Theorist's by sashacinza on emaze

Vladimir Propp

Who he was ...

Vladimir Propp was a soviet folklorist and scholar who analysed the plot components in folk tales to identify their narrative elements.

Vladimir Propp was a literacy critic who was especially interested in folk tales.Propp came up with the idea that a certain type of character should be used in every narrative.This created the Propp theory.The Propp theory is a list of characters that are used in narrative that each have their own set of characteristics and their role in their narrative.For example there is the villain who is an evil character who's role is to send the hero on his or her quest.

Propp's character theory

Propp's character theory has influenced many filmmakers into producing successful narrative's.Propp also suggested that all fairytales should follow a specific narrative structure.

Tzvetan Todorov

Who he was ...

Tzevetan Todorov is a Bulgarian- French historian,philosopher,literary critic,sociologist and essayist.Todorov created the theory that a narrative is made up of five different stages.

Todorov's narrative theory

Tvetzan Todorov's narrative theory states that most stories follow a pattern. There are five steps in the pattern.

Equilibrium

Equilibrium is the first part of the story.In this stage of the story,the story will display a happy start where all of the characters are happy and content.

A disruption

This would be the second part of the story.In this part of the story,there would be a problem and something will disrupt the happiness.

Realisation

This would be the third part in the story.This part of the story is when the characters realise the problem and the chaos it is causing.

Restored Order

This is the fourth part in the story.This part of the story is when the characters attempt to restore the problem and repair the damage the problem has caused.

Equilibrium Again

This is the fifth and final part of the story.In this part of the story is where the problem is resolved and normality can resume again.

Jean Claude Levi - Strauss

Who he was ...

Jean Claude Levi - Strauss was a French anthropologist and an ethnologist.Jean Claude Levi - Strauss's theory was that all narratives include binary oppositions. Levi - Strauss also gave us examples of the binary oppositions that may be used in narratives.

Binary Oppositions

Levi - Strauss came up with the theory of binary positions. Binary oppositions states that opposites are important and helps the audience establish characters or meanings in films.For example in a horror film there is a good and an evil character who are also known as a hero and a villain.

Examples ...

Good vs Evil

Man vs Woman

Good vs Bad

Young vs Old

Weak vs Strong

Rich vs Poor

Western Films

Levi - Strauss used the western film genre and western films to develop his theory of binary oppositions.

He did this by creating binary oppositions that are within the western film genre

Homesteaders vs Native Americans

Domestic vs Savage

Weak vs Strong

Garden vs Wilderness

Inside Society vs Outside Society

Detective vs Villain

Criminal vs Good Guy

Safe Streets vs 'Mean streets'

Poor vs Rich

Roland Barthes

Roland Barthes was a french literary theorist,a philosopher,a critic and a semiotican (the study of cultural signs and symbols).He studied a wide diverse range of fields and influenced the development of schools.

Who he was ...

Roland Barthes describes a piece of text as "a galaxy of signifiers,not a structure of signifieds.It has no beginning,it is reversible; we gain access to it by several entrances,none of which can be authoritatively declared to be the main one;the codes it mobilises extend as far as the eye can read,they are indeterminable.The systems of meaning can take over this absolutely plural text but there number is never closed,based as it is on the infinity of language.

Codes Theory

What Barthes said ...

Codes Theory

What Barthes meant ...

Barthes meant that a piece of text is like a tangled ball of threads.

The thread needs to be unravelled

Once the thread is unravelled,we can encounter a wide range of potential meanings

We can start by looking at a narrative from one point of view in one way and create a meaning for the text

However,if you continue unravelling the narrative from a different angle then you can see the narrative from a different point of view and create a different meaning for the text.

Codes Theory

The five codes

The Hermeneutic code

The Enigma/Proairetic code

The Symbolic code

The Cultural code

The Semantic code

Roland Barthes narrowed down the action of a text into five codes that were involved in any text.

Codes Theory

The Hermeneutic code

This code is the voice of the truth.This code is also the way that the story avoids telling the truth or revealing all the facts of the narrative.In a narrative with this code,the narrative will drop in clues throughout the narrative help create mystery.

The authors purpose of doing this is to keep the audience guessing and interested.The audience will solve the mystery until the final part of the narrative where everything gets revealed and closure is acheived.

Code Theory

The Enigma/Proairetic code

This code is the empirical voice.This code is also the way the tension is built up throughout the narrative and this leaves the audience to be left guessing what will happen next.

This code refers to any action or event that indicates something else is going to happen and therefore builds suspense and gets the reader to guess what will happen next.

The Hermeneutic code and the Proairetic code work together to develop the story's tension and to keep the reader interested.

Code Theory

The Semantic code

This code is the voice of the person.The semantic code points to any element in a narrative that suggests a particular and often additional meaning by way of connotation of which the narrative suggests.

Connotation - The cultural/underlining meaning and what it symbolises.

Code Theory

The Symbolic code

The symbolic code gives a meaning to a piece of text.

This code is the voice of symbols.This code is also similar to the semantic code.However,the symbolic code is on a wider level and the symbolic code organises semantic meanings into broader and deeper sets of meaning.The symbolic code is done in the use of antithesis which means new meaning arises out of opposing and conflicting ideas.

Code Theory

The cultural code

This code is the voice of science.This code looks at the audiences wider cultural knowledge,morality and ideology.

This code usually involves science or religion.

The Gnomic code is a cultural code that refers to sayings,proverbs,cliches and other common meaning-given word sets.