Narrative Theory - Todorov, Barthes, Propp, Field and Levi-Strauss

Narrative Theory refers the ways stories within media texts are organised and the ways audiences consume them.

Vladimir Propp, a Russian critic and literary theorist, analysed folk stories and proposed the idea to classify the characters and their actions into eight key character roles:

1. The Hero (Protagonist)
2. The Villain (Antagonist)
3. The Donor (Provider)
4. The Helper
5. The Father
6. The Dispatcher
7. The Princess
8. The False Hero

For example, films like Star Wars fit Propp's model precisely:

1. The Hero (Protagonist) - Luke Skywalker/Han Solo
2. The Villain (Antagonist) - Darth Vader
3. The Donor (Provider) - Obi-Wan Kenobi
4. The Helper - R2D2, C3PO, Chewbacca
5. The Father - Obi-Wan Kenobi
6. The Dispatcher - Princess Leia
7. The Princess - Princess Leia
8. The False Hero - Han Solo 

He also argued that the character could fulfill more than one of these roles and that there can be more than one of each character type.

Tzvetan Todorov, a Bulgarian literary theorist, suggests that most narratives having a structure to them

• They start off with a state of equilibrium, life for the protagonist is normal; there's not really any major problems for the protagonist to deal with. The protagonist might find them self happy and content.
• This state of equilibrium is the disrupted by the antagonist, causing a major problem for the protagonist, it also creates enigmas (mysteries) that must be solved in order to resolve the problem set by the antagonist.
• A resolution occurs when the protagonist finally resolves the problem, overcomes the villain and solves the enigmas initially presented.
• A new equilibrium is made at end of the media text, the protagonist tries to get their life back to normal, having learned from the experiences they have put through.

Roland Barthes, a French semiologist, described all texts as complex 'bundles' of meaning of which can be unraveled to create a whole range of different meanings. Media texts can be read from different perspectives, with different people getting different ideas and meanings from consuming the same text.

According to Barthes,  text can either be: 

• Open - This type of media text has no definite conclusion, allowing those who have consumed it to think and draw their own conclusions from what they have seen. There are numerous 'threads' for the audience to pull on throughout the text.
• Closed - This type of media text only has one obvious conclusion, with there being only one 'thread to pull' when trying to figure out what happened at the end of the media text. Most Hollywood are closed texts.
• Polysemic - This type of media text can give different meanings and ideas to different people. The meanings and ideas they form really depend on how they personally have consumed the text.

Barthes often spoke about these 'threads' as being narrative codes, the most important code being the enigma code, a narrative device that teases the audience by presenting a puzzle or riddle to be solved. This is where most of the different meanings can occur from, and different audiences can interpret text in different ways.

Syd Field, an American screenwriting guru, believed that all films followed a three act structure. 

The three acts being: 

1. Setup - In this structure, the film must be set-up within the first twenty to thirty minutes before the main character or protagonist experiences a 'plot point' that gives him or here that must be achieved.
2. Approximately half the movie's running time must be taken up with the character's struggle to achieve his or her goal: known as the 'Confrontation' period. He refers, sometimes, to the Midpoint, a more subtle turning point in Act 2. 
3. The Climax - The final quarter of the film, depicts a climactic struggle by the protagonist to finally achieve (or not achieve) his or her goal and the aftermath of this struggle.

Claude Levi-Strauss, a French anthropologist and ethnologist, argued that a structure of narratives was a dependence on binary oppositions - a conflict between two qualities or terms which in this case the dominant and subordinate, for example that constructions of gender roles in narrative lead to a series of binary oppositions.

Dominant Groups

• Male
• White
• Middle Class
• Middle Aged
• Heterosexual
• Able-bodied 

Subordinate Groups

• Female
• Other ethnic groups
• Working Class
• The Young and Old
• Homosexual, Bisexual
• Disabled