finding narrative structures in this film

Explaining the theory;

Seymour Chatman: Satellites & Kernels

• Kernels: key moments in the plot / narrative structure
• Satellites: embellishments, developments, aesthetics

 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. 

Relating it to the film;

kernels in this movie I would say would be his illness of memory loss and the inability to make new memories. or the explanation behind the polards.

Explaining the theory;

 Vladimir Propp (Character Types and Function)

CHARACTERS FUNCTION TO PROVIDE NARRATIVE STRUCTURE:

1. Hero
2. Helper
3. Princess
4. Villain
5. Victim
6. Dispatcher
7. Father 
8. False Hero

Relating it to the film;

John I would say is portrayed as the villain in the story as we are told so far he killed and raped lends wife

Lenard/lenny- I would say gives off the hero/victim character structure as he deals with the loss of his wife and his illness but descides to do something about it and get revenge on the person who hurt him and his wife.

Explaining the theory;

 Roland Barthes: Proairetic and Hermenuetic Codes

• Proairetic code: action, movement, causation
• Hermenuetic code: reflection, dialogue, character or thematic development

Roland Barthes talks about enigma code;the way in which intrigue and ideas are raised- which encourages the audience to want to learn more eg who dun it film, films that give you just enough info but still missing key parts that make the audience want to learn more and figure out.

elision and elipsis are when you cut things out. rarely movie is in real time you have edits

movies can rearrange time

flashbacks and flashforwards

and foreshadowing (showing the end of the film at the start)

and dramatic irony (where the audience knows something the characters dont)

2 story’s happening at the same time- parallel or simultaneous narratives

light and shade to have the movie not be all intense all the time example being having jokes in the middle

non sequitars are parts of narratives that create an enigma but lead no where

Theory about NOW. linked to media digitization. Referential, refers to itself.

Complicated and fragmentary set of inter-relationships. Fragmentary consumption = Fragmentary identities

Preoccupation with visual style.

Key characteristics of postmodernism is the development of fragmented, alienated individuals living in fragmented societies.

• Postmodernism can be understood as a philosophy that is characterised by concepts such as RE-IMAGINING, PASTICHE, PARODY, COPY, BRICOLAGE
• PM allows us to think about what life is like now (Theory about now) Linked to media, digitalisation
• Referential – Refers to and often copies other things in order to understand itself
• Memento is referential
• Memento is complicated but connected together, its fragmentary
• Fragmentary consumption = Fragmentary identities
• Different representations/identities depending on where we are, we weren’t able to present different identities in the past
• A key characteristic of post-modernism is the development of fragmented, alienated individuals living (precariously) in fragmented societies
• Leonard has no real idea on who he is
• Detective story which is predictable and represented in a different way
• New iteration/version of previous expression, nothing new in world but we are just repeating old things in a different way
• Visual ‘treat’ looks good but may not have a meta narrative
• Meta narrative is the big story
• Memento refers to the lack of meta narrative, the film is post modern
• Memento questions memories and what happens if we don’t actually know anything and don’t know what’s true or false
• Post-modern culture is linked to buying things, big companies are prioritised over individuals

How could Memento be classed as a postmodern text?

Look at intertextuality (sampling artistic styles, plot character/conventions from other forms/genres), ‘writerly text’ (Roland Barthes, a text who’s meaning is created through the reader/consumer rather than the producers, no cohesive identity no ‘real you’), no truth in history, fiction/fact depend on each other to a point where they can’t be divided, too many contradictory elements so knowledge may not be the truth

postmodernism – a social philosophical theory of NOW.

postmodern culture is referential. “The pleasure is what’s going to find out what’s happening next”

it’s possible to understand postmodernism as a complicated and fragmentary set of inter-relationships:

• a practice of re-imagining, pastiche, bricolage and self-referentiality

postmodernism suggests that there is “nothing new” in the world, and that the world repeats itself.

postmodernism is characterised by “surface” – things that look good and “superficiality”.

the preoccupation with visual (postmodern) style neglects the idea of meta-narrative

memento discusses that there is “no metanarrative” (which is described as leonard not knowing anything)

memento uses flashbacks as a way to piece together the metanarrative

postmodernism has the ideas of ‘fragmented identities’ – different identities in different situations

memento’s characters all fall into fragmented identity – with natalie and leonard.

a key characteristic of postmodernism is the development of fragmented, alienated individuals living (precariously) in fragmented societies

postmodern culture is about consumer culture and ultimately the world in a capitalist society

Big Question:

How could ‘Memento’ be classed as a postmodern text?

