Narrative theory

Will Morgan

Vladimir Propp

Vladimir Propp was a Soviet folklorist and scholar who looked at 100 hundred folk and fairy tales and went on to find similarities between all of the folk and fairy tales. Vladimir came up with the theory that there are 31 plot elements which all stories in one from or another , have all of some of these elements. Also , Vladimir found out that there was only 8 character types in the 100 stories that he had researched. Not all characters are in every story and some characters can be more than one type.

HeroThe hero is normally the main character or set of main characters in a

story. The hero or heroes are the main focus of the story and the story will more often than likely , revolve around the them. The hero or heroes will also normally have a quest , task or challenge that they need to complete. The task could be rescuing someone , finding treasure , helping someone etc… The audience will normally be supporting the hero on his or her quest and will want them to succeed in the challenge. An example of a hero in my work would be the daughter which is based on little red riding hood. The story which I created is based on the adventure and challenge which the daughter needs to complete. The daughter is the main character and she is doing a noble thing by going to give food to her grandmother which makes her the hero and means that the audience will be supporting her and wanting her to succeed.

Villain

The villain in the story is normally the character which is opposes the hero and tries to stop them completing there quest which has been set. A villain may be bad in a number of ways including lying , stealing and morally bad decisions. Although in action films and other similar content , the villain may be more extreme and could include killing , punishment etc.. However , traditionally in fairy and folk tales the villain will do less extreme things due to the nature of the story and the audience. In my story , the villain is the Fox. The fox tries to stop the daughter from giving food to her grandmother and completing her quest. The Fox will be easily identifiable as a villain due to the fox stopping the daughter from completing her quest and that the fox tied the grandmother up in a cupboard.

The princess/prize

The princess or the prize in a story is what the hero wants to get and what the hero is sought after. The hero could need to rescue the princess or save her from some type of evil. The hero can also look for a prize such as treasure or money as there quest. The villain will normally have had captured the princess and will be holding and defending her so that the hero can not get to her and rescue her. Similarly , the treasure or prize will be in the villains hands and will try and stop the hero from taking it from the villain. In my story , the princess/prize is the grandmother because the daughter needs to get food and water to her because she is ill and needs help. The fox tries to stop and hinder the daughters efforts at helping her grandmother and takes the grandmother capture in a locked up cupboard.

The donor

The donor is a person which helps the hero complete their task whatever that might be. The donor could help the hero in a number of ways including giving the hero a weapon , advice , power , clue , object etc… The donor will try and help the hero as much as possible but may set the hero another minor task for them to complete to maybe repay the donor for what they have given the hero. In my story , the donor is the mother because the mother gives the daughter the basket of food so take to her grandmother so that she gets better. The basket of food and water , helps the daughter complete her task that she needs to do.

The helper

The helper supports the hero or the quest that he or she is doing in a number of ways. The helper can appear at critical moments in the story and then leave or the helper can continually help the main hero throughout the story. The helper however , may have limitations such as the amount of time that the helper helps out or how strong or intelligent the helper is. These limitations means that the hero’s strengths and skills are highlighted and displayed even more. The helper in my story is the Farmer because when the daughter is in danger at a critical point , the farmer comes over and makes the fox run off by scaring him. The Famer only helps at that critical point in the story and not at any other time.

The princess’s father

Traditionally ,the princess’s father is normally the character that gives the hero the challenge or quest and what they need to do so that they can win over the trust of them and marry the daughter. However , in a modern day environment the princess's father can be very hard to find. Sometimes , the father may not want the daughter to go with the hero but the hero persuades the daughter to go and marry him. This can cause conflict between the hero and the Princess’s father. In my story there is not a Princess’s father type fique but some famous examples are James , Tiana’s father from the princess and the frog.

The false hero

The false hero is a character which may act heroic and steal the limelight from the actual hero. A false hero character will try to take any credit off the actual hero for the work that the hero has done and not the false hero. In more traditional terms , the false hero will compete with the actual hero in gaining the trust of the princess’s father in order to marry the princess. In my story , there is not a false hero because nobody else tries to steal the limelight or take any credit from any other character. Some examples of false hero’s are Cinderella's step sisters when they cut off parts of their feet to fit the shoe.

The dispatcher

The dispatcher is the character which sends the hero on their quest or challenge. The dispatcher could be a mother or father of the hero or it could be the princess’s father character which sends the hero on a mission to prove their worth before being allowed to marry the princess. In some cases , the dispatcher can be a number of characters such as sending the hero on a wrong quest because the dispatcher is actually a false hero. In my story , the mother is the dispatcher because the mother is the one which sends the daughter out on the quest to give food and water to her grandmother. In my story , the dispatcher is also the donor because the mother gives the daughter food and water to give to her grandmother as well as sending her on the quest.

