Narrative Theory

By Margaret Ansu

Vladimir Propp was a Soviet formalist scholar who’d studied and analysed the components of Russian folk tale/story tale plots, identifying their simplest narrative elements which he then used to form his “Narrative Theory” from.

Propp came to the conclusion that all fairy tales had a one type single theme running through the narrative which was the theme of quest or adventure. Furthermore through his observations Propp also suggested that narratives are shaped and directed by certain characters and certain actions.

Here’s what Props theory stated:• There are 31 possible stages or functions in any narrative ( a

function is a plot motif or event within the story)• These 31 possible stages or functions may not all be present

within a narrative but those that are follow a specific order as to which they are revealed

• There are 7 roles as to which could be portrayed by any character within the story

(http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.111.1320&rep=rep1&type=pdf)

Narrative Theory – Vladimir Propp

How the Theory Applies to Our Film’s Narrative

I believe part of Propps’ theory can be applied to our film. Even though I film may not be a fairy tale or seem to have a narrative of that nature it has some elements and aspects of a fairy tale or old folk tales where a mother is absent and a father and his daughter are left in grief as to which the father becomes villainous and the daughter then becomes his victim. I would say that out of the 31 possible functions the preparatory sections is most relevant to our product excluding functions 5, 6 and 7. I believe this function section is incorporated within our narrative as he father can be seen as the villain whom uses persuasion to cause his daughter also the victim to carry out a task that she at first is against but after clever persuasion she unwittingly helps her father the villain.

Narrative Theory 2 – Tzvetan Todorov

Tzvetan Todorov a Franco-Bulgarian philosopher, who also acknowledged underlying structures to narratives that, occurred. He stated and argued that all narratives begin in “equilibrium” with all characters, settings and other elements being in balance. The harmony is then disrupted by a problem which causes “disequilibrium” which is followed by more events before the narrative returns to a “new equilibrium” that restores the order of peace and harmony to all within the narrative.

How the Theory Applies to Our Film’s Narrative

At the start of our narrative all is deemed to be fine the father seems to be completely emotionally stable and the daughter seems as a normal teenage girl. The narrative portrays the average expectations of people whom seem to have their lives together; this is our “equilibrium”. However problems within the narrative start to leak as it’s gradually revealed that the father and daughter are grieving the loss of the fathers wife and daughters mother, suggesting that all is not what it seems with this narrative. I would say that is the beginning of our “disequilibrium” which is completed by the father’s acts towards his daughter. Up to that part of the narrative, I would say Todorov’s theory can be applied however, I would not say our narrative does reaches a “new equilibrium” but instead all elements remain unbalanced.

Narrative Theory – Claude Levi-Strauss

Good Evil

Strong Weak

Dark Light

Helpless Dangerous

Smarts Stupidity

Happy Sad

Black White

Urban Rural

Boy Girl

Humanity Technology

Ignorance Wisdom

East West

Claude Levi-Strauss a French Anthropologist, had studied myths and tribal cultures where he’d studied how stories had an underlying theme of reflecting the values, beliefs and myths of cultures which were usually expressed in the form of “Binary Oppositions”. Binary Oppositions is a conflict between two qualities or terms, for example:

How the Theory Applies to Our Film’s Narrative

Our narrative has an underlying binary opposition of “Good” verses “Evil” within the human mind. The conflict is mainly portrayed through the character of the father and how he allows the evil side of being get the best of him and surface. Another conflict within our narrative is between “strength” and “weakness”, the father is shown as weak as he is unable to fight off the overwhelming feeling of grief, whereas the daughter is shown as “strong” as she is able to deal with grief without doing anything regrettable.