Narrative Theories

Approaches To Narrative Theory from aelialicinia

This is a slideshow that I found from SlideSare.net which demonstrates the main narrative theories of Propp, Aristotle, Todorov, Levi-Strauss, Campbell and Vogler. This made understanding the theories easier as some are quite in depth. 

Vladimir Propp’s narrative theory is the main narrative theory. His theory involved breaking folk tales down into their most simple and narrative forms. He analysed 100 folk tales and discovered that all of the main characters could be categorised in to 8 types of different characters. Although, Propp stated that one character does not belong to just one character may fall into more than one of the characteristics. For example, the villain could also be the father.

1. The Villain - Struggles against the hero.

2. The Dispatcher - Character who informs the hero on lack and sends him on his quest.

3. The (magical) Helper - Helps hero during quest.

4. The Princess/Prize - Hero deserves to marry her, but cannot throughout the film because of the villain, often the quest is ended with the Hero and the Princess getting married.

5. Her Father - Gives Hero task and identifies False Hero, Propp noted that the Princess and the Father cannot be clearly distinguished.

6. The Donor - Prepares the Hero

7. The Hero or Victim/ Seeker Hero - Reacts to the donor and gets married to the Princess

8. False Hero - In order to marry the Princess, he takes credit for the Heroes actions to impress her.

We don't follow this concept in our film as the story is between two characters so we cannot incoperate the characters of a villain or a false hero. This will make our film stand out from others because it is an usual narrative. Furthermore, our story isn't told in a liner narrative as we cut to scenes in the future and in the past which also makes it differ from typical short films. 

However, a story that does have all the elements of Vladimir Propp's theory is the well-known and extremely popular fairy tale- 'Shrek'

Character Type	Definition	Example
The Hero	The narrative is told by the hero. He or she is looking for something- on a quest or solving a mystery. The audience want the hero to succeed.	Shrek
The Villain	They struggle against the hero. They are morally bad. Highlights the ‘goodness’ of the hero.	Lord Farquaad
The Donor	Gives the hero something- a clue, power, weapon or wisdom. This gift enables the hero to complete their quest.	Dragon
The Helper	Supports the hero throughout the film. Especially in critical moments. May have limitations that highlight the hero.	Donkey
The Princess/Prize	Sought after by the hero. Usually the reward. Either rarely seen in the film or could be an important character.	Princess Fiona
The Princess’ Father	Gives the task to the hero. Key figure for the hero to persuade- father is protective. In competition with the hero for the Princess’ affection.	The King
The Dispatcher	Send s the hero on their mission. Gives the hero a quest to be completed before the hero can claim their award.	Lord Farquaad
The False Hero	Appears to be the hero, may be mistaken for the real hero. Tries to steal the real hero’s award and take the credit.	Prince Charming

Because our film doesn't follow Propp's narrative theory, it makes our film differ from the stereotypical romantic genre as generally most romantic films follow this theory such as Shrek. Other romantic films that follow this narrative are: A cinderalla story and Romeo and Juliet. However, these are also very popular films and