Narrative Theories: Claude Levi-Strauss, Tzvetan Todorov

and Vladimir ProppBy Brandon Burcher

Claude Levi-Strauss and the Binary Opposites Theory

Claude Levi-Strauss was a Belgian ethnologist who developed theories on structuralism such as the Binary Opposites theorem. He was born in Belgium in 1908 and achieved his alma mater at the University of Paris. He also studied law and philosophy but did not pursue a potential career in the subject because he received an agrégation (degree) in Philosophy. He died in Paris, France in 2009 at the age of 100.

Tzevtan Todorov and the Todorov TheoryTzevetan Todorov is a Franco-Bulgarian

historian, philosopher and sociologist. His theory of ‘Equilibrium - Disequilibrium - Equilibrium’ which displays how a film’s protagonist encounters an agent of change causing disruption which leads to a quest and a resolution. He was born on March 1st 1939 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Notable awards include the CNRS Bronze medal, the Charles Lévêque Prize of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques, the first Maureen Prize of the Académie française and the Prince of Asturias’ Award for Social Sciences. He also is an Office of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Vladimir Propp and the Character Theory

Vladimir Propp was a Russian folklorist and scholar who analysed the basic plot components of Russian folk tales to identify their basic premises. He found that most if not all stories/ plots follow a simple rule; there is a hero, a villain, a dispatcher, a donor, a helper and a princess or damsel in distress. He died in 1970 at the aged of 75.

EQUILIBRIUM DISEQUILIBRIUM EQUILIBRIUM

Protagonist

Antagonist

Disruption Quest Resolution

The Todorov Theory.