Narrative theory

3 key theorists when you look at narratives & film, they are;

Tvzetan Todorov

Vladamir Propp

Claude Levi-Strauss

⇢the fictional environment begins with a state of equilibrium. eg everything is as it should be in a stat of equal balance between powers of any kind

⇢it then suffers some disruption or disequilibrium

⇢then at the resolution a new equilibrium is produced

THERE ARE 5 STAGES

1. state of equilibrium ( everything is normal )

2. a disruption of that by an event ( disequilibrium )

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

⇢came up with a theory that is based upon ancient folk tales. he said that narratives feature a set of stock characters, these include :

➤hero ➤villain ➤donor ➤helper ➤princess/prize ➤father/figure ➤dispatcher ➤victim ➤false hero

⇢theory was all about binary oppositions

⇢he states that a constant creation of conflict or opposition propels narrative

⇢he believed that the narrative could only end on a resolution of the conflict

eg of binary opposites :

⇢visual ⇾light v darkness ⇾moment v stillness

⇢conceptual ⇾love v hate ⇾control v panic

⇢or they can be simply narrative or genre based ⇾good v evil ⇾human v alien ⇾cops v robbers

for example, the tv show luther usually follows torodovs theories.

when luther is still with zoe, every thing is normal

when his colleague kills zoe out of sheer panic, disequilibrium

when lither finds her in her house - a recognition that this has happened

when they try and get his colleague to confess - an attempt to repair

when he finally confesses and gets killed - every thing goes back to normal

L3 Creative Media 18