Narrative theory’s

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Narrative theory’s

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When I began researching I had no knowledge of who Propp was. When I started to read about him I realized that a lot of the films I really enjoyed or seen all tied in with his narrative theory’s. For example Lord of the Rings. Frodo is our hero and Bilbo Baggins is the hobbit who is in possession of the ring.  Bilbo Baggins and Frodo both have to leave the shire which ties into Propp’s (ABSENTATION). (INTERDICTION) is when Frodo is told to not put the ring on because of the dangers associated with it. (VIOLATION of INTERDICTION) is when Sauron starts to summon his army and he is lurking in the darkness even though Frodo is not directly fully aware of him being there. As the plot develops throughout this film, the evil Sauron gains information about the ring and Frodo (DELIVERY). As you can see Lord of the rings clearly follows the 31 functions. The plot later ends on a cliff hanger because it is the first film but throughout the second/third films it ends with a happy ending with the ring being destroyed, antagonist being killed (PUNISHMENT) and a happy time for everybody resulting in Sam getting married (WEDDING).
















Lord of the rings also follows Levi-Strauss binary oppositions for example:

 Frodo (Good)/ Sauron (evil)

 Mythical creatures such as Elves, dwarves/ Ringwraithes and Sauron's dark army,

Shire/Mordor

You can see these binary oppositions throughout the story. There is also a clear indication on what is evil and what is good as the story itself is based on that.

Torodovs narrative theory is about Equilibrium. At the beginning of Lord of the rings everything is good and balanced. This is the initial situation where Frodo and Bilbo Baggins are in the shire on a relaxing afternoon. The interruption occurs when Frodo is introduced to the ring by Bilbo this is when the mood shifts and a problem arises, with the ring entrusted to Frodo. In the last of the trilogy the return of the king the totally new equiliumbrium is restored for both good, bad/evil. In the case of Lord of the rings Sauron is defeated, the ring is destroyed, and Frodo and his friends go back to the Shire to live happily ever after.

Lord of the rings also uses the function that Propp say’s that there are 7 main roles that characters play or assume in a story.

1) The villian Sauron fights with the hero Frodo

2) False hero is someone who claims to be a hero.  Boromir ( the son of a king who acts as if he is a hero)

3) Hero. Seeker hero, often has help from a donor and gets married at the end. Frodo.

4) Donor. Prepares and provides hero with a magical fix. The white wizard  Gandalf.

5) Helper. Helps, rescues, solves. Legolas, Aaragon, Sam, Pippin etc...

6) Dispatcher send hero off. Gandalf sends Frodo away from the shire.

7) Princess. A wanted girl, she exists as a goal and marries a hero.

By studying and analysing all these narrative theorys it has helped both me and my group come up with the initial ideas/story/plot for the sequence.

Princess

Donor. Gandalf

Antoganist ( works for Saurmon)

Our Hero/ Protagonist. Frodo

Vladimir Propp

Vladimir Propp extended the study of narrative structure. In the Formalist approach, sentence structures were broken down into analyzable elements, or morphemes, and Propp used this method by analogy to analyze Russian fairy tales. By breaking down a large number of Russian folk tales into their smallest narrative units, or narratemes, Propp was able to arrive at a typology of narrative structures.
After the initial situation is depicted, the tale takes the following sequence of 31 functions:^[3]

