Carlos Martin Guerrero Gonzalez 1

Visual Studies

February, 27th 2015

A Study of Roland Barthes:

The relationship of anchorage and relay with dress image and dress written

Carlos Martin Guerrero Gonzalez.

The aim of this article is to find key points that match the concepts proposed by Roland

Barthes. These concepts are anchorage, relay, dress image and dress written. Roland Barthes has

a semiological education, He formed part of The Structuralist school alongside greats like

Ferdinand of Saussure

Briefly will be explained this pair of concepts. Fist, we understand that the anchoring is a

choise of every signified of a polisemic image and the reader makes the choice. The relay is a

complementary text that helps to understand the meaning anchored.

Second, we have the concepts of dress image and dress written. These concepts comes of a

third concept named real dress. Dress image is when the idea of dress real step of the level of

form. Written dress is a textual representation of the image dress. The relay is also a textual

representation of image dress.

The key word in the relationship of anchorage and dress image is choice while the key word

in relationship of relay and dress written is text.

Concepts

Anchorage, relay,real dress, dress image, dress written, signifier, signified.

Carlos Martin Guerrero Gonzalez 2

Visual Studies

February, 27th 2015

Introduction

The aim of this article is to make a study about anchorage, relay, dress image and dress

written proposed by Roland Barthes and find the points where the points are related and which

are different.

Roland Barthes was born in Cherbourg in 1915 and died in Paris in 1980. Critic, essayist

yand semiologist. He was one of the main representatives of structuralist criticism or new

criticism. Roland Barthes was influenced by Leonard Bloomfield and Ferdinand de Saussure.

In 1960 it was proposed to study the nature , production and interpretation of social signals

by analyzing texts, founding a new science with Julia Kristeva , Phillip Sollers , Jacques Derrida

and Jacques Lacan. This new science is semiology .

Roland Barthes wrote his first essay called Writing Degree Zero in 1953 . Among his most

outstanding works are : On racine , critical essays, Michelet , Mythologies , Criticism and truth,

fashion and System and S / Z .

He formed part of The Structuralist school alongside greats like Ferdinand of Saussure,

Emile Benveniste, Jackobson and Claude Levi-Strauss.

To accomplish this we first need to define the first couple of concepts that are the anchorage

and relay and then dress image and dress written. Roland Barthes denies that structuralism was a

movement or school because they were part of structuralism had no solidarity between them and

neither had solidarity in their ideologies. Roland Barthes prefer that instead of moving or school

will call activity with specific purposes.

Carlos Martin Guerrero Gonzalez 3

Visual Studies

February, 27th 2015

Anchorage

To understand the concept of anchoring first is necessary to understand that the image is

polysemic and that this creates a floating chain of meanings. The reader or viewer plays an

important role in anchorage concept , because the one who chooses which of these siginifieds

give the image. This means that the anchor is that the verbal message is choosing where in the

chain signified fix the image. The anchor is used in photography, media and advertising.

Relay

The concept of relay is textual, because the relay function is complementary to anchor

concept. The concept of anchorage choose which signified assign to the image, the relay

complements with text to image with a signified assigned.

Three dresses

To discuss dress image and dress written must first discuss the concept they come, the

concept of real dress and what is the relationship between each concept.Is necessary to analyze

the level of each concept.

The concept of dress image and the concept of dress written come from the concept of real

dress. The actual dress is at a level of technological structure. Real dress is not at dress written

level, because dress written is at level of words. Neither is at level of shapes of dress image

because dress image is just a only a perspective of real dress.

Dress image

Dress image is a perpective of a real dress, it is in level of shapes where the materials are

shapes, lines, surfaces, and colors. The dress image refers to a reality that is the real dress.

Therefore the dress image is a formal representation of reality that is the real dress.

Dress written

Carlos Martin Guerrero Gonzalez 4

Visual Studies

February, 27th 2015

Dress written is a description of reality, is a representation with text of the real dress. Dress

written

Dress written is related to the concept of the signifier. The signifier refers to the mental

sound that reminds us see the dress image. The difference between both is that the dress written

translate the sounds in letters signs and the signifier is an idea of sound.

The relationship of anchorage with dress image

Anchorage and dress image agree that both must choose an idea for giving a signified to

reality. While in dress image choose from that perspective photograph dress and which of all

these perspectives represent it best. Since a dress in side view does not represent the same as a

dress seen from the front or back .Although different perspectives come from the same reality

that is the real dress each perspective changes.

The relationship of relay with dress written

Relay relate to dress written in the aspect that both are at the level of Words . Relay is at the

level of words because it is a complement of anchor and is a text that describes the signified

choosen of chain of signifieds. Dress written also is at the level of words because it is a

description in text what is the real dress in dress image.

Conclusion

The key word for relationship between anchorage and dress image is choose. The key word

for relationship between relay and dress written is text.The choose is in anchorage and dress

image because anchorage choose the image signified. Dress image choose how represent to real

dress. However anchorageand dress image differ in that anchor is still a level of thought while

dress image way to a shapes level.

Carlos Martin Guerrero Gonzalez 5

Visual Studies

February, 27th 2015

Text is the key word in the relationship that exists between relief and dress written because both

are a description of reality by words. Both concepts ar a word level and there is a greater

similarity.

References

Geetz, Clifford(1994)Conocimiento local ensyao sobre la interpretacion de las culturas.

Ediciones Paidos.España.

Barthes, Roland(1978)Sistema de la moda. Editorial Gustavo Gili, S.A. España.