Narrative Theory

4 narrative theorists/theories worth knowing about: Levi-Strauss, Barthes, Todorov, Propp

Claude Levi-Strauss’s Oppositions:
Levi-Strauss (pronounced Lev-ee, and no relation to the Jeans guy), introduced the notion of
binary oppositions as a useful way to consider the production of meaning within narratives.
He argued that all construction of meaning was dependent, to some degree, on these
oppositions. He worked out that elements in a story were paired; for every element in a story identified with one meaning, there was another element which is not that meaning. More specifically, that meaning must be the opposite.

Examples of binary oppositions found in some moving image narratives might be:
good v evil
hero v villain
rich v poor
fear v happiness
male v female
humanity v technology
nature v industrialisation
East v West
dark v light
dirt v cleanliness

You can see binary opposites in individual films and in film genres. Westerns, for example, went through a period in which binary oppositions included Homesteader vs ‘Red Indians’, Christian vs pagan, sheriff v outlaw, wilderness v cultivation and so on.

Roland Barthes action/enigma codes:
Roland Barthes was a semiotics professor in the 1950s and 1960s who got paid to spend all day unravelling little bits of texts and then writing about the process of doing so. Barthes decided that films are made up of narrative codes and in particular

• Action code & enigma code (Answers & questions)

It is helpful to think about Barthes action and enigma codes, as a) they are the two ways Barthes says suspense is created in narrative and b) they’re great to drop into your textual analyses!

The Enigma code refers to those plot elements that raise questions on the part of the reader of a text or the viewer of a film. For example, in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, “Cause and Effect,” we see the Enterprise destroyed in the first five minutes, which leads us to ask the reason for such a traumatic event.

The action code, on the other hand, refers to mere actions – those plot events that simply lead to yet other actions. For example, a gunslinger draws his gun on an adversary and we wonder what the resolution of this action will be. We wait to see if he kills his opponent or is wounded himself. Suspense is thus created by action rather than by a reader’s or a viewer’s wish to have mysteries explained.

Tzvetan Todorov’s narrative structure:
Todorov is a Bulgarian philosopher now living in France. His theory is a relatively simple one
and relates to the way fictional narratives are structured. It goes something like this:

1. The fictional environment begins with a state of equilibrium (everything is as it should be)
2. It then suffers some disruption (disequilibrium)
3. New equilibrium is produced at the end of the narrative

There are five stages the narrative can progress through:
• A state of equilibrium (all is as it should be)
• A disruption of that order by an event
• A recognition that the disorder has occurred
• An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption
• A return or restoration of a NEW equilibrium

Here narrative is not seen as a linear structure but a circular one. The narrative is driven by
attempts to restore the equilibrium. However, the equilibrium attained at the end of the story
is not identical to the initial equilibrium.

Todorov argues that narrative involves a transformation. The characters or the situations are
transformed through the progress of the disruption. The disruption itself usually takes place
outside the normal social framework, outside the ‘normal’ social events.

For example:
• A murder happens and people are terrified
• Someone vanishes and the characters have to solve the mystery

So, remember:
• Narratives don’t need to be linear.
• The progression from initial equilibrium to restoration always involves a transformation.
• The middle period of a narrative can depict actions that transgress everyday habits and
routines.
• There can be many disruptions whilst seeking a new equilibrium (horror relies on this
technique).

Vladimir Propp‘s Folk tales/ character types:
Vladimir Propp was a Russian academic who He identified eight character roles common to every folk or fairy tale. They were:
1. The villain
2. The hero, or character who seeks something, usually motivated by a lack of something (money, love etc.) The hero doesn’t have to be heroic in the way most people would understand it – heroes can be male or female, brave or cowardly.
3. The donor, who provides an object with some magic property.
4. The helper, who aids the hero
5. The princess, reward for the hero, and object of the villain’s schemes. Again, this is not necessarily a beautiful damsel in distress – the princess can be male!
6. Her father, who rewards the hero.
7. The dispatcher, who sends the hero on his way
8. The false hero.

Propp’s theories become particularly interesting when film-makers break the rules. Audiences may not be particularly conscious of these spheres of action, but they notice when media producers mess around with them. For example, the character we perceive as the hero in Psycho is killed half an hour into the film.

btw - it's all very well knowing about this, but the question is: in what way is it useful to you and what can you do with it??