Narrative Theories

Theorist	Theory
Vladimir Propp	Possible to classify characters into clearly defined roles and functions Propp’s Character Roles: -          The Hero -          The Villain -          The Donor -          The Dispatcher -          The False Hero -          The Helper -          The Princess
Tzvetan Todorov	Suggests most narratives start with a state of equilibrium in which life is ‘normal’ and protagonists happy. This state of normality is disrupted by an outside force, which has to be fought against in order to return to a state of equilibrium. This model can easily be applied to a wide range of films.
Roland Barthes	•         Suggested that narrative works with five different codes which activate the reader to make sense of it. •         DENOTATION and CONNOTATION used to analyse images.
Claude Levi-Strauss	•         Examined how stories unconsciously reflect the values, beliefs and myths of a culture. •         These are usually expressed in the form of binary oppositions. •         His research has been adapted by media theorists to reveal underlying themes and symbolic oppositions in media texts.