Roland Barthes Denotation / Connotation
Denotation – What an object or image is understood to
represent. What is that? What is it a picture of?
Connotation – the thoughts feelings and associations
that accompany one’s perception of an example of
visual culture.
Consider this advert for spaghetti. What does it mean? What does it make us think about?
Roland Barthes wrote an essay in 1964 analysing it. He contrasted what “Panzani” denoted (named), with what the advert connoted (suggested).
He claimed that whilst “Panzani” denotes a range of pasta products, the word also connotes the general dea of italianicity. He also considered the imagery . The picture is composed of red white and green suggesting the Italian flag. The bag seems to have been put down on return from market suggesting the kind of fresh ingredients you might buy there. Barthes even claims that the bag suggests a fishing net. All of these elements combine to associate Panzani products with an idea of rural Italian culture.
Barthes wanted to emphasise that these associations weren’t incidental, but were a carefully constructed aspect of the advert , which was designed to make these products appealing.
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