This last in{ormation, however, is co-extensive with the scene; it eludes signification insofar as the advertising nature of the image is essentially functional: to utter something is not necessarily to declare t am speaking, except in a deliberately reflexive system such as literature. Thus there are four signs for this image and we will assume that they form a coherent whole (for they are all discontinuous), require a generally cultural knowledge, and refer back to signifieds each of which is global (for example, Italianicity), imbued with euphoric values. After the linguistic message, then, we can see a second, iconic message. Is that the end? If all these signs are removed from the image, we are still left with a certain informationai matter; deprived of all knowledge, I continue to "read" the image, to "understand" that it assembles in a common space a number of identifiable (nameable) objects, not merely shapes and colors. The signifieds of this third message are constituted by the real objects in the scene, the signifiers by these same objects photographed, for, given that the relation between thing signified and image signifying in analogical representation is not "arbitrary" (as it is in language), it is no longer necessary to dose the relay with a third term in the guise of the psychic image of the object. What defines the third message is precisely that the relation between signified and signifier is quasi-tautological; no doubt the photograph involves a certain arrangement of the scene (framing, reduction, flattening) but this transition is not a transformation (in the wav a coding can be); we have here a loss of the equivalence characteristic of true sign systems and a statement of quasi-identity. In other words, the sign of this message is not drawn from an institutional stock, is not coded, and we are brought up against the paradox (to which we will return) of a message without a code.a This peculiarity can be seen again at the level of the knor,vledge invested in the reading of the message; in order to "read" this last (or first) level of the image, all that is needed is the knowledge bound up with our perception. That knowledge is not nil, for we need to know what an image is (children only learn this at about the age of four) and what a tomato, a string-bag, a packet of pasta are, but it is a matter of an almost anthropological knowledge. This message corresponds, as it were, to the letter of the image and we can agree to call it the literal message, as opposed to the previous symbolic 'message. If our reading is satisfactory, the photograph analyzed offers us three messages: a linguistic message, a coded iconic message, and a non-coded iconic message. The linguistic message can be readily separated from the other two, but since the latter share the same (iconic) substance, to what extent have we the right to separate them? It is certain that the distinction
pqols alsurs e asrrdulor dpo deu 1xa13uo1 e) luauluad aq ol uraas t{}3ua1 slr rou uorqrsod slr raqllau.ro; 'slunor leql a8essau rrlsrn8url aql 1o aruasa.rd aql dldurrs sr 1r /]rej ui 'arnlrnrls I uolleturotq aql Jo surrel IInJ aqtr aq o1 Surn -urluoj qraads pue Surlr;rur,'3ur1rr,l,t Jo uoileziiiaij e tala uer{l arour pu /lllls are a,tt-a8erur aql Jo uoqezrlrlr) Jo )lel ol alejnj)e dra,r lou si li leql smolis qrlqm 'uoolleq dr.4s ruroc'ansoprp urlrj'alrlue ssard Surduedurorre 'uorldec 'a1l1l se :a8etur dra,r.a ur luasard paapur sr a8essaru rrlsrnburl aq] leql sreadde lr 'suorlejrunluluoj ssew Jo Ia^al al{} 1e '.