Barthes Structural Analysis of Popular Culture - Essay Example

Barthes Structural Analysis of Popular Culture The concept of free floating signifiers was used by Barthes in the study of popular culture to analyze convention of popular culture. Signifiers are free floating and can be used by anyone. Universality is a characteristic of signifiers so that they are recognized globally and used by all people without limits. A good example is the traffic lights. Theoretically, traffic lights can be of different colors to signify the various signs communicated such as go, stop, and caution. Through the development of the society, the use of the signs should have developed further according to the given society. However, changes in the colors and meaning of traffic lights do not occur since the system is free floating in nature. Therefore, it is applicable in any country as the same traffic lights with same meaning. Signifiers have a deeper meaning that what they are that is why they are used to communicate different messages. The consumers are able to under the coded message in the signifiers depending on their nature. Free floating signifiers are widely acceptable and understood globally while different cultures have different understanding of the signifiers in their surroundings. The message in one signifier in a given cultural context may not necessarily receive the same interpretation in another culture. Different cultures place values on given commodities to influence the cultural view on the commodity creating symbolism of the item. Cultural believe is another area that Barthes focused on. The popular culture affects the behavior of people in the context of culture. Mass believe in a given culture affects their reaction and they respond in a codified structure. Though there is no clear justification for the structure, people tend to follow a given trend in structural settings. In a wrestling match as Barthes observed, both the players and the audience are aware that is pretence. The players and the audience participate in the directly and indirectly in the match with the participants in the match pretending to be fighting while the audience cheer for their preferred fighter. The match has a number of conventions with different meanings. Wrestling being a cultural practice influences the conventions to symbolize what they mean, Barthes argue that these conventions can be substituted with anything else. The conventions are not free floating thus they are a result of the culture of the people. The actions of the contestants in a wrestling match are what excite the audience. The audiences are more interested in what they see during the match than the outcome of the match. Symbolism is relevant in a wrestling match with participants keen to showcase actions that are of interest to the audience. The performance in a wrestling match can be compared to a play in the theatre where the audience is interested in the actions of the actors. Use of symbolism is important in a wrestling match as it is in a theatre performance. Societies have rules for signification of actions and items thus human beings follow these rules since they exist in societies. If nature was the only influence of human beings then the people will not be affected by the signification of the society. Further, consumer preference is affected by several factors including peer influence, and the industry. In the fashion industry, consumer preference being influenced by trends is very common. Consumers are affected by a wave of style preference in the industry. Demand for a given cloth rises or falls depending with the view of the people about it. Cloths said to be trending and on fashion are in high demand compared to other outfits. The demand is affected by convention of changing society view of fashion. Fashion determines the value of an outfit with those outfits which are in fashion having higher value than the out of fashion outfit. Peer influence, affect individual preference as individuals want to dress in a similar manner with their peers. It is in this context that myth is converted into the culture and believes. Myths that a certain outfit is for a given occasion is soon adapted and becomes a culture that people follow and believe in. Fashion is relevant to people with women being more concerned about it. Magazine idols play a major role in shaping the behavior of people in dressing. The messages portrayed on magazine covers communicate to consumers what is trending and should be adopted as being suited for a given situation. Fashion dictates what can be worn on a regular basis and what is worn for special occasions. Fashion in itself cannot be directly related to any object, but is implicit in the object. As such, most magazines do not write about fashion, but rather it is implied in the various photos in the magazine. Readers of these magazines comply with the fashion, implied in the magazine to be among those trending with the changing times. Moreover, the society’s view of an item also affects individual behavior. Cultural values of items are passed over from generation to another without review of the real value of the item. Passing of culture affect the behavior of consumers as they become ignorant of the side effects of the items, but rather opts to hold on to their culture dearly. Cultural values placed on some items may not be the real value of the item as it may overstate the value depending with the society’s believe. The French society believes in the taking of wine as healthy is an age old culture. It is based on the specific society believe which contradict the actual sense of facts such as wine can equally be unhealthy. Wine in the French society is associated with class and national identity. The French has given wine a higher status so that it is not just any other commodity for trade but rather is associated with social class. The cultural industry has the power to dictate what is being produced and distributed depending with the consumption of the people in the given culture domain. Having a strong