Narrative Theory

Todorov
Tzvetan Todorov was born on the 1st March 1939 and he is a
Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, literacy critic, sociologist
and essayist. He has published a total of 21 books.
Todorovs Theory
Todorovs narrative theory states that most story lines follow the
same pattern. His theory consists of 5 steps that story lines follow.
1. Equilibrium The story will start off happy and peaceful, with
all the characters just doing what they would normally do.
2. A Disruption The second part of the storyline in Todorov
theory will be a disruption where something goes wrong and
disrupts the peace within the film and the characters.
3. Realisation This part of the storyline is when everyone
realises the problem.
4. Restored Order In this part of Todorovs theory the
characters do something about the problem in order to try and
stop it and fix any damage.
5. Equilibrium Again The final part of the storyline is then when
the problem is sorted out and everything returns to the way it
was at the start.
An example of Todorovs theory being used in a music video would
be My Hero by Foo Fighters, the video starts off with people living
happily (equilibrium), then there is a fire at their house (disruption),
then people are trapped in the house and need to be rescued
(realisation), then someone saves the people in the fire (restored
order) and after this they get on with their lives again (equilibrium
again).
Propp
Vladimir Yakovlecich Propp was born on the 17th April 1895 in St.
Petersburg. He went to St. Petersburg University (1913-1918)
majoring in Russian and German philology. He went on to be a
teacher.
Propps Theory
Propp realised that certain types of characters were used within
narrative structures in order to portray certain ideas. He said that
every narrative structure had eight main character types:
1. The Villain This character often fights against the hero and
causes disequilibrium.
2. The Donor This character normally gives the hero something
that will help him to complete his mission.
3. The Helper This character can be magical and aims to help
the hero through his quest.
4. The Princess The princess is the reward for the hero.
5. The Father This character gives the hero their task.

6. The Dispatcher This character finds out what is wrong and

informs the hero.
7. The Hero This character solves the problem and ends up
marrying the princess/claiming a reward.
8. The Anti-Hero This character takes credit for the heros work
and appears heroic to people around him.
An example of a music video that uses Propps Theory would be
Find Your Love by Drake. In this video Drake is the hero because
throughout the video he is trying to get a girl to like him. There is a
man in the video that is the helper because he gives Drake advice
on what he should do to make the girl like him. The princess in the
video is the girl that Drake is trying to get to like him throughout the
video and then she is his reward. There is also a man in the video
that is the villain because he tries to stop Drake from getting the girl
to like him.
Barthes
Roland Gerard Barthes was French and he was born on the 12th
November 1915 and died on the 26th March 1980. He was a literary
theorist, philosopher, linguistic, critic and semiotician.
Barthes Semiotic Codes
Barthes created a lot of complex codes. Here are the codes that he
created:
1. Enigma Code This code is about elements in stories that are
not explained at first and create tension throughout the story.
2. Action Code This is an action that triggers an event in a film.
3. Semantic Code These are the connotations throughout the
film that support the films narrative in an unspoken way.
4. Symbolic Code This code is about the use of opposites e.g.
young and old, good and evil in order to drive the plot.
5. Cultural Code The culture of the film explains why characters
look and behave a certain way.
An example of a music video that uses one of Barthes Semiotic
Codes would be California Gurls by Katy Perry, this video uses
the cultural code because the video is set in a wonderland made
up of sweets which explains why the characters look so happy
throughout the video.
Levi-Strauss
Claude Levi-Strauss was born on the 28th November 1908 and died
on the 30th October 2009. He was a French anthropologist and
ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theory of
structuralism and structural anthropology.
Levi-Strauss Binary Opposites
Levi-Strauss discovered the use of opposites to build narrative.
Some of these opposites are:

 Young and Old

Good and Evil
Weak and Strong
Men and Women
This idea of opposites links to Barthes Symbolic Code.
A music video that uses Levi-Strauss Binary Opposites would be
Single Ladies by Beyonc. Throughout this it constantly changes
from dark to light constantly which is the of opposites.