Aspects of Narrative

Aspects of Narrative

Propp's 7 Recurring Character Types

1) The villain - struggles against the hero.

2) The donor - prepared the hero or gives the hero some magical objects.

3) The (magical) helper - helpers to hero in the quest.

4) The princess or prize - the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished. 

5) The dispatcher - character who makes the back known as sends the hero off.

7) The false hero - takes credits of the hero's actions or tries to marry the princess.

7) The hero - reacts to the donor, weds the princess.

Todorovs's 5- part Narrative Formula

1. A state of equilibrium at the outset

2. A disruption of the equilibrium by some action

3. A recognition that has been a disruption

4. An attempt to repair the disruption 

5. A reinstatement of the equilibrium

Levi- Strauss: Binary Opposites & Dramatic Conflict

Brainy opposites is a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning. Binary opposition is the system by which, in language and thought, two theoretical oppositesare strictly defined and set off against one another.

Roland Barthes

The Hermeneutic Code = is the way the story avoids telling the truth, in order to drop clues in through out to help create mystery.

The Enigma/ Proairetic Code = The way the tension is built up and the audience is left guessing what happens next.

The Semantic Code = Suggests a particular, often additional meaning by what of connotation which the story suggests. Connotation =  cultural/underlining meaning, what it symbolises.

The Symbolic Code = Similar to Semantic Code, but acts at a wider level organising semantic meaning into broader and deeper sets of meanings. This is typically done in the use of opposing and conflict ideas.

The Cultural Code = Looks at the audience wider cultural knowledge morality and ideology.