Narrative Theories By Emily Smith

Levi-Strauss: Binary opposites

• He believed that the way we understand different words varies not on the actual meaning itself but on our knowledge of its opposite= Binary Opposites

• For example our knowledge of the word ‘Villain’ depends on our understanding of the word ‘Hero’.

• They’re very easy to understand for example good and evil characters and they help form a narrative plot.

• 28th November 1908-30th October 2009

Todorov: Narrative structure

• Todorov- 1969

• He believed that his theory could be applied to any film and that films all followed the same narrative pattern of the 5 different stages. These are:

• 1. Equilibrium= natural balance

• 2. Disruption of an event

• 3. Recognising the disruption that has happened

• 4. Attempting to repair the disruption

• 5. Restoring a new equilibrium

• However although many films do follow this pattern films that are unconventional and go against the conventions may not therefore his theory cannot be applied to all films. However it could be said that we as an audience like this type of structure due to it being familiar with us and it tends to be applied to more mainstream films as they know that this structure does appeal to an audience.

Propp: Character Functions

• Propp 1920- He was highly interested in the narrative of folk tales and he believed that the characters have a narrative function and they then structure the rest of the text.

• These characters he found were :

• The hero- A character that seeks something.

• The villain- who blocks the hero's requests

• The donor- provides object may have magical properties

• The dispatcher- sends hero on quest via a message

• The false hero- disrupts hero's request makes false claims

• The helper- aids the hero

• The princess- acts as reward and object of villains plots

• The father- rewards hero.

Audience Targeting: Primary & Secondary • Primary audience= Main viewers/ the average/ your target

market who your specifically targeting.

• Secondary audience= are people who fall out side the demographic but they would still be classed as your audience.

• For example a film like Finding Nemo children are the primary audience the secondary audience would be parents who passively watch the film and there are jokes in the film that only the adults watching would understand.

Barthes 5 codes

• Barthes believed texts may be open or closed. Open meaning unraveled in different ways and closed meaning that there is only one plausible thread. He also said that there are 5 codes and one or more of these will shape the meaning of a text.

• These are :

• Hermeneutic/Enigma code- mystery/ clues being dropped making the audience want to know more/frustrate the audience.

• Proairetic/Action code- Forming a sequence of element of action in the text and they add suspense.

• Semantic code- Parts of the text that add additional meaning.

• Symbolic code- Symbolism in the text shows contrast, more meaning, tension, dram or character development.

• Referential code- refers to knowledge of the text such as scientific historical or cultural.

Non linear story telling…

Cohesive models

• Disruptive Narrative

• Non Sequential Narrative

• Disjointed Narrative

Non cohesive models

• Ergodic Narrative

• Branching Narrative

• Multi Linear Narrative

*Non linear story telling= Non chronological for example link to Todorovs theory. *Narrative is not the same thing as a storyline it is the way that it is told. *Cohesive means to be joined together and it flows.

Cohesive models definitions

• Disruptive Narrative- Is where a chunk of the narrative is missing however this is on purpose. This is done for the sake of mystery and the aesthetics of the piece and audience reception. An example would be a drama.

• Non Sequential Narrative- This is where the sequence is shown differently to how It actually occurred. This is for dramatic emphasis, to build suspense and reveal information which wasn’t shown previously. This may be done in a shuffled, reversed flashback or a reoccurring type of way.

• Disjointed Narrative- This is where the narrative is unreliable, untrue, layered or repeated with important changes. It sometimes doesn’t have elements out of sequence. This narrative often has an ironic twist or ending. Change in perspective is key to this narrative type. An example of this would be Gone Girl.

Non cohesive models definitions • Ergodic Narrative- Is where there is layers of a story within a story. This type

of narrative is often in gaming narratives. An example of this would be the film VH/S and VH/S2

• Branching Narrative- This is basically an interactive choice and includes the audience decision. It is much more common within games. The actions made by the player effect the end result and this could be failure or success. An example of this would be the film The Butterfly Effect.

• Multi-linear Narrative-This is where multiple storylines or aspects of the same story inter twine or occur at the same time. The climax of he film often represent shows or suggests that all the different story lines are related in some way. An example of this would be the film Trick or Treat.