{epo1 l'asjnojslp pue aln8r; uaamlaq suorlelal aql qlim sa^lasuraql paujajuo) oq]\^ ralrlsaualn s qjns sjolilne slr pue (palerlsnp aq lou ppor{s salqal spureluoc et Jo suolllpa leql drnluar qluaalq8ra aql ul aiqe^laruo)ur se.rt il) sa.rnlrrd qll.tt stooq ro; uotssed sll qll,rt porrad le)rssplr aql spre8a; se dllerrrolsrq pasod aq plnoj uralqord aq1 ;a8erur alil o] uo4eurrojul LISaTJ e ppp lxal ar{l saop.ro,{ruepunpar Jo uouaurouaqd e dq lxal aql u1 ua.lr8 suorleurrojur arll Jo ur ual alerqdnp a8eurr aql saocl z,,uoll -erlsnilr,, Jo arnlrnrls Surd;ru8rs ar{l sl ler{m '.llall Jo lurod lerryonrls e urorj parpnls alllll uaaq a^eli ol suraas Jr q8noql '1uanba.r; sr a8etur pue lxaq ;o 8ur ->iurl aql />looq ar{l 1o aruereadd aq} Jo luaruour aql uorc 'a8erur ar{l Jo a}e+s rrtldersolrrd Jo uos e ol 'sallalros alerall1ll dle4red ol >lreq ob o1 d.ressarau ssallqnop sr 1r 'sp.ro.ra lnoqllm ua,l.r8 sa8eurl pul, ol rapro ui 2a8ewr aq+ punor Jo 'rapun 'ur Jalleur Ienlxal sde,,ra.1e ajalil si aluelsuoj a8essaru rrlsrn8url aql s1 :TDVSSSIAtr JITSInSNIf ahi 'a8erur palouuo) alil pu 'a8eur palouap aq; 'a8essalu rqsrn8url aqtr le >lool lleqs aaa'uaq1 'dla,lrssarcng 'papuuoj a8etur crloqtu^,{s aql pue papuap st a8etut pra}il aq+ }eg1 dlalerparuurr.,ies deru a,l,r e'uorl louuoj to rualsds e sr s.raryru8rsll ruaq+ a>leuj ol Japro ui tua;sds Jaqloue ;o su8rs alil Ja^o sa>iel qjn{.ta uralsds e 1eq1 Sur,ttou>I 'ajuah 'a8essaru,,rr1oqw.,{s,, at11 go l.toddns aql se sreadde abessatu Ieralrl aql :puoras aq] uo palurrdtur JJos aruos ur sr lsrrj aq1 'sa8essaur JIuoJI o,ta,] aql Jo 1a8 ssau Ieralrl aql pue a8essatu iernllnr aql Jo uorsra^ur aql dq atllll e parjrpou aq 11r.rr sa8essau arp Jo rapjo aql n'uorldr.rrsap Iern+Jnrls e ]nq stsdleue,ptreu,,e Jou sr uorlsanb ur sr leqm leql ua^r3 'sa8essaur aajrll aql;o drqsuorlelar-jalul IeurJ aql 'a8etur aql to arnl)nrls Ilera^o aql Sulpuelsrapun Jo urle rno ;o lq8rs 8urso1 lnoqlr.r,r 'dlrleraua8 s1r ut 11 aroldxa ol se os a8essatu yo ad,{1 LIJea Japrs -uojal ol sm{l sr.ltou Tse} aqj 'par;4snf aq ol ll ate} IIIM a.,r.r 'dlanos ur a8etur aql Jo alor ar{l Jo uollpueldxa ue ro; de.tr aql sa,ted uorldt.rrsap sili} JI pue uol -qs J luajaqor pue aldturs e ur a8etur atl] Jo arnljn4s ar{l aqlrjsap ol sn slru -rad uoqrurlsp aql g '(uorlrur;ap e;o a8en8ueplaur aq] ol asrno)ar dq ldarxa Surueau slr urorj,prow,, aql aleredas o] alqe si auo ou l14ear ur q8noql uarra) paryu8rs e pue rar;ru8rs e;o u8rs rrlsrn8url ar{l ur uorljul}slp aq} s,\lolle qjiqm ler{} ol snosoleue dlrpr1err leuotle.rado ue sel{'ja^amor{'uolljullsrp alii '(a.raq uraouor rno) a8eurr sseur aql Jo uo4junj aql o1 spuodsa.rroc Surpea.r ur uorsn;uo) srql lpql ralpl uaas aq tlm 1r pue'a8essaul lprnllnr aql pue abesseu lerydarrad aql aw!4 awas a41 pua auo t, sanlarar a8etur aql Jo ra.ltarl aql :8ur -pear dreurp;o ur dlsnoaueluods aperu lou sr sa8essaur JIuoJI oml ar{l uaamlaq 99I a&uu1 a47 lo ruoptl>:t ;SeHIuVg 8
1,56 rhe RHETORTC OF THE rmage signified, thanks to connotation, and it is this signified which is put in relation with the image). What are the functions of the linguistic message with regard to the (twofold) iconic message? There appear to be two: anchorage and relny. As will be seen more clearly in a moment, all images are polysemous; they imply, underlying their signifiers, a "floating chain" of signifieds, the reader able to choose some and ignore others. Polysemy poses a question of meaning and this question always comes through as a dysfunction, even if this dysfunction is recuperated by society as a tragic (silent, God provides no possibility of choosing between signs) or a poetic (the panic "shudder of meaning" of the Ancient Greeks) game; in the cinema itself, traumatic images are bound up with an uncertainty (an anxiety) concerning the meaning of objects or attitudes. Hence in every society various techniques are developed intended to fix the floating chain of signifieds in such a way as to counter the terror of uncertain signs; the linguistic message is one of these techniques. At the level of the literal message, the text replies-in a more or less direct, more or less partial manner - to the question: what is lf? The text helps to identify purely