2. JOHN FISKE
‘story is the irreducible substance of a story, while
narrative is the way the story is related’
• Story is what happens
• Narrative is the way is the story is told
3. VLADIMIR PROPP
noticed that characters that perform a function in the 1920’s,
identifying a theory about characters and actions as narrative
functions
• The hero/heroin
• The villain
• The donor
• The dispatcher
• The false hero
• The helper
• The princess/prince
• Her father
4. ROLAND BARTHES
Barthes was a media theorist. He believed in negotiated meanings,
arguing that viewers produce ‘new meanings’ that are influenced by their
cultural context. Also suggested that threads that you pull on attempting
to unravel the meaning. He also came up with the ideas of the enigma
codes, these are hooks or elements of mystery in narrative that need to
be resolved, the audience recognises these hooks even if they don’t
know what the resolution is.
•
The main narrative codes;
•
Mystery Code or Enigma Code
•
The Semic Code
•
The Cultural Code
•
Code of Opposition
5. The main narrative codes;
Mystery Code or Enigma Code
•
To explain the narrative by controlling what and how much information is given to
the audience.
The Semic Code
•
This code is all about signs and meanings in a text and tells us about its narrative
and characters. E.g. horror film = dark place
The Cultural Code
•
Used in order for the narrative to make sense to a culturally and socially aware
audience. It makes references from the real world that audiences will recognise
Code of Opposition
•
This code refers to a narrative that relies on binary opposites e.g. black and
white, hot or cold, male or female etc.
Action Codes
•Audience will recognise an action code in a media text as it is used to indicate the
next logical step
•E.g. someone packing a bag frantically, means that they will be leaving wherever
they are
•E.g. someone starting up a car engine, means they are trying to get away
