NARRATIVE THEORY

What does narrative mean?​

• The way that stories are told, how meaning is constructed to achieve the understanding of the audience.
• Groups events into cause and effect - action and inaction.
• Organises time and space in a very compressed form.
• The voice of narrative can vary; whose story is being told and from whose perspective?
• In a film, narrative is constructed through elements like cinematography, sound, mise-en-scene and editing.

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Lev Kuleshov
Lev Kuleshov in the 1920’s advised that when we watch a film or programme we try to create meaning and connect events to see a line of cause and effect. Even if there is no connection between people or events we try to make one to make sense of what we are watching. If films are not shown chronologically we try to order the events in our minds and quickly link flashbacks to the present.

Tzvetan Todorov
Todorov proposed a basic structure for all narratives. He stated that films and programmes begin with an equilibrium, a calm period. Then agents of disruption cause disequilibrium, a period of unsettlement and disquiet. This is then followed by a renewed state of peace and harmony for the protagonists and a new equilibrium brings the chaos to an end.

The theory is simply this:

• The fictional environment begins with a state of equilibrium (everything is as it should be)
• It then suffers some disruption (disequilibrium)
• New equilibrium is produced at the end of the narrative
   
  There are five stages the narrative can progress through:

1. A state of equilibrium (all is as it should be)
2. A disruption of that order by an event
3. A recognition that the disorder has occurred
4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption
5. 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.
E.g.      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
​Vladimir Propp’s theory was formed in the early twentieth Century. He studies Russian fairytales and discovered that in stories there were always 8 types of characters evident. These are: the hero, the villain, the donor, the dispatcher, the false hero, the helper, the princess and her father. He did not state these characters were all separate people e.g. the provider could also be the helper. However, this is easily relatable to films and programmes today.

Film as Fairy Tale
Vladimir Propp, a Russian critic, active in the 1920’s, published his Morphology of the Folk Tale in 1928. While the Soviet cinema was producing excellent films, Propp was essentially interested in the narrative of folk tales. He noticed
Folk tales were similar in many areas. They were about the same basic struggles and they appeared to have stock characters. He identified a theory about characters and actions as narrative functions.
Characters, according to Propp, have a narrative function; they provide a structure for the text.

Characters that perform a function

• The Hero – a character that seeks something
• The Villain – who opposes or actively blocks the hero’s quest
• The Donor – who provides an object with magical properties
• The Dispatcher – who sends the hero on his/her quest via a message
• The False Hero – who disrupts the hero’s success by making false claims
• The Helper – who aids the hero
• The Princess – acts as the reward for the hero and the object of the villain’s plots
• Her Father – who acts to reward the hero for his effort 

CRITICISMS
Propp’s theory of narrative seems to be based in a male orientated environment (due to his theory actually reflecting early folk tales) and as such critics often dismiss the theory with regard to film. However, it may still be applied because the function (rather than the gender) of characters is the basis of the theory. E.g. the hero could be a woman; the reward could be a man.
Critics argue that Propp’s strict order of characters and events is restrictive. We should rather apply the functions and events randomly as we meet new narratives. E.g. the hero may kill the villain earlier than Propp expects. Changing the traditional format will change the whole way the text is received.
Some critics claim there are many more character types than Propp suggests and we should feel free to identify them. E.g. the stooge in a sci-fi film, who is usually nameless and usually killed early on to suggest the power of the alien force, is a typical modern character type.
 It applies to Fairy Stories and to other similar narratives based around 'quests' IT DOES NOTAPPLY TO ALL NARRATIVES.

WHY THE THEORY IS USEFUL
It avoids treating characters as if they are individuals and reminds us they are merely constructs. Some characters are indeed there just to progress the narrative. 

Claude Levi-Strauss
​He stated that there need to be a binary opposition within a film or programme. This is usually presented through good vs. evil. Other binary oppositions include:

• Peace versus war
• Man versus nature
• Humanity versus technology
• Democracy versus dictatorship
• Civilised versus savage

Binary oppositions in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ (Dir. Peter Jackson)

• Peace vs. War
• Good vs. Evil
• Hope vs. Fear
• Compassion vs. Indifference
• Bravery vs. Cowardice
• Nature vs. Machinery

Joseph Campbell
In this book, Campbell studies many hundreds of fairy tales, folk tales and legends in order to unearth a common “pattern” in the structure of stories. Campbell defines this as the “monomyth” – the typical trajectory of a story, across all cultures and religions. This monomyth is known as the “hero’s journey”.
Comprising three stages – separation, initiation and return – the hero’s journey offers a narrative framework for understanding the progression of a character, namely the protagonist. The journey, Campbell argues, usually includes a symbolic death and re-birth of the character. The religious idea of “cleansing” is also important, giving a sense of the character transforming from old to new – the character arc.