and simply the elements of the scene and the scene itself; it is a matter of a denoted description of the image (a description which is often incomplete) or, in Hjelmslev's terminology, of an operation (as opposed to connotation).e The denominative function corresponds exactly to an anchorage of all the possible (denoted) meanings of the object by recourse to a nomenclature. Shown a plateful of something (in an Amieur advertisement), I may hesitate in identifying the forms and masses; the caption (" rice and tuna fish zuith mushrooms") helps me to choose the correct leoel of perception, permits me to focus not simply my gaze but also my understanding. When it comes to the "symbolic message," the linguistic message no longer guides identification but interpretation, constituting a kind of vise which holds the connoted meanings from proliferating, whether towards excessively individual regions (it limits, that is to say, the projective power of the image) or towards dysphoric values. An advertisement (for d'arcy preserves) shows a few fruits scattered around a ladder; the caption (" as if from your otrin garden") banishes one possible signified (parsimony, the paucity of the harvest) because of its unpleasantness and orientates the reading towards a more flattering signified (the natural and personal character of fruit from a private garden); it acts here as a counter-taboo, combatting the disagreeable myth of the artificial usually associated with preserves. Of course, elsewhere than in advertising, the anchorage may be ideological and indeed this is its principal function; the text directs the reader through the signifieds of the image, causing him to avoid some and receive others; by means of an often subtle dispatching, It remote-controls him towards a meaning chosen in advance. In all these cases of anchorage, language clearly has a function of elucidation, but this elucidation is selective, a metalanguage applied not to the totality of the iconic message but only to certain of its signs. The text is indeed the creator's (and hence society's) right of inspection over the image; anchorage is a control, bearing a responsibility-in the face of the projective power of pictures-for the use of the message. With
plnom Jap ar aql q)rqm.ttolaq) dlrrqr8qlalur 1o aar8ap lsrl; aql ol uor{s ur spuodsanoc a8etur aql Jo JaIFI ar{l 1pa+uasarda,r auars eql Jo uol+ rljpuapl aql Jo la^al aql le SuluPalu auo lseal le s q li aruls 'abessaut lual)ijjns e si li '(pres uaaq 1sn[ seq leqm q]lm uol]rlper]uo) ou si araql pue) ure8e uaql 's8ur -uealu aql 11e Jo IInJ Surueaur Jo aruasqe ue sr li :saqrlenlrll;o apnlruald e o1 spuodsarroc dlerryeu alels aail)iaa srql '(,,uorlrsodruoc ajii IIps,, aql Jo asej aql ui se 'a8eurr aql Jo aloq.m aql aleu8a.rdurl u J daql.ro1 uraql a^oura,r o1 dle -nlje alqrssod aq lou plnom lr) palalap dgeluaw are uollelouuor;o su8rs aql uaqm a8eurr aql ui Ual sr leqm dq pa1n14suo) 'uotljtla dq a8essaur e '1eads ol os 'lle Io lsrrj sl ll 'leuorlela.r,,{1uo lnq leque}sqns aq louuel a8essar.u 1era11 ar{l Jo srr+srraljereqr aql snqj'a8essaru-rrtoqurds-p.4q} e dq paplduroc aq pue llanreu yo u8rs ar{l ulof.{lalerparuurr plnom li 'palalq) aq ol arem a8eurt,p^reu,, d1e1o1 e 1r ua^g 'aqe1s a.rnd e ur a8erur IeralII (Sursqra'rpe ur 1sea1e) JalunoJua Jalau a.ta 11euor1e.rado sr a8essatu oqoqruds ar{l pue a8essatu 1e.ra1r1 aql uaa,t,r+aq uorlrurlsrp ar{}'8ul) ads dl.radold aseurr aql ur +eql uaas aleq am fl5vwi CAIONIICI AHI 'uralsds,,snoijoqel,, ssal e oq des ol sr leql 'a8etut aql ol palsnjlua arp qr1{,lt,,suo4dtrtsap,, I qra^ }o ruoparoq aql pa.reds aq deru rapeer palrrnq aql l r{l os apljuroj ol ap ur are a8essatu alrsrnjsrp aql pue a8essaur l11soc aql 1(s.rape.reqr aq1 yo snle1s paddl -oarals aql) rapro rrqeurbrpe;ed e Jo suoq urrofw a^ilnqlrg aql Surraqle8 a8eurr aql /lxa+ aql o+ ile a^oqe paurjuor sr srsa8arp