Theories of Narrative

Vladimir Propp examined hundreds of fairytales in the generic form 'the folk wondertale'.
He identified:
-8 character roles (or 'spheres of action')
-31 functions which move the story along - examples include Sleeping Beauty (her touching the spinning wheel which will make her die/sleep for 100 years then the punishment of the villian).

Propp's 8 character roles or 'spheres of action'

• the villian
• the hero- a seeker character motivated by an initial lack
• the doner- who provides an object with some magic property
• the helper- who aids the hero
• the princess- reward for the hero
• her father- who validates the hero
• the dispatcher- who sends the hero on his way
• the false hero
  

FOR EXAMPLE; the Disney film 'The Lion King'

The Villian - Scar
The Hero - Simba
The Doner - Rafiki
The Helper - Timone and Pumba
The Princess - Nala
His Father - Mufasa
The Dispatcher - Zazu
The False Hero - Scar

Propp's 31 functions

• Absentation
• Interdiction
• Violation of Interdiction
• Reconnaissance
• Delivery
• Trickery
• Complicity
• Villainy and Lack
• Mediation
• Beginning Counter Action
• Departure
• First Function of the Donor
• Hero's Reaction
• Receipt of a Magical Agent
• Guidance
• Struggle
• Branding
• Victory
• Liquidation
• Return
• Pursuit
• Rescue
• Unrecognised Arrival
• Unfounded Claims
• Difficult Task
• Solution
• Recognition
• Exposure
• Transfiguration
• Punishment
• Wedding

Propp's theory is a form of structuralism, which is a view that all media inevitably in the form of certain fixed structures. These structures are often cuturally derived and form expect actions in the mind of an audience from within that same culture e.g. fairytales always have happy endings of the princess always marries the handsome prince. Propp's theory can be applied to genertic structures in western culture, such as popular film genres. This genre structures form expectations in the mind of an audience that certain rules apply to the narrative. However, cultural change can force structures to change e.g. a hero can now be a woman.

Tzvetan Todorov developed the theory of disrupied equilibrum.

He identified that stories follow a typical pattern of:

• equilibrum- the 'status quo' where things are as they should be
• disequilibrum- the 'status quo' is disrupted by an event
• equilibrium- is restored at the end of the story by the actions of the hero

There can be several moments in the plot where resolution of equilibrium takes place, for example when pieces of the detective's puzzle fall into place.

Todorov later developed this into a 5 stage pattern:

1. a state of equilibrium at the outset
2. a disruption of the equilibrium by some action
3. a recognition that there has been a disruption
4. an attempt to repair the disruption
5. a reinstatement of the equilibrium

Roland Barthes - The Five Codes

The Hermeneutic Code (HER)The Hermeneutic Code refers to any element of the story that is not fully explained and hence becomes a mystery to the reader.The full truth is often avoided, for example in:Snares: deliberately avoiding the truth.Equivocations: partial or incomplete answers.Jammings: openly acknowledge that there is no answer to a problem.The purpose of the author in this is typically to keep the audience guessing, arresting the enigma, until the final scenes when all is revealed and all loose ends are tied off and closure is achieved.

The Proairetic Code (ACT)The Proairetic Code also builds tension, referring to any other action or event that indicates something else is going to happen, and which hence gets the reader guessing as to what will happen next.The Hermeneutic and Proairetic Codes work as a pair to develop the story's tensions and keep the reader interested. Barthes described them as:"...dependent on ... two sequential codes: the revelation of truth and the coordination of the actions represented: there is the same constraint in the gradual order of melody and in the equally gradual order of the narrative sequence."

The Semantic Code (SEM)This code refers to connotation within the story that gives additional meaning over the basic denotative meaning of the word.It is by the use of extended meaning that can be applied to words that authors can paint rich pictures with relatively limited text and the way they do this is a common indication of their writing skills.

The Symbolic Code (SYM)This is very similar to the Semantic Code, but acts at a wider level, organizing semantic meanings into broader and deeper sets of meaning.This is typically done in the use of antithesis, where new meaning arises out of opposing and conflict ideas.

The Cultural Code (REF)This code refers to anything that is founded on some kind of canonical works that cannot be challenged and is assumed to be a foundation for truth.Typically this involves either science or religion, although other canons such as magical truths may be used in fantasy stories. The Gnomic Code is a cultural code that particularly refers to sayings, proverbs, clichés and other common meaning-giving word sets.

Applying Theory; comparing video's

Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve 

The Verve ~ Bittersweet Symphony

InspiringCreation.com | MySpace Music Videos

This music video is overly classic because of the simple idea of the singer walking down a street. The use of camera angles also make it simple, to make it a classic. The band want to show off  their attitude towards life and this music video gets the point across successfully. Richard Ashcroft, the main singer of the band, is just walking down a long road and he is not moving for anyone passing by . The shots are so sharp and blunt, as well as the mis-en-scene and costumes (all in black; skinny jeans and black leather jacket). This is showing where the band used to live, how they grew up and what is really going on in life now. At the end of the video the rest of the band joins Richard Ashcroft but he moves out of the way for the band. This shows the audience the rest of his band mates are important to him.

Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy 

 

Due to the music video, this song became very famous. The Verve used ideas and conventions from this music video to make their music video even more successful. Similiar to The Verve's video , it is a shot of life in an urban outlet, a run down environment to show the target audience what life has been like for the artist in their past. The setting is the most important aspect in this video because the audience can relate to it and shows the attitude towards life. Also, the camera angles and shots are much like The Verve where they are simple just rotating around the main singer and focusing on the Mis-en-scene.

Fat Les - Vindaloo 

This music video has similarities to The Verve's music video. It has deliberately included the main character, who is a lookalike of Richard Ashcroft. When watching the beginning right through to the end it is clear to myself and the audience the video was a 'copy-cat'. It has a man walking down a long road with him barging into people but not just any people, mostly famous people. The video came across as a mockery to the original video by The Verve. But this video is only apparent and became famous because of the conventions used to the other 2 famous music videos. However, in this video, I feel they have used more camera shots and angles to just show the humorous side of the song and video.