G325 1b narrative

1. Barthes
 Narrative consists of syntactic elements
presented to the audience through semantic
elements
 In other words, narrative is something made
up of themes, characters, situations, etc.,
which are communicated through camera
angles, transitions, sound codes, etc.
 This is a good starting point to analyse either
your thriller or your music video.

2. Bordwell and Thompson
 Narrative is defined as “a chain of events in a
cause-effect relationship occurring in time”
(Bordwell & Thompson).
Narrative Story
all events referenced both explicitly in a narrative and inferred (including backstory
as well as those projected beyond the action) Narrative Plot
the events directly
incorporated into the
action of the text and
the order in which
they are presented

3. Put these events in order
 Detective investigates
 Crime conceived
 Crime discovered
 Detective receives their training
 Detective identifies criminals
 Crime committed
 Crime planned
 Criminal has a rough childhood

4. The story is…
 a) Criminal has a rough childhood
 b) Detective receives their training
 c) Crime conceived
 d) Crime planned
 e) Crime committed
 f) Crime discovered
 g) Detective investigates
 h) Detective identifies criminals
 Could the events be arranged in a different sequence to
make the narrative more interesting?
 Which events are story events rather than plot events, and
might be referred to implicitly rather then seen explicitly?

5. The plot could be…
 d) Crime discovered
 e) Detective investigates
 f) Detective identifies criminals
 a) Crime is conceived
 b) Crime is planned
 c) Crime is committed

6. Narrative
 Read the following slides on your own.
 Note down key points about the following
theorists:
 Branigan
 Propp
 Barthes
 Todorov
 Levi-Strauss
 Goodwin/Vernallis
 How useful do you think their perspectives
are? Do any of the them disagree with one
another?

7. Edward Branigan
 Branigan argues that 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.’
 What is Branigan saying? Can you think of an
example?
 Branigan’s key point is that the narrative will
embody a judgement – ideology and narrative.

8. Vladimir Propp
 Propp suggests that there are a limited
number of character types that share a
function.
 When an audience reads a media text it
deploys its knowledge of these character
types in order to decode the meaning of the
text.
 Can you relate any of the character types to
the characters in your coursework products?

9. Tzvetan Todorov
 Equilibrium – disequilibrium – resolution.
 How might this be used to analyse the
ideology of a media text?

10. Roland Barthes
 Barthes identifies 5 narrative codes which readers
use to decode texts.
 He emphasises the active role of readers in
creating meaning, and their ‘culturally formed
expectations’.
 The narrative codes are:
 Action
 Enigma
 Semic
 Symbolic
 Cultural

11. Barthes – Narrative Codes
 Action – Viewers are expected to connect
different pieces of narrative (e.g. The boy is
shown arguing on his phone – viewer assumes it
is with his girlfriend).
 Enigma – Will the jock and the geek get together?
 Semic – glasses, book, notepads, red car,
uniforms, white dress/red dress
 Symbolic – conflicts between male/female,
popular/unpopular, different types of femininity
 Cultural – the video draws on stereotypes/cliches
of teen movies – jock, cheerleader, geek, girl next
door, prom, etc.

12. Claude Levi-Strauss
 Narratives are structured by pairs of binary
oppositions.
 How can this be used to analyse media texts?

13. Levi-strauss – binary
oppositions
 The video involves a number of pairs of
opposites reflecting (and resolving) the
narrative conflicts.
 There are different sets of oppositions
between the jock/the geek, and the
cheerleader/the geek.
 These oppositions identify the central
ideological messages of the video.

14.  Male
 Sociable
 Popular
 Sport
 Object
 Female
 Studious
 Unpopular
 Reading
 Subject
Jock Nerd

15. Levi-Strauss
 What are the key conflicts?
 Which values are dominant in the pairs?
 How are the conflicts resolved?
 What messages are conveyed through this
narrative?

16. Postmodern Narratives
 Some theorists suggest that postmodern narratives are
different from previous narrative structures.
 Characteristics of postmodern narratives include:
 Irony, playfulness, and black humour
 Intertextuality
 Pastiche
 Metanarratives
 Extreme self-reflexivity
 Temporal distortion
 Hyperreality
 Linda Hutcheon argues that postmodern narratives can critique
contemporary society by calling attention to the constructed nature
of the society.

17. Postmodern approach -
Pastiche
 Frederic Jameson argues that postmodern texts
are characterised by pastiche.
 A pastiche is an imitation of another genre or text.
 Jameson argues that "Pastiche is...the imitation of
a peculiar or unique, idiosyncratic style, the
wearing of a linguistic mask, speech in a dead
language.”
 Linda Hutcheon disagrees with this view arguing
that postmodern texts use pastiche in a knowing
way acknowledging the constructed nature of
representation.
 Does the cliched nature of the video act as a
critique of the values it promotes?

18. Goodwin and Vernallis
 You know these well, this year. They only apply if you
choose to refer to your music video in this question.
 Goodwin covers narrative when writing how the music
and/or lyrics match the visuals (i.e. the lyrics are the
syntactic elements and the visuals are the semantic).
His notion of the role of intertextuality in the music video
form links to postmodern narrative.
 Vernallis talks explicitly about narrative in music video.
Her notion of diegesis also links to Bordwell and
Thompson’s narrative theory – ‘the world of the music
video’ will surely include plot elements and implied story
elements. As you know, she walks about the editing
presenting the narrative in a non-linear fashion.

19. Narrative ideology: Todorov
 Equilibrium – the geeky girl is in love with
the boy next door who only sees her as a
friend.
 Disequilibrium – the boy’s girlfriend cheats
on him?
 Resolution – the geeky girl is transformed
into a beautiful girl and gets together with
the boy.
 What sort of values are reinforced by this

20. Narrative ideology: Propp –
character types
 Hero – character who seeks something – Taylor
Swift
 Villain – character who the hero must overcome
– the girlfriend
 Princess – the boy – he is the reward for the
hero.
 What effect does the use of these character
types have?
 Why might the hero and villain be female?
 What values are reinforced by this?

21. Applying Narrative Theory
 In pairs analyse one of your AS or A2
coursework products using narrative theories.
 Work through either theoretical approach and
consider how useful you find them.