Narrative structure components

Tzveten Todoov was Bulgarian structuralist was came up with the theory which meant all stories and narratives were very similar and that all narratives and stories followed the same path. Todoov came up with both 3 step and 5 step versions of his theory which could be applied to almost any story or narrative.

The three step version comprises of normal life , a event disrupting normal life and getting back to that normal life. These steps are described in more detail below.

Equilibrium Equilibrium is the term used for when the story starts and everything is normal/in balance weather that being a rich business man or being someone in poverty , Equilibrium is the term used for the norm , whatever that might be for a character.

DisequilibriumDisequilibrium is when the normal lives end and something major in the story happens to disrupt the day to day living of the characters. Disequilibrium can be anything , big or small from falling out with someone or the country being invaded by a opposing force. The story focus’s on the characters reactions to what happened and what the characters do to get back to equilibrium as quick as possible. Some stories can start with Disequilibrium and show the characters trying to get back to equilibrium and normal life.

New equilibrium New equilibrium is the end of the main story/action and things will have returned to the normal that it was before or a new version of normal. More than likely , the normal or new normal will stay to the complete end of the story and nothing else major will happen which would disrupt it.

An example of these series of events is in the walking dead when the normal zombie apocalypse life gets disrupted because someone goes missing and all of group need to search for them. This isn't equilibrium because it doesn’t happen everyday. When the person is located and found , the group can carry on as normal in a apocalypse world and it returns to equilibrium.

Todorov also came up with the five step theory on how stories and narratives were structed.1. Equilibrium – It is the norm and nothing out of the ordinary

is happening , it is the day to day life of any character.2. Disruption – When something big or small disrupts the norm

and that can affect the character in a number of different ways. The story focus’s on the character’s reaction to the event.

3. Recognition- The character or characters know that the event has happened and it has brought disorder to normal life.

4. Repair- Trying to repair and fix what has happened.5. Return- When there is a return of equilibrium or new

equilibrium where life has retuned to normal or very close to normal.

Binary opposition

Binary opposition is a theory which French theorist Claude Levi Strauss came up with.The theory is that it can only be a story when there are two opposing sides which then come together.The conflict and fight between the two sides makes the story more fulfilling. The conflicts can be between a number of things including Good vs Evil , Young vs old , Humans vs aliens etc.. Whoever the conflict is between ,as long as they come together , that makes and drives the story.In my story , there is conflict but the two sides do not come together at the end which means it is not binary opposition.

Types of structure

There are lots of different types of structure in stories. These include…Open-Open narratives or stories do not reach a conclusion and endlessly go on and on. Comic books and cartoons such as the Simpsons are good examples of this type of structure.

Closed- Closed narratives and stories have a conclusion which ends the entire story. Films and one-part style dramas are this structure type because the story starts and ends in a certain length of time.

Single strand- A single strand story or narrative has just one storyline as the story. Children’s books are single strand because they need to make them as simple as possible for any young children who may be reading them. Every Simpsons episode is single strand because there is a different plot for every episode.

Multi-strand- A multi-strand narrative has many different stories and plots going on at one time. TV soaps such as Emmerdale and East Enders are multi-strand because there are lots of different characters in different plot situations at one time.

The story I have created is a closed , single strand narrative because the story ends and does not carry on and it is single strand because there is only one main plot/storyline and not any others.

Types of structure

Linear- Linear stories and narratives start at the beginning and all events go chronologically in order until the end of the story. This is a very simple way of telling a story and because of that it is very popular and lots of Films , TV programmes , magazines etc… use this style.Non-Linear- Non linear stories and narratives are not chronological and the narratives involve flashbacks and flash forwards as well to help tell the story. This style is trickier to produce but gives off a very good effect. Breaking Bad is non-linear because there are numerous flashbacks and flash forwards in which the story revolves around.

Realist- Realist narratives and stories reflect real life and involve real life or very real life events that you happen to anyone on a daily basis. Lots of films ,TV programmes are in this style because you as a producer can directly relate the story to the audience. Anti-Realist- Anti Realist stories and narratives involve plots and storylines that are very unlikely if not impossible in real life. This style can be extremely popular with shows such as Doctor Who.

My story is a Linear , Realist story because the stories events go in chronological order and apart from some aspects of the story , it has lots of components which means the story is realistic.