Narrative theories By Mahima Anjum

Vladimir propp Vladimir propp was a literary critic and a scholar. He had studied over 100 folk/fairy tales and claimed that a certain type of character was to be used in every narrative structure. His theory has influenced many filmmakers to writing and producing successful narratives. Propp also suggested that all fairy tales follow a specific narrative structure. Below is a link to propp's 31 functions and 7 character conclusions: Http://www.Mediaknowall.Com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.Php?Pageid=propp

Propp suggested that every narrative has eight different character types, I had used Frozen to display the characteristics. However, some characters had more than one role.

The villain and the false hero: Prince Hans The villain usually is the antagonist (though can be the protagonist), the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters. The villain is someone who struggles with the hero. In frozen the villain is prince Hans. Often the imagery of the villain is old, cranky and simply not appealing however in some cases it can be different and manipulative, as is evident through the image of our villain on the right. The villain in this case is dressed up smart and has a smile, some stories tend to confuse the audience at first to make it seem like not all the villains are the same. However, they always do end up tricking the hero and fighting with them. A false hero is a character that falsely assumes the role of a hero. And this is what Prince Hans does by he when first introduced he acts all innocent only to deceive everyone. And ends up being the villain

The hero: Ana The hero is someone who has the courage or ability to overtake his enemy, they are admired for their brave deeds and noble qualities. Propp had implied that the hero would usually be male but this goes against some modern contemporary media texts where for example Ana is the hero in 'frozen' as she sets off on a quest to find her sister, help her and bring back summer to Arendale. In most cases the hero receives a prize but in this case the prize is getting her sister back.

The donor: Sfen The donor is someone who encourages or helps the hero to eliminate the villain. The character who offers some sort of help to the hero by providing an object that will help the hero in their quest. The donor in frozen would be Sfen as he takes Ana and Christoph to places such as Elsa's palace. And if Sfen had not done so, Ana wouldn't have been able to reach Elsa and help refute against the villain.

The helper: Christoph Christoph is the helper in frozen. As he is the only one who offers Ana support. The helper usually assists the hero physically in order to defeat the villain. Other examples would be exemplified through Snow White and the 7 dwarfs. The 7 dwarfs are the helpers and assist Snow White physically to conquer the evil of the villain.

The heroine and father: Elsa The heroine is the one who can give back what was taken and solve the problem. Elsa is the heroine in this case as she is the only one who can bring back summer to the land. This is also a different take on Propp's typical character roles because most of his thoughts are based on love just being about a romantic relationship but in this case love is seen through a sister bond instead. In the beginning Elsa has the most authority as she is the most mature and eldest in the house, as her parents have died. So when Ana wants to do something she has to take Elsa’s permission first. for example when Ana wanted to marry Prince Hans she had to seek Elsa’s permission first. By having more authority and respect, this shows a father type of role. So in this case Elsa was also the father.

The helper: Olaf Olaf the snowman was the only one who could help Elsa in her time of weakness and gave her full support. A helper is the character who helps the hero fight against evil and finish the quest. In this case Olaf helped Ana get to Elsa causing them to finish the quest. He was also the helper as he teaches and advices her an example of this is when Ana was about to die and she needed heat and as the heat melted the snowman, he told her some people are worth dying for. This showed true love once again and encouraged her that she must go on.

From my personal view, I could see how majority of characters in fairy tales and stories had fit in with Propp's theory. However, the situations did not always match. So I feel that it needs to be slightly changed in order to fit in with modern contemporary media texts or it should be more flexible so that both characters and the situations could somehow fit with his theory.

These 5 patterns consist of: Todorov Todorov born in 1939 was the author of many books. He is a Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, literary critic as well as a sociologist. In 1969 he produced a theory which he believed to be able to be applied to any film. Todorov’s narrative theory basically states that most story's or plot lines follow the same pattern or path. These 5 patterns consist of: The equilibrium Disruption Realisation Restored order Restoration of equilibrium

The equilibrium The beginning of the story will be a happy start where most the characters are happy and have no problems. So in Cinderella, everything is normal and Cinderella is just spending time with her father taking care of the Horse.

A disruption The next scene will then feature a problem which causes most of the characters happiness to come to an end. In this scene, Cinderella’s father has died and now she has nobody but her step family.

Realisation This part of the film is where they realise the problem has left them a big affect and there’s nothing they can do but deal with the problem. As her father has died and her step family dislike her, they start treating her like a slave and make her do ALL the chores.

Restored order This part of the plot is when the characters repair the problem or get help causing them to be saved. In this case the Fairy Godmother has saved Cinderella from having a night of chores and has let her meet the prince.

Equilibrium again This is the last scene where all the problems have come to an end and the innocent characters are all happy. So Cinderella finds her life partner, who loves and cares about her and she lives the rest of her life happily.

When examining Todorov's theory and relating it to most stories and movies you can notice that every story line is exactly the same. The problem becomes saved and there is happiness towards the end. I personally think this is a good way to end stories as it shows not all hope is lost even though the problem or the situation might be saved in a different way.

Levi Strauss His analysis of narrative theories came to the conclusion that all narratives could be reduced down to binary opposites. For example in the form of film it would be: Hero vs Villain Good vs Bad Light vs Dark War vs Peace etc.