Semiotics are in everything that can be taken as a sign: the purring of a cat to indicate its happiness, the signature as a sign of acceptance, or the image of Marx as a sign of socialism. The object of study in semiotics is not the signs but rather a general theory of signification, where the semiotician builds models of the conditions of production and reception of meaning. To this end, semiological analysis can be said to be the study of meanings that are present in our day-to-day systems of communication and signification. The study of myth, as understood by Barthes, is often undertaken under the field of semiotics, which can be defined as a method of inquiry into the implicit signs present in the mental element of interaction with nature, or within a community. He resolves to call the cultural power of these objects ‘myths’.

In his book Mythologies, Barthes undertakes a semiotic commentary of popular cultural objects well known in the French community such as steak and chips, wrestling, and even soap power and detergents unearthing the symbolic value of these objects in relation to their claim of universality, at times finding that some objects retain significations interrelated with the bourgeoisie and capitalist cultures. Roland Barthes is a French theorist (1915–1980) whose work discussed the sociology of signs, symbols and collective representations among other topics. Such sanctity was presumed at the moment of drafting and resumed further meaning and depth as the rule was implemented, transplanted, and developed. For example: the rule that forbids stealing infers an understanding of a given sanctity of property. This multi-layered nature is born at the moment of drafting or passing a judgement, and reconfigured through interpretation, application and even communication throughout the lifetime of the rule or the judgement.

And like any other communicative system, law is also multi-layered. Human communication is multi-layered, as our language relies on complicated systems of signification for example uttering a given statement using specific terminology might indicate the ideological tendencies of the speaker. Myths of equality, from Bilal video clip, with permission from the owner.

Mythologies roland barthes sparknotes