2. TzvetanTodorov Theory: Todorov was a structuralist/philosopher, he did a lot of work on narrative since the 1960s. His theory was that all stories begin with a Equilibrium and end with a Reordered Equilibrium as in the middle of all stories there is a Disruption of Equilibrium. An example of Todorov's theory would be the film rush hour as the main actor is about to get a promotion and then the ambassador's daughter gets kidnapped so his promotion is postponed until they retrieve the girl which they do at the end. Equilibrium = Main actors about to get a promotion Disruption of Equilibrium = Ambassador's daughter gets kidnapped Reordered Equilibrium = They retrieve the girl and actor is promoted
3. VladunurPropp Theory: Propp is a russain critic and folklorist who examined many folk tales in the 1920s to see whether they had the same structures. He argued that it is possible to group characters in 8 roles. 1. Villain 2. Hero, or character who seeks something 3. Donor, who provides an object with a magical quality 4. Helper, who aids the hero 5. Princess, reward for the hero and often an object for the villain's schemes. 6. Her father, who rewards the hero 7. Dispatcher, who sends the hero on his way 8. False hero
4. Chris Vogler Theory: Vogler, who is a story analyst for various hollywood film companies believed there are 12 stages of a hero's journey. 1. Ordinary world 2. Call to adventure 3. Refusal of the call 4. Meeting with the mentor 5. Crossing the first threshold 6. Tests, allies, enemies 7. Approach to the inmost cave 8. Supreme ordeal 9. Reward 10. The road back 11. Resurrection 12. Return with the elixir
5. Claude Levi-Strauss Theory: Levi-Strauss studied hundreds of myths and legends and he realised that every myth and legend that he has studied all have binary oppositions which are sets of opposite values, for example good vs. evil or boy vs. girl etc... He analysed that all stories are organised around conflict between binary oppositions.
6. Roland Barthes Theory: Barthes is a theorist, philosopher and semiotician, he suggested that all narratives work with 5 different codes. 1. The Enigma Code, this is when the auidence are left with a question mark because the story is not fully explained so it is like a mystery to the audience. 2. The Action Code, this code builds tension for example if there was a chase scene and no-one knew why he was running this would be an action code, the enigma and action code work as a pair. 3. The Semantic Code, this code refers to connotations witihin the texts. 4. The Symbolic Code, which is similar to the semantic code except this looks deeper into meanings of dennotations and connotations. 5. The Cultural Code, this code refers to science, religion, magical truths etc... this code tends to point out the way the world works.
