Tzvetan Todorov

Tzvetan Todorovis aBulgarianFrenchhistorian,philosopher,literary

critic,sociologistand essayist. He is the author of
many books and essays, which have a significant
influence
inanthropology,sociology,semiotics,literary
theory,thought history andculture theory. He was
married to Nancy Huston, with whom he has two
children.
Todorov has published a total of 21 books,
includingThe Poetics of Prose(1971),Introduction
to Poetics(1981),The Conquest of
America(1982),Mikhail Bakhtin: The Dialogical
Principle(1984),Facing the Extreme: Moral Life in
the Concentration Camps(1991),On Human
Diversity(1993),Hope and Memory(2000),
andImperfect Garden: The Legacy of
Humanism(2002).

Vladimir Propp
Vladimir Propp was born on April 17, 1895 in St.
Petersburg to a German family. He attended St.
Petersburg University (19131918) majoring in
Russian and Germanphilology. Upon graduation he
taughtRussianandGermanat a secondary school
and then became a college teacher of German.
HisMorphology of the Folktalewas published in
Russian in 1928.
In 1932, Propp became a member ofLeningrad
University(formerly St. Petersburg University)
faculty. After 1938, he chaired the Department of
Folklore until it became part of the Department of
Russian Literature. Propp remained a faculty
member until his death in 1970.
Vladimir Yakovlevich Proppwas
aSovietfolklorist and scholar who analysed
the basicplot components ofRussian folk
talesto identify their simplest irreducible
narrative elements.

Roland Barthes
Roland Barthes was aFrenchliterary
theorist,philosopher,linguist,critic,
andsemiotician. Barthes' ideas
explored a diverse range of fields and
he influenced the development of
schools of theory
includingstructuralism,semiotics,soci
al theory,design
theory,anthropologyandpoststructuralism.
Roland Barthes was born on 12 November 1915 in
the town ofCherbourginNormandy. He was the
son of naval officer Louis Barthes, who was killed
in a battle in the North Sea before his son was one
year old. His mother, Henriette Barthes, and his
aunt and grandmother raised him in the village of
Urt and the city ofBayonne. When Barthes was
eleven, his family moved toParis, though his
attachment to his provincial roots would remain
strong throughout his life.