Questão 67126

A university professor is guiding a group of pre-service English teachers in a critical analysis of the language of advertising. The objective is to move beyond a simplistic analysis of persuasive techniques and to apply a more sophisticated conception of language, text, and discourse, drawing from post-structuralist semiotics. The professor introduces Roland Barthes' concept of 'myth' as a second-order semiological system, where a sign (the unity of a signifier and a signified) becomes the mere signifier for a new, connotative signified. She presents a high-end perfume advertisement that features no text, only an image: a lone, ruggedly handsome man on a sailboat, staring intently at a stormy sea. The professor explains Barthes' theory: 'Myth is a type of speech defined by its intention. It does not deny things, on the contrary, its function is to talk about them; simply, it purifies them, it makes them innocent, it gives them a natural and eternal justification. Myth transforms history into nature. The perfume, in this ad, ceases to be a mere chemical compound (denotation) and becomes a signifier for a myth of 'virility', 'freedom', and 'mastery over nature' (connotation), which is presented not as a cultural construct, but as the natural essence of masculinity.' The challenge for the future teachers is to apply this two-tiered analysis to the ad.

Considering Barthes' theory of myth, which of the following analytical approaches demonstrates the most sophisticated understanding of the ad as a discursive artifact?