ar{} Sulppar,,4trnb,, toy papualur sdrrls cruroc ureual ut;tlarzel,, uaql si uoll urjotul aql 'lejlsoleu Suraq a8erur aql'pu a8reqc leuoqerurojur ar{} sup1ap r{rlqm a8eurr aq+ si +I '(1orluor'a8eloqrue) anlel alnlllsqns e ser{ }r uar{m 1(a8en8uel;o tualsds aq1) apor plr8rp e ;o Surureal ar{l saop lr se Sur.rrnba.r d11soo arotu si uoqeurroful aql delar Jo anle^ orla8arp ar{l seq lxal aq} uaqm '>lrom e ;o dtuouooa leraua8 aql roj acuanbasuoc Jo sr raqlo aql ro auo aql Jo ajueunuop ar{} lnq /aloqm Jruof,r auo aql q lsya-oj uej asessar.u rrlsrnsurl ar{l Jo suorljunj o1\{l ar{] 'dlsnornq6 'gas1r aseurr alil q punoj aq ol lou arc leql s8uruearu'sa8essaur;o acuanbas aql ur 'lno 3ur11as dq uorlre arll ajue^pe saop dlear lnq uoqepljnla se dldurrs lou suorlcunt ansoprp araqm 'tullt ui luel.rodur dra,l satuoraq lxal -de1ar qql 'a8erur paxrj ar{l ui arpr apqr14 '(rrualsds snoruouoln uu se palear} aq lsnu srsa8arp ar{l leql uoqerurl3uor aldue sr qcn1.r,r.) srsabarp ar{} 'alop -Jaue aql 'd.ro1s aql to leql '1a,1.a1 ;aq8rq le pazll ar sr a8essaur aql 1o dlrun aql pue ubeluds yeraua8 ajour e;o sluaur8er; are'sa8erut aql se derr,t arues ar{l ui 'sprom aql ldlqsuollela,r d.reluauralduroc e ui puels a8erul pue (ansoprp 1o qjleus e uago lsotu) lxal ala11 'sdrrls rltuor pu suoolrej ur lpelncrlred uaas aq ue) 111(pau.raruor sr a8erur paxlj aql s r J se 1sea1 le) uoururor ssay sr delar Jo uoqounj aql 'sluaruasrualpe pue sqdersoloqd ssard ui punoj dluotutuor sr pue abessatu crlsrnsurl aql Jo uollrun; luanba.r; lsoru ar{l sr abe.roqcuy 'palsanur IIe a^oqe a.re dlarcos e yo d3o -loapr pu dlrleroru ar{l leql le^al slql le si }I ler{l aas uej e.ll pup.ianl A aols -satdat e sm{l seq lxal aq+ 'a8etur aql Jo spaljlu8rs aql ;o d1.raqr1 er{l o} lradsar lgl a&aul aqq lo )poprlv :SgHJ1IVg'8
158 THE RHETORIC OF THE IMAGE perceive only lines, forms, and colors), but this intelligibility remains virtual by reason of its very poverty, for everyone from a real society always disposes of a knowledge superior to the merely anthropological and perceives more than just the letter. Since it is both evictive and sufficient, it will be understood that from an aesthetic point of view the denoted image can appear as a kind of Edenic state of the image; cieared utopianically of its connotations, the image would become radically objective, ot in the last analysis, innocent. This utopian character of denotation is considerably reinforced by the paradox already mentioned, that the photograph (in its literal state), by virtue of its absoluteiy analogical nature, seems to constitute a message without a code. Here, however, structurai analysis must differentiate, for of all the kinds of image only the photograph is able to transmit the (literal) hrformation without forming it by means of cliscontinuous signs and ruies of transformation. The photograph, message rvithout a code, must thus be opposed to the drawing which, even rvhen denotecl, is a cclcjed message. The coded nature of the drawing can be seen at three lel'els. Firstiv to reproduce an object or a scene in a dra.,ving requires a set of rule-goz,ented transpositions; there is no essential nature of the pictorial copv and the codes of transpositiorr are historical (notably those concerning perspective). Secondly, the operation of the drawing (the codir-rg) immediately necessitates a certain division between the significant and the insignificant: the drawing does not reproduce euerything (often it reproduces very little), u'ithout its ceasing, however, to be a strong message; whereas the photograph, aithough it can choose its subject, its point of view and its angle, cannot intervene n:itlin the object (except by trick effects). In other words, the denotation of the clrawing is less pure than that of the photograph, for there is no drawing without styie. Finally, iike all codes, the drawing demands an