These are the notes I have written upon reading Brothes’ Rhetoric Image :

Notes

  • The first sentence seems to be comparing the English word of “Image” to its Latin (?) equivalent “Imitari”
  • The author seems to questioning the possibility of an analogical code as opposed to a digital one. Likely wanting to understand image from a physical standpoint than a digital one.
  • Borthes suggests that people often misinterpret the meaning of an image with its meaning.
  • The definition of image, according to Borthes, is the re-presentation of life or its resurrection.
  • When an Ad has an image, it is the most important part of the piece. Images are made with intention.
  • Borthes gives an example of by showing an ad of Panzani, an Italian pasta brand, claiming there are many messages to take from it.
  • He states that you could look at it from the linguistic side. Because it is an Italian brand, he classifies it as “Italianacity”. He believes that you could simply tell by the language presented as a written sign of the image.
  • The “Pure image” is an element of the ad. As he describes it, the image “provides a series of discontinued signs”, pointing out the colors of the labels, the vegetables, the angles of the products and how they all are binded by the net.
  • Borthes states by looking at the image, he insinuates the ad is supposed to be a “return from the market” comparing the background and foreground elements, appearing as if this was groceries brought home.
  • Supposedly there are 3 basic messages from the Panzani ad are the Linguistic message, a coded iconic message and a non-coded iconic message.
  • The way you separate a coded iconic message from a non – coded iconic message is by making inferences and having background knowledge of the image presented. Some may know things off hand while others can be interpreted differently from appearance and comprehension.
  • According to Borthes, there is always a structure of an image or a hierarchy. There are always relations of the text to an image and several meaning that can be picked up on first glance and by observing for longer periods of time.
  • There are many systems images follow to make a viewer understand it or at least pay attention to it. He exclaims the presence of cultural, symbolic and literal meanings of an image.
  • This section specifically talks about the linguistic message of images. Borthes explains that language is a part of images. Many civilizations created images without words to support them. Instead they created words from images.
  • Borthes describes how words began to coincide with images in modern forms of media such as film dialogue, comics, picture books and news articles.
  • The functions of linguistic messages in images are “anchorage and relay”. Or otherwise known as belonging and conveyance.
  • The implication that an image has signifiers is quite clear. People ignore some but pay attention to others and every image has those exact things that either draw people away from it or towards it.
  • Brothes says that that most images have “anchorage” and not as much “relay.” He claims it is rare when an image delivers both and they can co-exist. However, sometimes they compete with one another and it can be difficult to decipher its meaning.
  • Anchorage is more commonly shown in news articles, photographs and advertisement. On the other hand, relay is shown in films, cartoons and comics.
  • This section is called the Denoted image and it primarily discusses how photos as a whole convey literal meanings. The author is fascinated by photograph, claiming they are analogical but still show signs of “naturalness” when taken of an object or place.
  • Signifiers in photos are not merely something that “transforms” things but rather it “records” the setting
  • Aspects such as lighting, framing, distance, focus and speed are man’s way of connotation and seperates a photo from being “Mechanical”
  • According to this section, Brothes proclaims that photos should be taken with a purpose in mind and everything in the photo should look as if they belong there. He reaffirms this by saying there is a naturalness of all the Panzani products being together with in frame.
  • There are 4 types of knowledge noted for understanding images : practical, national, cultural and aesthetic. All of these tie in to indivial comprehension or anything recollected by the viewer when approaching an image.
  • Borthes gives a definition of lexicon and uses it a lot throughout this last pages. A lexicon to him is ” A portion of the symbolic plane (of language) which corresponds to a body of practices and techniques”. He compares this to people’s idiolects, speech habits of a person.
  • There is difficulty in understanding connotation in some pictures. Borthes announces that images may have a semantic nature, but the intentions may always be deceiving which the creator may be aiming for in the long run.
  • Rhetoric is varied by substance. They do not change by form, but by the subject of the image. There is always a “formal relation” of each image element.
  • According to Brothes, Rhetoric is a system of connotators that work in unison that try to show as many signs, messages and icons as possible.