1. Narrative Theory
Brannigan – Everystory/narrative willembodyajudgementthroughabeginning,middle andanend.
Propp – There are a limitednumberof charactertypesthatshare a function,8keycharacters:
1. The villain
2. The hero,or character whoseekssomething
3. The donor,whoprovidesanobjectwithsome magicproperty.
4. The helper,whoaidsthe hero.
5. The princess,rewardforthe hero,andobjectof the villain’sschemes(canbe male)
6. Her father,whorewardsthe hero.
7. The dispatcher,whosendsthe heroonhisway.
8. The false hero,the characterwhoalso laysclaimto the princessbutisunsuitable andcauses
complications.
Todorov – Came up withstorytimeline.
Barthes – There are 5 codesto see ineverynarrative:
Actioncode whichreferstothe eventstakingplace throughactione.g.a fightor a chase
Referential code whichreferstothe informationandexplanation
Semanticcode whichreferstothe characters andcharacterisation
Enigmacode whichis a narrative device thatteasesthe audience bypresentingapuzzle or
riddle tobe solved.Workstodelaythe story’sendingpleasurably.
Symboliccode whichreferstothe connotationsof signs
Levis-Strauss– Alwaysbinaryoppositesinnarrative.
2. Cameron – Modern narrative conventions:
Anachronic:
Modifiedflashbacks/flashforwards
No cleardominance betweennarrativethreads
Forking-Path
Alternativeversionsof the story
Outcomesthatmightresultfromslightchanges
Episodic
Collectionof storiesjoinedbyacommontheme
SplitScreen
Spatial ratherthan temporal lines
