I wanted to pick up one of the threads from the previous post about Barthe’s five codes within narratives. Namely, the distinction between the semantic and symbolic understanding of meaning. I said:

Where semantic might refer more towards logical left-brained thinking, perhaps symbolic could be applied more effectively to holistic right brained picture-based types of thinking. Semantic is meaning which can be expressed in words. Symbolic is meaning which is equally real, but which is ineffable.

Also, if we go with that idea, that semantic can be expressed linguistically by some means, then this becomes a system of meaning which can be shared socially - having a more or less agreed upon meaning. Whereas, since symbolic uses a different faculty of the mind, we may create artifacts with it which are equally potent, but whose symbolic meaning is much more difficult to pin down once and for all.

This is very closely related to some of the distinctions I was making between types of religions. Two of the main thrusts I saw in religious story-systems are individual and social. Individual approaches to religion are usually more mystical, focusing on personal direct experience and intuitive revelation, which cannot be expressed. This would correlate to Barthe’s symbolic code. His semantic code would be more fully manifested in the idea of orthodoxy within religion, where the important coherent element which binds the group together is that they have a socially agreed-upon story and accompanying set of rules - semantic meaning.

The other area I might try to pin this onto my theories is my post about Myth, Ritual & Belief. In that, I talked about how belief (in one form, anyway) is essentially a set of points which have been abstracted from a particular story-system. I might try to extend this to say that beliefs are akin to the semantic style of knowledge outlined above, where meaning is derived socially. Following that application, I’d have to try and say that ritual was inherent more mystical or symbolic than belief. This makes a certain sense to me right now, but does not feel like it will be the final way I fit all these ideas together. It’s a nice connection to use for now though, until it all falls together into a bigger picture.