Roland Barthes
denotation and connotation
denotation tends to be described as the definition. 'literal', 'obvious' and 'common-sense' meaning of a sign. the term 'connotation' is used to refer to socio-cultural and 'personal' associations (ideological, emotional etc.) of the sign. these are typically related to the interpreters class, age, gender, ethnicity and so on. signs are more 'polysemic' - more open to interpretation - in their connotations than their denotations.in the photographic message' (1961) and 'the rhetoric of the image' (1964), Barthes argued that in photography connotation can be distinguished from denotation as Fiske puts it 'denotation' is what photographed connotation is how it is photographed
related to connotation is what Roland Barthes refers to as myth. we usually associate myths with classical fables and the exploits of gods and heroes. but for bathes myths were the dominant ideologies of our time
like metaphors, myths help us to make sense of our experiences within a culture. they express and serve to organize shared ways of conceptualizing something within a culture. their function is to naturalize the cultural - in other words to make dominant cultural and historical values, attitudes and beliefs seem entirely 'natural' or 'normal' self-evident, timeless, obvious 'common-sense' - and this objective and 'true' reflections of 'the way things are'
it is possible to argue that all media representations relate to broader cultural myths and belief systems.