NARRATIVE THEORIES

BY J I M M Y S O D I YA

• Definition: – The way in which a story is told in both fictional and non-fictional media

texts. • Theorists:

– Tzvetan Todorov – Vladimir Propp– Roland Barthes– Levi Strauss

TODOROV’S THEORYIn 1969 Todorov produced a theory which he believed could be applied to any film. He believed that all films followed the same narrative pattern. They all went through stages called the equilibrium, disequilibrium, acknowledgement, solving and again equilibrium.

There are five stages the narrative can progress through:

1. A state of equilibrium (All is as it should be.)2. A disruption of that order by an event.3. A recognition that the disorder has occurred.4. An attempt to repair the damage of the

disruption.5. A return or restoration of a NEW equilibrium

VLADIMIR PROPPVladimir Propp was a literary critic and a scholar who founded

the idea that a certain type of character was to be used in every narrative structure. His theory has influenced many film makers to writing and producing successful narratives. Propp also suggested that every narrative has 8 different character

types, theses character types are:• The Villain• The Donor• The Hero• False Hero• The Dispatcher• The Helper• The Princess or Prize, and often her Father

ROLAND BARTHES

Roland Barthes is a French semiologist and he suggested that narrative works with five different codes which activate the reader to

make sense of it.Barthes' codes consist of:

- ACTION- ENIGMA

- SYMBOLIC (CONNOTATION)- SEMIC (DENOTATION)

- CULTURAL

LEVI STRAUSS

Levis Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist and

he came up with the 'binary opposition theory'. This stated that

all narratives could be reduced down to binary opposites, for instance good vs evil or strong vs weak