apprenticeship (Sausslrre attributed a great importance to this semiological fact). Does the coding of the denoted message have consequences for the connoted message? It is certain that the coding of the literal prepares and facilitates comotation since it at once establishes a certain discontinuity in the image: the "execution" of a drawing itself constitutes a connotation. But at the same time, insofar as the clrawing displays its coding, the relationship between the two messages is profoundly modified: it is no longer the relationship between a nature and a culture (as with the photograph) but that between two cultures; the "ethic" of the drawing is not the same as that of the photograph. In the photograph-at least at the ievel of the literal message-the relationship of signifieds to signifiers is not one of "transformation" but of "recording," and the absence of a code clearly reinforces the myth of photographic "naturainess": the scene is there, captured mechanically, not humanly (the mechanical is here a guarantee of objectivity). Man's interventions in the photograph (framing, distance, lighting, focus, speed) all effectively belong to the plane of connotation; it is as though in the beginning (even if utopian) there were a brute photograph (frontal and clear) on which man would then lay out, with the aid o{ various techniques, the signs drawn from a cultural code. Only the opposition of the cultural code and the naturai non-code can,
Io sueaur ar{l sapl^ord li arour aq}'(sa8eurr ;o dlqelou pue) uorlerurotul Jo uorsnjjrp aql sdola,lap dsolouqoal arour ar{l :xopered lerlro}slq luelrodrur ue lqnop lnor{}lm si siqj 'arnllnr;o su8rs aql arnleu ui punoj o} suraas li asnejaq a8essaur aq+ sazrleq)allalulslp apor Jo aruasqe aq1 lsualsls r4ueruas d1 -uado 1o dlrprrcn aldurs arll roj palnt4sqns dlsnorqrlda.rrns si qln4-opnasd y 'paluasa.rdar auars aql aonpo.rd o1 dlsnoaueluods suraas arnl u :spafqo lo a'larll -7utaq letnleu Jo pur1 e 'luanr;;ns st a8essaru I JalII aql s relosul 'qder8o1 -oqd aql ur suleruar ssalar{lauou aralll,,'sloqruds,, yo 11ry st ralsod uazuacl a.ql q8noqllv'3utst1.ranpe ur dllenadsa 'asuap d1ar.ua.rlxa si qrlqm'uollelouuo) Jo ajrjrue )queuras ar{} slua)ouur 1r'a8essaru rqoquds aql sazll Jnleu a8eurt palouap aq1 :(a8essau prn{l ar{} }o uolssnrsrp rage uollsanb srql o} Sururnla;) aur1ap o1 urbaq uej a,l,r r{r1{,ta. a8essaur rruorl ar{l Jo arnljn4s le;aua8 aql ur alor lerrads e sdeld '(qdersoloqd Sursrllanpe aql qllrvr asej ar{l) apoc due dldrur 1ou saop ll rlrirlm ol lualxa ar{l ol'ageurr palouap aql'slua^a IIe lv 'sanuouoja IeuolleruJotul Jo uorlelnur alrsrrap e o1 spuodsarroj Jr lsa8erur yo dprue; 1ea;8 aql to rural (pa,r.o-rdtur) lsel ar{l trou sr qdersoloqd aql a)uah 'apu a flollltm sa8assaw ['rc -slli sll ur aurrl +srrj oql.ro; Sut;alunorua dltueurnq'alqessedrnsun dlanqrur;ap pue,taeu dlalnlosqe aruo l '1re; letrsolodo.rqlue,,]r-ii, e luasarda.r pue (ue lqde.rsoloqd aql Jo suorllque pu sanbruqcal aqt to uoqnlo^a ar{+ alrdsap) drolsrq apnla asuas auros ui uec qde.rsoloqd aql searaqm 'uollrlt Jo slje snor.tald aql qlim >learq Iear duu lnoqlyvi'euraulj aq+ 1o drolsrq aq uec araql,rtoq ureldxa plnom uorssruro q)tr{,la 13uql aql p atatlq-8uraq e atolaq f,em san? ata4q-uaaq-bunarq aql :sqdersoloqd paleurrue sp uaas aq ra8uol ou u D rulrc 'uo4rsoddo pcrper e 1nq aar8ap to aruarajjlp aldurrs +ou si qde.rsoioqd pue urlrt uaamlaq uor+)u4srp ar{l l r{l,{,\aia aql o1 dlr;oqlne pual plnom sit{j 'spuadap a3le1 pue lq *lu q)iqm uo ssausnolrsuoj Ieuoq)I;,,1ecr8eru,, arour 'arrrloaford ajoru ar{l ol }ou pue ssausnoljsuoc'1etrolelrads a.rnd e ol pal lar aq lsnu qdersoloqd aql 'lrarroj IIe le are $lr urar asaql 'aw JI s,l! aql slea;ap dp -sea os sam su1l aql :(s8ura,terp asn dueru apq.tr sqde.rsoloqd ol +rosar slsal IerI -Soloqcdsd.vra1 d.ra,l) a8eurr aql ;o la.ra.od a,trlcaford aql saqsruirurp dlqeqord (atatlq-uaaq-butaa4) wnuqtynba le,rodurel Jo pudi sltlj 'parallaqs are a,r,t. qrlqm r,uo,r; dlrlear e 'alcelrur snonerd e dq 'sn SurnrB 'sam il moq st stt4l Jo a)uaplla Surd;adn1s sdea,r,1e aql sl araql qdersoloqd d.ra,l,a ui roj 'ata4q-uaaq-3u1 -aaq a:qt Jo leql dlrpal s1r 1(palegap aq lsnur a8eurr orqdersoloqd arll 'o ralre -reqc leor8eur aql ol se surrelc) acuasatd e derr.t ou ui si'uolsnll se pacuar'radxa ranau sr qde o1oqd aql roj 'ltou-ata4 aql Jo leql sr dlrlea.run sll :poo+srapun dlny aq ue; qde.rsoloqd aql 1o rtylaatun luat aqr teqt apo) lnoqty* a8es -saur ro a8essaur palouap srql Jo la^al ali+ ] snql s ll'uaql-a,laq aql pue mou -anq aql uaamlaq uoqcunfuor prrsolp ue Suraq qdersoloqd aql dllrolralue lerodural pue drerpaurtur lerleds :dro8aleo arurl-a;eds Mau si aleq ar't l t{m 'atatlq-uaaq-3utau1 s+r Jo ssauareme ue ]nq (a4o,lo.rd ppoo ddoc due qcrq,tr) 3urq1 aql 1o ata4y-8uraq aql Jo ssausnoljsuor lou seqsqqelsa li a)uls'paluap -arardun d1n.4 paapur sr sanlolur qdersoloqd ar{l ssausnolrsuo) Jo adfi aq1 drolsrq s,ueur ur sluasarda.r li uollnlolar prrsolodo,rqlue aq+ Jo luarussassp aql.ta.oll pue qder8oloqd aql Jo ral)ereq) rryrads aql roj lunojr 'sutaas 1r 69I a&aul a4q lo ryop4[ :SEHruvs 8
160 rhe RHETORTC OF THE rmage masking the constructed meaning under the appearance of the given meaning. Runtonrc of THE IuecE It was seen that the signs of the third message (the "symbolic" message, cultural or connoted) were discontinuous. Even when the signifier seems to extend over the whole image, it is nonetheless a sign separated from the others: the "composition" carries an aesthetic signified, in much the same way as intonation although suprasegmental is a separate signifier in language. Thus we are here dealing with a normal system whose signs are drawn from a cultural code (even if the linking together of the elements of the sign appears more or less analogical). What gives this system its originality is that the number of readings of the same lexical unit or lexia (of the same image) varies according to individuals. In the Panzani advertisement analyzed, four connotative signs have been identified; probably there are others (the net bag, lor example, can signify the miraculous draught of fishes, plenty, etc.). The variation in readings is not, however, anarchic; it depends on the different kinds of knowledge-practical, national, cultural, aesthetic-invested in the image and these can be classified, brought into a typology. It is as though the image presented itself to the reading of several different people who can perfectly well co-exist in a single individual: the one lexia mobilizes different lexicons. What is a lexicon? A portion of the symbolic plane (of language) which corresponds to a body of practices and techniques.l2 This is the case for the different readings of the image: each sign corresponds to a body of "attitudes" - tourism, housekeeping, knowledge of art - certainty of which may obviously be lacking in this or that individual. There is a plurality and a co-existence of lexicons in one and the same person, the number and identity of these lexicons forming in some sort a person's idiolect.l3 The image, in its connotation, is thus constituted by an architecture of signs drawn from a variable depth of lexicons (of idiolects); each lexicory no matter how "deep," still being coded, if, as is thought today, the psyche itself is articulated like a language; indeed, the further one "descends" into the psychic depths of an individual, the more rarified and the more classifiable the signs become-what could be more systematic than the readings of Rorschach tests? The variability of readings, therefore, is no threat to the "langu age" of the image if it be admitted that that language is composed of idiolects, lexicons and sub-codes. The image is penetrated through and through by the system of