economic base is not a sure way to succeed due to the cultural practice of the people. Producers exploit poor third world countries to plant products for the production of wine to satisfy the French market demand for wine while the developing countries do not consume the wine themselves. Consumer choices affect the success of a business through the cultural practice of consumption of given products. Therefore, culture affects business directly by dictating consumer preference for goods and services. Toys symbolism was also an area of interest to Barthes. Toys are not just commodities for children to play with but carry messages which are passed over to the young children. Symbolism is used in toys to impact certain culture to the young ones. The French toys during the post world war are more specific to passing war related messages. The production of a male like dolls holding guns was used to pass the message on the role of the male gender in the war. The male was associated with masculinity and was entrusted with the major role of protection and providing. The female gender was on the other hand associated with childbearing and being feminine. The dolls that children played with were used to model their character in the society and introduce what is expected of them as male or female children. Human like toys are more specific to passing messages to the children handling them. The toys helped the children relate to the actual world they live in. French culture played a major role in the work of Barthes as evident in his use of the French culture in most of his work. The French believe in a given style of writing was also of the essence of the work of Barthes. He is able to observe the writing style used and observes the French way of writing is considered to be the standard acceptable way of writing. Anything written in any other format was not considered to be standard, thus the upholding of the French way of writing as the best presentation of literal work. Barthes observes the unwarranted attention given to the method of writing so that the presentation attracts readers more than the message in the written material. However, the French style of writing was soon overtaken by other upcoming writing styles due to its disintegration. After the disintegration of the traditional French writing, another classical French writing was formed. However, this time the writing was more politically influenced so that political leaders and a class of people identified with it. The class and political influence of the French writing is the reason for the rejection of the style so that different styles of writing were adopted that had no political ties attached. The myth suggests that French style of writing is natural, but Barthes argues that it is not the style which is natural, but rather the ideology in the work is the one which is natural. Therefore the myth of the natural style of writing distracts the public attention from the actual message being communicated. Written work creates a relationship between the readers and the writer through identifying with the idea of the writer in the written work. Criticism of the work of Barthes He views the society as not capable of making independent decisions. According to Barthes, the consumer decisions are solely influenced by the message on the various cultural items within their surroundings. Readers are only keen to absorb the messages on magazines and adopt them without any further analysis on their validity. He portrays consumers as lacking a taste of their own when it comes to fashion. They depend on various fashion magazines and other sources to influence their dressing. This is actually not the case in the actual world as people have a taste of their own. Moreover, he ignores the consumer choice to follow or ignore the message on various cultural items. An assumption of the total influence of consumers by the cultural items is not applicable in the practical sense. Consumers have the capability of rejecting their cultural practices or simply ignoring the message in the cultural items. The consumer, voluntary consumption of cultural items is also ignored, so that consumption is assumed to be majorly influenced by the culture itself. Consumers are not slaves of the culture and have the freedom to consume cultural goods from their own will ignoring the cultural value of the product. Furthermore, assumption of total compliance by consumers in upholding culture is not certain. With the modern science and technology, consumers are moving away from their culture to other products. Mass idealism is not practical as individuals have minds of their own and can make independent decisions from the masses. Further, most of the theories developed by Barthes were rooted in the past practices so that the modern world has no space in it. Barthes criticism was way back from 1960s, thus with the changes in the world, his criticism, no longer holds much value in the modern society. The theoretical criticism of the various aspects is a limiting factor in his work. Most of his work is in theory and cannot be put into practice. They are based on his observations and not practical experiments thus creating doubt about the application of the theory. Barthes may have also read more than what was intended by the person behind a creation, whether written work or artistic work. He believed objects had more symbolism than what they appeared to be. References Elliot A. Contemporary social Theory: An Introduction. Routledge publishers, 2009 print. Elliott A. and Larry R. Key Contemporary Social Theorists. Oxford: Malden MA, Blackwell Publishers, 2003. Print. ODonnell, M. Classical and contemporary sociology: Theory and issues. London: Hodder & Stoughton 2001 print. Sharrock W, John A. H, and Peter J. M. Understanding Modern Sociology. London: SAGE, 2003. Print. Stones, Rob. Key Sociological Thinkers. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Print. Taylor, S. Sociology: Issues and Debates. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Print. Read More