Narrative theories

Claude Levi - Strauss was interested in binary opposites. For example, these could be, night and day, light and dark or good and bad. He noticed that this structure does not only occur in music videos but in structured texts, such as stories, plays and films. Levi - Strauss wasnt interested in the order in which events were arranged in the plot. He looked instead for connotations in the narrative. For example, action films have different binary oppositions which are created by the narrative and used throughout the film. Vladimir Propp was a Russian critic, active in the 1920s He analysed over 100 Russian fairy tales and noticed folk tales were similar in many areas. They were about the same basic struggles and they appeared to have stock characters. He identified a theory about characters and their role in the narrative. Characters according to Propp have a narrative function; they provide a structure for the text. His theory applies to Fairy Stories and to other similar narratives based around quests, but it doesnt apply to all narratives. Characters that perform a function: The Hero A character that looks for something. The Villain Who opposes or blocks the heros quest. The Donor Who provides something with magical properties. The Dispatcher Who sends the hero on his/her quest via a message. The False Hero Who disrupts the heros success by making false claims. The Helper Who helps the hero. The Princess Acts as the reward for the hero and the object of the villains plots. Her Father Who rewards the hero for his effort. Propps theory of narrative seems to be based in a male environment; however, it may still be applied because the function, rather than the gender, of characters is the basis of the theory. E.g. the hero could be a woman; the reward could be a man. Propps order of characters and events can be restrictive. Changing the traditional format will change the whole way the text is received. E.g. the hero may kill the villain earlier than Propp expects. Some people say there are many more character types than Propp suggests such as the stooge in a sci-fi film, who is usually nameless and usually killed early on to suggest the power of the alien force.

Tzvetan Todorov is a Bulgarian literary theorist. He suggests that most narratives start with a state of equilibrium in which life is normal and where the protagonist is happy. This state is disrupted by an outside force, which causes disequilibrium in life and then causes things such as death and destruction to occur. This force then has to be fought against in order to return to a state of new equilibrium, this is when everything goes back to a calm state, even if certain things are still not yet fixed or if certain things cannot be reversed. This model can easily be applied to a wide range of film such as disaster films and sci-fi films. Roland Barthes is a French literary writer and also a semiotician. He suggested that there are 5 codes used in a text and there will be one or more of the 5 codes that describe the meaning of a text in a narrative. Barthes said that texts may be open - unraveled in a lot of different ways or closed - there is only one obvious lead. The 5 codes are; Hermeneutic/Enigma code, Proairetic/Action code, Semantic code, Symbolic code and Referential code. Hermeneutic/Enigma code refers to mystery within a text. Clues are dropped in a text, but no clear answers are given. Enigmas within the narrative make the audience want to know more and if the enigmas are unanswered then it tends to frustrate the audience. The Proairetic/Action code contains sequential elements of action in the text. Proairetic elements add suspense to the text. Semantic code refers to parts in the text that suggests additional meanings. Elements of the semantic code are called Semes. The seme has a connotative function in the text. It has an extra layer of meaning in addition to its original meaning. Symbolic code is about symbolism within the text. It uses opposites to show contrast and create greater meaning, creating tension, drama and character development. Referential code is anything in the text which refers to an external source of knowledge, such as scientific, historical and cultural knowledge. Barthes Codes: Action - a narrative device in which a resolution is produced through action, for example, a shoot-out. Enigma - a narrative device that teases the audience by presenting a puzzle or riddle to be solved. It is sometimes used to delay the storys ending. Symbolic - connotation. Semic - denotation Cultural - a narrative device which the audience can recognize as being part of a culture e.g. a made man in a gangster film is part of the mafia culture.