Narrative Theories

Propp 
Propp proposed the idea that characters take on one or more of many different ' roles ' within a narrative. Basically menaing the characters roles create the narrative. There are 7 character type according to Propp and these are:
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• The Hero - who is seeking something
• The Villan - who tries to stop the hero from achieving his goal
• The Donor - who gives the Hero an item of power
• The Helper - Who aids the Hero
• The Princess - This could be a person or thing, which acts as an award for the hero
• The Dispatcher - Who sends the hero on his Journey
• The Father - Who rewards the Hero
Todorov Todorov suggested that in most narratives there are 5 generic stages that are found consistenly. These stages were : 1. A state of equilibrium at the beginning 2. A disruption of this equilibrium by some action 3. A realisation that there has been a disruption 4. An attempt to repair this disruption 5. A restoration of the initial equilibrium . . . Barthes Barthes' theroy was similar to Todorov's in that he suggests narratives have 5 codes that are genrally woven into the plot of most narratives. These codes are : Enigma Code - Something the audience does not know. Action Code - Something the audience knows and don't need explaining. (E.g. Packing a suitcase in a hurry connotes running away) Semantic Code - Using hints (E.g. Mansion, Sports car, Butler, Posh classical music) to connote certain concepts such as wealth. Symbolic Code - A structure which organizes meaning such as through the use of binary opposites. Referential Code - Looks at the audiences wider cultural knowledge, morality and ideology. . Levi-Strauss  . Levi-strauss suggested that narratives used binary oppositions. And example of this is Good and Evil. Often in narratives these opositions are used to create the basis of the story. Examples: Dark + Light, Good + Evil, Humans + Aliens, Old + Young, Earth + Space.