Narrative
Do we need a theory?

Story vs. Narrative
• Story = what happens
• Plot = the part of the story we actually see/
hear/read
• Narration = how it’s told

A definition
• A narrative is a way of organising spatial and
temporal data into a cause-effect chain of events
with a beginning, a middle and end that
embodies a judgement about the nature of
events.
–Edward Brannigan (1992)

Myths and Archetypes
• Many theories of narrative start with the idea
that all narratives have common features.
• For example: hero, villain, helper, princess (or
reward)
• All of these words come loaded with
expectations and connotations.

Joseph Campbell
• Campbell’s theory of narrative has found
some currency in the modern hollywood
blockbuster.
• It’s often called The Hero’s Journey

Hero’s Journey
• Like the standard Hollywood film, The Hero’s
Journey has three acts:
• Departure
• Initiation
• Return

Departure
• The Call to Adventure - everything is about to change
• Refusal of the Call - at first, the hero is reluctant
• Supernatural Aid - the Guide or Helper appears
• The crossing of the first threshold - into the unknown
• The belly of the whale - a symbolic death or low point,
completely cut off from his old way of life

Initiation
• The Road of Trials - a series of tests or ordeals
• Meeting with the Goddess - an all-powerful, unconditional
love, or union of opposites
• Woman as Temptress - the hero is tempted by a weakness to
stray from his journey
• Atonement with the Father - a confrontation with an
ultimate power
• Apotheosis - the hero reaches a higher state of being
• The Ultimate Boon - the achievement of the quest - but what
now?

Return
• Refusal - who needs normal life?
• Magic Flight - sometimes the hero has to flee with the boon/gift
• Rescue from Without - the hero has a Guide/Helper who gets
him back to everyday life
• Crossing the Return Threshold - reconciling his new being
with the person he used to be
• Master of the Two Worlds - achieving a balance
• Freedom to Live - mastering the fear of commitment/depth

Useful?
• Is it useful to break down narratives into
constituent parts in this way?
• Can you identify any problems with the
Campbell model?
• Can you think of a film it fits well – and one it
doesn’t fit at all?

Todorov
• Tzvetan Todorov argued that all stories followed
the following basic structure:
• Equilibrium (opposing forces in balance)
• Disruption by an event (followed by a chain of events)
• Resolution with a new equilibrium

Deceptively Simple
• While Todorov’s theory simply seems like
another way of describing a “beginning,
middle, and end.” it’s actually a lot more
complex.
• As usual, we’re talking about ideology and
power relations.

“Balance”
• If a narration begins with an idea of equilibrium or
balance, whose idea of normal is it?
• If our equilibrium is disrupted by an event, what
exactly is an event?
• Events are slippery. What seems to have come out of
the blue can be re-narrated so that it comes at the
end of a previous narrative, not the beginning of
this one! Events easily lose their eventhood.

Alternative Views
• Events can be arranged in a time-line (a horizontal
ordering of events)
• Or they can be arranged according to the ideas
they contain.
• This means narratives are sometimes examined
in terms of their binary oppositions (good-
evil; inside-outside; feminine-masculine; and so on)

Who knows what?
• In the narration, does the viewer know more than
the narrator?
• Whose is the narrative point of view?
• Does the narrative “cheat” in any way?
• Are events narrated in real-time, or is time
compressed or extended?
• Singular event narrated once, or many times?
• Recurring event narrated once, or more often?

Narratives in Different
Media
• Even a still photo can contain a narrative.
• Each medium has its own strengths and
limitations
• Some narratives are closed (e.g. a film);
others are more open (e.g. long-running
series or soap)

Cropping can change the narration of a photo,
as in this iconic shot of Kim Phuc Phan Thi taken by
Nick Ut in Viet Nam in 1972.

How are stories narrated in
the following media?
• Comic strips / graphic novels
• A 2-hour film
• A long-running TV series (e.g. Buffy, Lost)
• A computer game.