• the plot of the movie is half-ambigious, it is hard to tell fact from fiction, especially at the ending.
• characters are shown with fractured identities – identities that change, identities that are different for each schenario
• the ‘facts’ leonard notes down turn out to be lies that he tells himself at the beginning that he trusts as fact later
• there are too many enigmas within the film presenting contradictory evidence to come to a solid truth

Look for evidence of these postmodern phenomena:

• Intertexuality: sampling artistic styles, plot or character conventions from other forms and genres
• The ‘writerly text’ (Roland Barthes): a text whose meaning is created by the reader/consumer rather than being fixed in the text by the writer/producer.
• There is no cohesive identity, no ‘real you’; we are different people in each individual situation, virtual and actual. Our identities are in constant flux.
• There is no ‘truth’ in history (personal or national), memory cannot be relied upon as evidence for knowledge;
• People who claim to know the ‘truth’ can’t be trusted;
• Fiction and fact depend on each other to the point that they can’t be divided – in the end they can’t be separated;
• Knowledge doesn’t ‘add up’ cohesively to ‘truth’; there are too many contradictory elements.

• postmodernism is a theory about now
• postmodernist culture is referential, it refers to other things and sometimes itself.
•  It is possible to understand postmodernism as a complicated and fragmentary set of inter-relationships, 
• The theory of postmodernism is that is it fragmented
• pastiche is a work of art, drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist
• new iteration- new version of previsions expressions
• postmodernism is characterized by surface and their preoccupation with visual style,
• meta-narrative- big story. This movie refers to lack of meta-narrative
• Fragmentary identity construction
• Fragmentary consumption = Fragmentary identities
•  key characteristic of postmodernism is the development of fragmented, alienated individuals living (precariously) in fragmented societies.

Social, philosophical theory to think about the world we live in NOW.

post modern culture is referential in that it often refers to and often copies other things in order to understand itself.

It is therefore possible to understand postmodernism as a complicated and fragmentary set of inter-relationships.

the world is fragmented and complicated and is referring to itself.

pastiche is a work of art, drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist

parody is a work or performance that imitates another work or performance with ridicule or irony

generic detective film classic who done it but because its postmodern its A NEW VERSION OF PREVIOUS EXPRESSIONS

Postmodernism suggests there is nothing new in the world everything is just re done in a different way

preoccupation with visual style

this film is about what happens if we don’t know anything.

fragmented identity

A key characteristic of postmodernism is the development of fragmented, alienated individuals living (precariously) in fragmented societies.

Many narratives are usually Linear and Sequential, which means they normally have a beginning, middle and end (Tztevan Todorov) – Memento doesn’t have this.

Todrov`s equilibrium theory – equilibrium, disruption, new equilibrium.

Vladimir Propp – character types and function.

• Hero
• Helper
• Princess
• Villain
• Victim
• Dispatcher
• Father
• False Hero

Roland Barthes: proairetic and hermenuetic code.

Proairetic: action, movement.

Hermenuetic; character, dialogue.

Enigma code: the way in which intrigue and ideas are raised- which encourage an audience to want more information.

Narrative theory can be applied to moving image texts but in many ways, narrative theory transcends a specific media form, such as, film and television.

Narrative is the overall structure involved in communication, which can be broken down into: ‘story’ and ‘plot’.

Elision and ellipses: Not played in real time; time can move backwards and forwards (flash backs and forwards);stuff missing.

Simultaneous or parallel narratives: time can run simultaneously, in that it is possible to play-out different narratives at the same time.

Dramatic irony: Knowing something important that the characters do not.

Postmodernism can be understood as a philosophy that is characterised by concepts such as RE-IMAGINING, PASTICHE, PARODY, COPY, BRICOLAGE.

pastiche is a work of art, drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist
parody is a work or performance that imitates another work or performance with ridicule or irony

BRICOLAGE is a useful term to apply to postmodernist texts as it ‘involves the rearrangment and juxtaposition of previously unconnected signs to produce new codes of meaning’ (Barker & Jane, 2016:237).

INTERTEXTUALITY is another useful term to use, as it suggests signs only have meaning in reference to other signs and that meaning is therefore a complex process of decoding/encoding with individuals both taking and creating meaning in the process of reading texts.

PostModernism Notes –

Theoretical idea that helps to understand modern ideologies. Postmodernism is characterised by modern media/ communication and technology.

Re-Imagining, Parody, Pastiche & Bricolage.

Self-referentiality – e.g the main character writing/ tattooing his thoughts on his body.

Pastiche – any sort of media or work that refers back to or imitates the work or idea of a previous artist

Parody – A work that aims to ridicule another piece of work.

Surface = Visual aspects, the initial message conveyed without deeper analysis.

Metanarrative – The overall idea/ story/ plot.

Bricolage – It involves the rearrangement and juxtaposition of previous signs to create a new meaning. E.g Memento isn’t chronological and doesn’t flow in one direction.

Postmodernism is fragmentary, it suggests there isn’t a clear line between fiction and reality.

On the surface level platforms like facebook gives people a place to make friends and share information. but in reality is serves a greater cause and holds data points on many of its users without their knowledge. Of popular culture, surfaces and style become the most important features, feeding conumer culture.

Memento –

Surface and Style over Substance

Fragmentary Consumption

Fragmented Identities – The main characters loss of memory, how when he wakes up he is almost a different person and cannot remember anything previous.

Black and White scenes VS coloured scenes = Separates his old self with his new self, creating a fragmented identity/ story.

‘Old’ = Black and white, Present/ new lenny = colour