1. ABSENTATION: A member of a family leaves the security of the home environment. This may be the hero or some other member of the family that the hero will later need to rescue. This division of the cohesive family injects initial tension into the storyline. The hero may also be introduced here, often being shown as an ordinary person.
2. INTERDICTION: An interdiction is addressed to the hero ('don't go there', 'don't do this'). The hero is warned against some action (given an 'interdiction').
3. VIOLATION of INTERDICTION. The interdiction is violated (villain enters the tale). This generally proves to be a bad move and the villain enters the story, although not necessarily confronting the hero. Perhaps they are just a lurking presence or perhaps they attack the family whilst the hero is away.
4. RECONNAISSANCE: The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance (either villain tries to find the children/jewels etc.; or intended victim questions the villain). The villain (often in disguise) makes an active attempt at seeking information, for example searching for something valuable or trying to actively capture someone. They may speak with a member of the family who innocently divulges information. They may also seek to meet the hero, perhaps knowing already the hero is special in some way.
5. DELIVERY: The villain gains information about the victim. The villain's seeking now pays off and he or she now acquires some form of information, often about the hero or victim. Other information can be gained, for example about a map or treasure location.
6. TRICKERY: The villain attempts to deceive the victim to take possession of victim or victim's belongings (trickery; villain disguised, tries to win confidence of victim). The villain now presses further, often using the information gained in seeking to deceive the hero or victim in some way, perhaps appearing in disguise. This may include capture of the victim, getting the hero to give the villain something or persuading them that the villain is actually a friend and thereby gaining collaboration.
7. COMPLICITY: Victim taken in by deception, unwittingly helping the enemy. The trickery of the villain now works and the hero or victim naively acts in a way that helps the villain. This may range from providing the villain with something (perhaps a map or magical weapon) to actively working against good people (perhaps the villain has persuaded the hero that these other people are actually bad).
8. VILLAINY or LACK: Villain causes harm/injury to family member (by abduction, theft of magical agent, spoiling crops, plunders in other forms, causes a disappearance, expels someone, casts spell on someone, substitutes child etc., comits murder, imprisons/detains someone, threatens forced marriage, provides nightly torments); Alternatively, a member of family lacks something or desires something (magical potion etc.). There are two options for this function, either or both of which may appear in the story. In the first option, the villain causes some kind of harm, for example carrying away a victim or the desired magical object (which must be then be retrieved). In the second option, a sense of lack is identified, for example in the hero's family or within a community, whereby something is identified as lost or something becomes desirable for some reason, for example a magical object that will save people in some way.
9. MEDIATION: Misfortune or lack is made known, (hero is dispatched, hears call for help etc./ alternative is that victimized hero is sent away, freed from imprisonment). The hero now discovers the act of villainy or lack, perhaps finding their family or community devastated or caught up in a state of anguish and woe.
10. BEGINNING COUNTER-ACTION: Seeker agrees to, or decides upon counter-action. The hero now decides to act in a way that will resolve the lack, for example finding a needed magical item, rescuing those who are captured or otherwise defeating the villain. This is a defining moment for the hero as this is the decision that sets the course of future actions and by which a previously ordinary person takes on the mantle of heroism.
11. DEPARTURE: Hero leaves home;
12. FIRST FUNCTION OF THE DONOR: Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc., preparing the way for his/her receiving magical agent or helper (donor);
13. HERO'S REACTION: Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses adversary's powers against him);
14. RECEIPT OF A MAGICAL AGENT: Hero acquires use of a magical agent (directly transferred, located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, eaten/drunk, help offered by other characters);
15. GUIDANCE: Hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of the search;
16. STRUGGLE: Hero and villain join in direct combat;
17. BRANDING: Hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives ring or scarf);
18. VICTORY: Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, killed while asleep, banished);
19. LIQUIDATION: Initial misfortune or lack is resolved (object of search distributed, spell broken, slain person revived, captive freed);
20. RETURN: Hero returns;
21. PURSUIT: Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero);
22. RESCUE: Hero is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides or is hidden, hero transforms unrecognisably, hero saved from attempt on his/her life);
23. UNRECOGNIZED ARRIVAL: Hero unrecognized, arrives home or in another country;
24. UNFOUNDED CLAIMS: False hero presents unfounded claims;
25. DIFFICULT TASK: Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, test of strength/endurance, other tasks);
26. SOLUTION: Task is resolved;
27. RECOGNITION: Hero is recognized (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her);
28. EXPOSURE: False hero or villain is exposed;
29. TRANSFIGURATION: Hero is given a new appearance (is made whole, handsome, new garments etc.);
30. PUNISHMENT: Villain is punished;
31. WEDDING: Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted).

CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS

Levi-Strauss looked at narrative structure in terms

of binary oppositions. Binary oppositions are sets of opposite values which
reveal the structure of media texts. An example would be GOOD and EVIL - we
understand the concept of GOOD as being the opposite of EVIL. Levi -Strauss
was not so interested in looking at the order in which events were arranged in
the plot. He looked instead for deeper arrangements of themes. For example,
if we look at Science Fiction films we can identify a series of binary
oppositions which are created by the narrative:

Earth

Space

Good

Evil

Humans

Aliens

Past

Present

Normal

Strange

Known

Unknown

I have watched alot of films and have seen examples of Strausses binary oppositions. I have analysed the film Die hard

Wide shot / Extreme close up
Office / home
loud party/ quiet lobby
Guest/ intruder
Future/ Past
Marriage/ job- career
office/ back alleys
loud persons/ quiet persons
Intimate/ arguements.






Roland Barthes' narrative theory claims that a narrative can be broken down into five codes or sets of rules.

Action code which refers to the events taking place
Enigma code which refers to the questions raised and answered
Semantic code which refers to the characters and characterisation
Referential code which refers to the information and explanation
Symbolic code which refers to the connotations of signs




























GRIMALDI ( Todorov Narrative Theory) 

We have our protagonist Samantha Evans. Antagonist Grimaldi. The sequence starts of with a Equilibrium where Samantha is asleep but it shifts as soon as the alarm clock goes off, as you can see her tossing and turning. Samantha Evans is good and Grimaldi is Evil.