“The image is representation, which is to say ultimately resurrection, and, as we know, the intelligible is reputed antipathetic to lived experience.”
So what the heck does Barthes mean by "the intelligible is reputed to antipathetic lived experience? " For starters, let's define intelligible within his standards. The intelligible for Barthes, is the representation or resurrection that isn't quite the real thing. It's palpable, it's conceivable, but it's not that concrete real thing. It is tangible because of it's "shared experience" counterpart. In the case of this image, the Statue of Liberty itself is the shared experience. It's an international icon, one that stands tall to this day. The intelligible is the photographed version of the statue that currently resides on your screen. It has a mystical, white to gray glow. It's tangible because we can see it clearly on a screen, and not be dumbstruck by it. Some intrinsic ticker goes off in the brain and tells us to recognize it. But at the same time, we know that it is not THE Statue of Liberty.
"The signification of the image is undoubtedly intentional. The signifieds of the advertising message are formed a priori by certain attributes of the product and these signifieds have to be transmitted as clearly as possible.”
Our product in this case, is The Sopranos. The attributes of this product exist both in the content of the show, and outside, in exogenous factors like the show's reputation. The attributes within the show displayed in the picture are Tony Soprano himself, and New York (or right outside of it in New Jersey), where the show takes place. Looking a little further, we have suspicious glance cast by Tony, the glance of a mobster who must always have a cautious eye out. We know these attributes thanks to the exogenous factors. The Sopranos is an immensely popular show, and is well known to be about a mob family led by Tony. These attributes produce signifieds, which are clearly transmitted with help from the above text, "The Final Episodes." We now are sure that this is an ad, attributes creating signifieds, telling us to watch this show.
“Text and image stand in a complementary relationship”
Text makes it all the easier to interpret an image. This Barthes quote sums up the idea of a caption, or using text to further explain or provide meaning for an image. Without the text, this image would still be of Tony Soprano, and still contain all its attributes. But it would no longer be transmitting as clearly as possible. By simply stating "The Final Episodes," and listing a time, the image inherently becomes an advertisement rather than a just a slice of the show. And the text, standing alone without the image, would lose most of its significance. We would have to ask, "The Final Episodes of what?" The text and image feed off of each other, thriving under a symbiotic relationship.
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