meaning, in exactly the same way as man is articulated to the very depths of his being in distinct languages. The language of the image is not merely the totality of utterances emitted (for example at the level of the combiner of the signs or creator of the message), it is also the totality of utterances received:14 the language must include the "surprises" of meaning. Another difficulty in analyzing connotation is that there is no particular analytical language corresponding to the particularity of its signifieds-how are the signifieds of connotation to be named? For one of them we ventured
aql ler{l +ualxa alil ol I raua8 lnq (slurerlsuor.,fuo1euoqd ruor; 'aldurexa ro;,luaragrp) uorsrn to slur Jlsuoc prrsdqd ar{+ ol ljalqns sr li leq] ]ua]xa aql ol,grr"ar.t (srolelouuor sll Jo uoilejitisselj aql des otr sr 1 r{l) a8eurr aq1 1o cu -ol"qt snql,r'abn.tl pu 'arn+ Jalll'ru alp ol ajuelsu to1 uotttwot'tuto{ "ql lnrrripq, a1s.rt.-n,qrr*" leql alqeqojd uana sl ]I lruro; rraql dq dp'ressa -rn "r"ql,lor, ltq (.rana1eq,,r,t ro 'arnlsa8 'a8etur araql 'punos paleln)ig araq) acuels -qns rraql iq d.re,,' d1qn1t,o".tt s)irolaq' dsoloapr Jo lradse Suld;ru8rs aql se Surreadde snr{l rrro}aqr ')"uoptpt slol louuod Jo las aql pue src4ap_uuor palle) aq IIIM s;arjru8rs asaql'acuelsqns uasoq) aql ol Sulprocce par;tcads ar r{rlq1'r uoll louuoj ;o srar;ruflrs puodsauor /si 'd8o1oapr leq] lerauas aql oi 'asn detu li uoll +ouuoc;o s'rar;ru8rs lerlm ralleru ou drolsrq pue dlanos ua,tt8 e ro; a18urs aq lnq louuej r{rlqm 'hsopapt Jo l r{l sr uor} Jouuot ;o spar;ru8rs aql Jo ur urop uoululoj srql '(4rorrtarue.l; ie1o1 leads oj os e ui palraruo) aq dpo uer dsolonuas dqzvr sr qrrq''r't) sarnl lr"b r,rolrn aql ro a8eu4 aq1'ssard uanlr,lr aql ui punot acl ol ale spar;ru8rs aures ar{l :uoururor ur spat;ru8rs sll ile sploq 1r (rnorneqaq to sapou 'slle[qo 'a8en8uel 'a8etur) pazlllln saru +sqns luarajjlp aql uo luapuadap sraltlu -8rs pcrddl spq uoqelouuor JI ro; 'sacuelsqns raqlo Jo asoql Jo osp lnq a8etur aq1 ;o uralsds alll louuo) aql Jo dlaraur lou droluaaul u 'lno paijjef, uaaq ser{ uollelouuot ;o suralsds aql Jo d.rolua'lur alrsseur e a)uo alqrssod aq dpo dpealc llrm-rer{+ou auo ol uorlrsoddo ur aq d1pryua't'a deur r{f,itlm-saxe qrns to uollnlllsuora.r aq1 dlrcrqsruedg ro dlrcrueuuas dlnrqruarc apis -3uo1e'sarlrleuorleu to slxe uleuad e o1 s8uolaq /irycruatp11 er:sax Jluras uj } -rar o1 SurproJJe ']r slnd seunal3 'l 'Y se'ro sqled pauljap ul uar o1 Surp'rooce,suorlrsoddo ur sdeqrad ua,la 'suoqelnjlu rrlerubrpered ui 'splalj aail IJ -osse ur pazrue8ro ar sauras asar{i sr'jalsea palapuar aq IIIM ruloj JIar{} to sis -dpue ar{l'uop }ouuo) Jo sauras atll;o Surureu aq}-'{1snor qryq aq spaau JI pue-dprcgr1re aleln8ar o1 Suqdaooe dg 'Suqured o1 rpaq8eds urorj'u IFtrI "q ppto, 1eq1 Sulqldrana Jo a)uassa pasuapuoj aql q li dp11 1ou st fr\nruat1u11 :a.r,r1ra[pe aql urojj unou ljer]sqe ue Surrrr,rap liltn- x41ns ar{l 'uollelorruoj }o,p"r;rrr8r. aql roj luno)j ol alq Suraq lsaq s puit lilntunr1al1 ar{l to sluslj cl -r q q+i^{ Ual ale a^{ pu a8en8ue1e1aur prcads e arrnbar arojaraql plnom uorlelouuoj Jo sauras asaql ssardxa o1 'Surueaw pasodxa ue o1 '(tu8eluds lnor{ll6 u$rs e ;o uoqsanb e sr 1r aculs) rapaq'io 'Sutueaur Jo ale}s I JIJ} aql yo 1ro, e o1 Surpuodsarro) pue lxaluo) due 1o pa'trrdap 'ur8eluds due ruo't;5o,rr,'"1n5 arnd e ur ldacrror e sr'dre,4uoc ar{} uo,,'f,qua1d,, auras ar{} la8en8uel ;o d1r,tr1rsuerl prrtrcerd ul uar e spr Mol paluarro '(as'rnocsrp leqra^ Jo leql) ru8eluds snonulluoj 'ajueralln lua8urluoc B ur dn lq8nel sde'tr1e si li Jot ajuassa ue ol srajar ra^au prom palouap aq1 d1ua1d Jo eapl lsarnd aql 'sal+ Jo -ua1d alqrssod ge yo raqdrc lel+uassa aql a)h sr (acnpord ar{l Jo uorl suapuor ar{l pup uorsnlord aql ajaq) uoqe}ouuoj 1o rar;ru8rs aql lasuas palouap ar{l w,,t(1ua1d,,.ranor dllrexa +ou saop 'uoll lolruoj,,f,1ua1d,, Jo auras se :arnleu,rl.rn*",,egrrrynd'n a.l,eq sparjru8rs asaql roj'dllnrrgrp e si sil{i 'pazrleroads 1ou sr srsdleue aql 'o luaurour aql le uaql Jo a8reqo a>lel ol seq qririm "3nnd.re1n1a* a'qa :(/huad 'rh unt 'uot4andatd rtuurlnc) a8en8uel dreurpro *or;,pio^ dq paleu8rsap aq dpo uer srar{}o aql lnq '/i1ntuar1a11 rural aql L9L a?nwlaqttortroqqd:sf HIUVg g
