Narrative TheoristsRobyn Wilson

Ronald Barthes.

Barthes said that a text always has many meanings, or is like 'a galaxy of signifiers' which can be taken in many ways.

He also defined several types of narrative codes. The most important of these narrative codes being action and enigma code.

The action codes allow audiences to interrupt and identify what is to come.

The enigma is created by the idea of 'who died and how were they murdered and by whom?' This is the driving force of the narrative and is what creates tension and satisfies audiences demands.

Claude Levi Strauss He emphasizes that several oppositions can be present in a

media. Examples of these are:Good v Evil Male v Female Humanity v Technology Nature v IndustrialisationEast v West Dark v Light Dirt v Clean

Jacques Cerrida used Barthes and Levi-Strauss ideas further by recognising that these 'binary pairs' were never equal in a text, eg. masculinity and femininity. One was always more valued

than the other dependent on genre - frequently enforcing stereotypes and dominant culture ideas.

Propp Propp was a Russian theorist that studies fairy tales. He

recognised plot elements and developed this into 8 spheres of action narrative theory.

The most easily understood application of this model can be applied to the firm Star Wars.

The Villain The Hero (Seeking something) The donor (Provides an object) The helper The princess (reward for hero and object of villain scheme – however the princess can be a man) Her father (rewards the hero) The dispatcher (who sends the hero on his way) The false hero.

Todorov

Bulgarian philosopher Simple five step narrative 1- A state of equilibrium (everything is good) 2- A disruption of the good by an event 3- A recognition that disorder has happened4- An attempt to repair the damage of disorder 5- Restoration of a new equilibrium

This means a story can start at any part of the narrative. It does involve some transformation Some genres can have multiple disruptions.