Narrative theory in Film Studies

1. Narrative Theory
Film Studies

2. Narrative:
The way in which a story is
organised in both fictional and
non-fictional media texts.

3. Vladimir Propp
- Russian critic and literary theorist.
- Analysed over 100 Russian fairytales in the 1920s.
- He proposed that it was possible to classify the
characters and their actions into clearly defined roles
and functions.
- Films such as Star Wars fit Propp’s model precisely,
but a a significant number of more recent films such
as Pulp Fiction do not.
- The model is useful, however as it highlights the
similarities between seemingly quite different stories.

4. Propp’s Character Roles
 The hero (seeks something)
 The villain (opposes the hero)
 The donor (helps the hero by providing a magic
object)
 The dispatcher (sends the hero on his way)
 The false hero (falsely assuming the role of hero)
 The helper (gives support to the hero)
 The princess (the reward for the hero, but also needs
protection from the villain)
 Her father

5. Tzvetan Todorov
 Bulgarian literary theorist
 Suggests most narratives start with a state of
equilibrium in which life is ‘normal’ and
protagonists happy.
 This state of normality is disrupted by an
outside force, which has to be fought against
in order to return to a state of equilibrium.
 This model can easily be applied to a wide
range of films.

6. Equilibrium Disequilibrium New Equilibrium

7. Roland Barthes
 French semiologist.
 Suggested that narrative works with
five different codes which activate
the reader to make sense of it.
(also used the terms denotation and
connotation to analyse images)

8. Barthes’ Codes
 Action – a narrative device by which a resolution is
produced through action, e.g. a shoot-out. The
audience expect the resolution and are in a state of
suspense
 Enigma – a narrative device that teases the audience
by presenting a puzzle or riddle to be solved. Works
to delay the story’s ending pleasurably, by creating a
sense of mystery
 Symbolic – (connotation)
 Semic – (denotation)
 Cultural – a narrative device which the audience can
recognise as being part of a culture e.g. a “made
man” in a gangster film is part of the mafia culture.

9. Claude Levi-Strauss
 Social Anthropologist.
 Studied myths of tribal cultures.
 Examined how stories unconsciously reflect
the values, beliefs and myths of a culture.
 These are usually expressed in the form of
binary oppositions.
 His research has been adapted by film
theorists to reveal underlying themes and
symbolic oppositions in media texts.

10. Binary Oppositions
 A conflict between two qualities or terms.
 For example 1970’s Western films:
Homesteaders Native Americans
christian pagan
domestic savage
weak strong
garden wilderness
inside society outside society

11. Task:
 Apply the key narrative theorists to the
ending of ‘Indiana Jones and the Last
Crusade’.
Propp Todorov
Barthes Levi-Strauss