L62 rhe RHETORTC OF rhe rmage "figures" are never more than formal relations of elements. This rhetoric could only be established on the basis of a quite considerable inventory, but it is possibie nor,rr to foresee that one will find in it some of the figures formerly identified by the Ancients and the Classics:18 the tomato, for example, signifies ltalianicify by metonymy and in another advertisement the seguence of three scenes (coffee in beans, coffee in powder, coffee sipped in the cup) releases a certain logical relationship in the same way as an asyndeton. It is probable indeed that among the metabolas (or figures of the substitution of one signifier for anotherle), it is metonymy which furnishes the image with the greatest number of its connotators, and that among the parataxes (or syntagmatic figures), it is asyndeton which predominates. The most important thing, however, at least for the moment, is not to inventorize the connotators but to understand that in the total image they constitute discontinuous or better still scattered traits. The connotators do not fill the whole of the lexia, reading them does not exhaust it. In other words (and this would be a valid proposition for semiology in general), not all the elements of the lexia can be transformed into connotators; there always remaining in the discourse a certain denotation without which, precisely, the discourse would not be possible. Which brings us back to the second message or denoted image. ln the Panzanl advertisement, the Mediterranean vegetables, the color, the composition, the very profusion rise up as so many scattered blocks, at once isolated and mounted in a general scene which has its own space and, as was seen, its "meaning": they are " set" in a syntagm which is not theirs and which is that of the denotation. This last proposition is important for it permits us to found (retroactively) the structural distinction between the second or literal message and the third or symbolic message and to give a more exact description of the naturalizing function of the denotation with respect to the connotation. We can now understand that it is precisely the syntagm of the denoted message which "naturalizes" the system of the connoted message. Or again: connotation is only system, can only be defined in paradigmatic terms; iconic denotation is only syntagm, associates elements without any system: the discontinuous connotators are connected, actualized, "spoken" through the syntagm of the denotation, the discontinuous world of symbols plunges into the story of the denoted scene as though into a lustral bath of innocence. It can thus be seen that in the total system of the image the structural functions are polarized: on the one hand there is a sort of paradigmatic condensation at the level of the connotators (that is, broadly speaking, of the symbols), which are strong signs, scattered, "reified"; on the other a syntagmatic'flow'at the level of the denotation-it will not be forgotten that the syntagm is always very close to speech, and it is indeed the iconic "discourse" which naturalizes its symbols. Without wishing to infer too quickly from the image to semiology in general, one can nevertheless venture that the world of total meaning is torn internally (structurally) between the system as culture and the syntagm as nature: the works of mass communications all combine, through diverse and diversely successful dialectics, the fascination of a
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