Challenging connotation and denotation with Barthes' mythologies

Abstract

The problem of the relationship between denotation and connotation, terms introduced in linguistics by Hjelmslev in the middle of the last century, frequently reappears in the semiotic debate. Greimas (1970), Rastier (1987), Klinkenberg (1996) and Badir (2014) have examined the question, offering enlightening, and sometimes opposing, interpretations. Also, Barthes' commentators, such as Eco and Pezzini (1982) or Zenkine (1997), have indirectly contributed to the debate by considering the "mythologies" of the French semiologist as types of connotations. However, as this article will tend to demonstrate, mythologies do not rely on the phenomenon of connotation, but of denotation. Thus, the aim of this work will be to enrich the discussion on these semiotic languages by countering the belief that mythologies are forms of connotation, in other words, by engaging Hjelmslev and Barthes in a dialogue on the question of cultural meanings.