Narrative theorists

Vlad

imir

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Vladimir Propp was a literacy

critic and also a scholar who

came up with the idea that

certain types of character

would appear in every type of

narrative. Propp believed that

each character in a film fitted

a stereotype that we would

expect to see in something

like a fairy tale. He thought

that this would help drive the

narrative and allow audiences

to better understand the characters and their purpose/

motive.

Vlad

imir

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These characters included:

The hero (protagonist) who sets out to

save the day. He battles the villain and

normally is trying to save the princess

or “damsel in distress”. The villain (antagonist) battles the hero

and is the source of the disturbance.

Their motives or “evil plan” normally

aren't revealed until the final battle.

The dispatcher who lets people know

the villain is evil and sends the hero on

his quest. He normally appears at the

end as well to congratulate the hero.

The helper who aids the hero. He often

helps up until the final battle which he

doesn’t take part in. The helper

normally has resources to aid the hero.

The donor who prepares the hero for his

journey. The donor doesn’t help on the

journey but normally provides some sort

of item that the hero will need to

complete his task.

Vlad

imir

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More characters: The princess who has

normally been captured and the hero must retrieve

her. Most films normally now contain an object as oppose to a princess.

The false hero who will masquerade as a hero and

try to steal his credit. He normally also wants what

the hero wants but his intentions are evil.

Tzve

tan

Todo

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Tzvetan Todorov invented the “five stage narrative” theory. This simplified most film plots, claiming that they had

five stages which they would all go through at some point.

Tzve

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Todo

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Stage one says that there is

equilibrium, which means that

everything is the way it should

be and there is nothing out of

the ordinary. It means that there

is an equal balance of any sort

of power. Stage two says that there will

be a disturbance in the equilibrium, which has been

caused by the antagonist. This

causes a state of disequilibrium.

Stage three is where the characters realise that something is wrong and try to

identify the source of the disturbance.

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Stage four is where the protagonist sets of to repair the damage and stop the source of the disturbance, normally by killing the antagonist. In stage five the

source of the disturbance is gone and there is now a new equilibrium.

Tzve

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As the story ends the way it

begins, this is called a circular

narrative as oppose to a linear narrative. However the

equilibrium achieved at the

end wont be identical to that

at the beginning so there is

some progression. Todorov also believed that

the journey would change the

characters in some way and

they wouldn’t be the same as

when the story started.

Clau

de Lé

vi-St

raus

Straus invented the “binary opposites” theory, which claimed that in a narrative story things would be the exact opposite of each other. He thought that the conflict in movies would be caused because

two completely opposite things would battle for the upper hand.

Clau

de Lé

vi-St

raus

Examples of binary opposites:

Good vs evil/ protagonist vs.

antagonist Black vs. white East vs. west Boys vs. girls Democracy vs. dictatorship

Strong vs. weak Civilised vs. savage Peace vs. war Good looking vs. ugly