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Narrative Theories

Todorov (1939-present, Bulgaria-France)

Tzvetan Todorov is a Bulgarian sociologist and historian, who argues that narratives should begin in a state of equilibrium, with any opposing forces in balance, e.g. the antagonist is not powerful. The equilibrium is then disturbed by an event, e.g. the antagonist obtains power, and a chain reaction is initiated. 

 

He divided his envisaged narrative structure into five stages:

 

  1. Equilibrium – the beginning.

  2. Disequilibrium – an event which disrupts the balance of opposing forces.

  3. Recognition – a character realises the unbalanced forces.

  4. Attempt to repair – the protagonist comes into conflict with the antagonist.

  5. Re-equilibrium – the protagonist is triumphant.  

 

In our own production, we will need to consider a pre-established equilibrium, before a significant event occurs. Interpreting Todorov's "any opposing forces are balanced" statement as implying that the event – stage two – will establish the antagonist's power, and therefore threat, would provide some boundaries to our idea, which could support its development. 

Propp (1895-1970, Russia)

Vladimir Propp was a Soviet scholar, who examined one hundred traditional Russian fairytales, and produced a set of conventional concatenations. Although his theories are often criticised for being too formalist, they can be useful when analysing texts at a simplistic level.

 

The first of these concatenations describes the development of the generic narrative in a syntagmatic way, with thirty-one stages. These stages are fairly irrelevant to our production, but can be found here:

 

http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~timmoore/propp.html 

 

On the other hand, Propp also synchronically described all of the characters with seven broad roles, which are more relevant to our production, as they offer some guidance on character roles, albeit rather rudimentary: 

 

  1. The hero, who comes into conflict with the villain, and inevitably marries the princess.

  2. The villain, who comes into conflict with the hero.

  3. The false hero, who attempts to take credit for the hero's actions, or to marry the princess.

  4. The dispatcher, who makes the "lack" – a missing desirable object – known, and sends the hero on a quest. 

  5. The donor, who prepares the hero for the quest, often by giving the hero a magical object. 

  6. The helper, who helps the hero to complete the their quest. 

  7. The princess, which can be a literal princess, or other "prize"; a desirable object, such as money. 

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