2. A narrative is some kind of retelling, often in
words (though it is possible to mime a story), of
something that happened (a story). The
narrative is not the story itself but rather the
telling of the story - which is why it is so often
used in phrases such as "written narrative," "oral
narrative," etc. While a story just is a sequence of
events, a narrative recounts those events,
perhaps leaving some occurrences out because
they are from some perspective insignificant,
and perhaps emphasizing others. In a series of
events, a car crash takes a split second. A
narrative account, however, might be almost
entirely about the crash itself and the few
seconds leading up to it. Narratives thus shape
history.
3. Barthes´ Codes
"a galaxy of signifiers, not a structure of
signifieds; it has no beginning; it is reversible;
we gain access to it by several
entrances, none of which can be
authoritatively declared to be the main
one; the codes it mobilizes extend as far as
the eye can read, they are
indeterminable...the systems of meaning
can take over this absolutely plural text, but
their number is never closed, based as it is
on the infinity of language..." (S/Z - 1974
4. Essentially, Barthes is saying is that a text is like a
tangled ball of threads which needs unraveling so
we can separate out the colours. Once we start to
unravel a text, we encounter an absolute plurality
of potential meanings. We can start by looking at
a narrative in one way, from one viewpoint,
bringing to bear one set of previous experience,
and create one meaning for that text. You can
continue by unraveling the narrative from a
different angle, by pulling a different thread if you
like, and create an entirely different meaning. And
so on. An infinite number of times.
Texts may be ´open´ (i.e.
unravelled in a lot of different ways)
or ´closed´ (there is only one
obvious thread to pull on).
5. Aristotle
The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, had a
primitive idea on narrative. He observed
that all narratives had:
A beginning
A Middle
And an end.
6. Todorov
Todorov suggested that each
narrative passed 5 stages:
Equilibrium – State of normality
Disruption of equilibrium – a
character or an action causes
an effect which disturbs the
7. The main protagonist recognises that the
equilibrium has been disrupted.
Restoration of equilibrium – The
protagonist attempts to restore
equilibrium
New equilibrium – Equilibrium is
restored, but transformations & changes
(good, bad, or neutral) have occurred
from the original equilibrium.
8. Propp
Vladimir Propp studied Russian folk &
fairytales, and drew the conclusion
that all narratives ham a common
structure.
He observed that narratives are
shaped and directed by certain types
of characters, and different type of
actions.
He believed that there are 8 type of
characters in all narratives, and 31
9. Propps 8 character types
1. The hero (seeks something)
2. The villain (opposes the hero)
3. The donor (helps the hero by providing a magic
object)
4. The dispatcher (sends the hero on his way)
5. The false hero (falsely assuming the role of hero)
6. The helper (gives support to the hero)
7. The princess (the reward for the hero but also needs
to be protected from the villain
8. Her father
10. Levi-Strauss
After studying hundreds of myths &
legends, Levi-Strauss observed that we
make sense of the world, people and
events by seeing and using binary
opposites everywhere.
He observed that all narratives are
organised around the conflict between
such binary opposites.
11. Examples of binary oppositions
Good and evil
Old and young
Black and white
Masculine and feminine
Wealthy and poor
Heterosexual and homosexual
