Narrative are organised around a particular theme and space
Narratives are usually LINEAR and SEQUENTIAL
This means that they normally have a beginning, middle and end.
1. Tztevan Todorov (Tripartite narrative structure):
A really good way to think about NARRATIVE STRUCTURE is to recognise that most stories can be easily broken down into a BEGINNING / MIDDLE / END. The Bulgarian structuralist theorist Tztevan Todorov presents this idea as:
- Equilibrium
- Disruption
- New equilibrium
2. Vladimir Propp (Character Types and Function)
Vladimir Propp is a good starting point for thinking about narrative structures, as his work (based around an analysis of fairy tales) suggests that stories use STOCK CHARACTERS to structure stories.
You do not need to recognise all of these characters, but it is a good way to understand the way in which CHARACTERS FUNCTION TO PROVIDE NARRATIVE STRUCTURE:
- Hero
- Helper
- Princess
- Villain
- Victim
- Dispatcher
- Father
- False Hero
3. Claude Levi-Strauss (Binary Oppositions)
Levi-Strauss examined the nature of myths and legends in ancient and primitive cultures, from this analysis he suggested that myths were used to deal with the contradictions in experience, to explain the apparently inexplicable, and to justify the inevitable
4. Seymour Chatman: Satellites & Kernels
- Kernels: key moments in the plot / narrative structure
- Satellites: embellishments, developments, aesthetics
This theory allows students to break down a narrative into 2 distinct elements. Those elements which are absolutely essential to the story / plot / narrative development, which are known as KERNELS and those moments that could be removed and the overall logic would not be disturbed, known as SATELLITES.
5. Roland Barthes: Proairetic and Hermenuetic Codes
- Proairetic code: action, movement, causation
- Hermenuetic code: reflection, dialogue, character or thematic development
Although the words proairetic and hermenuetic may seem very complex, it is easy for students to grasp in that moving image products are either based around ‘doing’ / ‘action’ or ‘talking’ / ‘reflection’. Look at this sequence from Buster Scruggs (Dir J Coen E Coen 2018), which is basically divided into ‘some talking’ (hermenuetic codes) which leads into ‘some doing’!