Propp's Morphology of the Folktale

Vladimir Propp was a Russian structuralist scholar who concentrated his scholarship on the Russian folktale. Working in Stalinist Russian, it took considerable time for his research, carried out in the 1920s and 1930s, to reach the West. It was not until the 1950s that his work was translated. Propp's studies inspired such prominent scholars as Claude Lvi-Strauss and Alan Dundes, to name a few. He discovered that all Russian magic tales had a similar structure and contained the same elements in the same order, though no single folktale contain all the elements. The fact that all magic tales contain these same elements, but that no single tale contain all the Propp detected 31 different plot elements, which he called functions, that can be found in the magic tale:

Propps Plot Elements

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 8a. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. One of the members of a family absents himself from home. An interdiction is addressed to the hero. The interdiction is violated. The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance. The villain receives information about his victim. The villain attempts to deceive his victim in order to take possession of him or his belongings. The victim submits to deception and thereby unwittingly helps his enemy. The villain causes harm or injury to a member of a family/ or, One member of a family either lacks something or desires to have something. Misfortune or lack is made known; the hero is approached with a requestor command; he is allowed to go or he is dispatched. The seeker agrees to or decides upon counter-action. The hero leaves home. The hero is tested, interrogated, attacked, etc., which prepares the way for his receiving either a magical agent or helper. The hero reacts to the actions of the future donor. The hero acquires the use of a magical agent. The hero is transferred, delivered, or led to the whereabouts of an object of search. The hero and the villain join in direct combat. The Hero is branded. The villain is defeated. The initial misfortune or lack is liquidated. The hero returns The hero is pursued. Rescue of the hero from pursuit. The hero, unrecognized, arrives home or in another country. A false hero presents unfounded claims. A difficult task is proposed to the hero. The task is resolved. The hero is recognized. The false hero or villain is exposed. The hero is given a new appearance. The villain is punished. The hero is married and ascends the throne.

Propp Revised
This list of elements has been simplified by a number of critics. For practical purposes, we call it Propp-R (R is for Revised): 0. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Protagonist has initial harmony. Protagonist discovers a lack. Protagonist goes on a quest. Protagonist finds helpers/opponents Protagonist is given tests Protagonist is rewarded, or a new lack develops

When using the second model, it is traditional to discuss the number of moves. A move occurs each time the hero goes through elements 1 through 5, until all the lacks are eliminated and the hero is given his final reward and the story ends. Scott Mellor, Scandinavian Studies, U. of Wisconsin-Madison http://scandinavian.wisc.edu/hca/glossary/propp.html

p. xxv: In botany, the term "morphology" means the study of the component parts of a plant, of their relationship to each other and to the whole--in other words, the study of a plant's structure. p. 5: The accuracy of all further study depends upon the accuracy of classification. But although classification serves as the foundation of all investigation, it must itself be the result of certain preliminary study. What we see, however, is precisely the reverse: the majority of researchers begin with classification, imposing it upon the material from without and not extracting it from the material itself. p. 20: The names of the dramatis personae change (as well as the attributes of each), but neither their actions nor functions change. From this we can draw the inferences that a tale often attributes identical actions to various personages. This makes possible the study of the tale according to the functions of its dramatis personae. p. 21-24: Function is understood as an act of a character, defined from the point of view of its significance for the course of the action. The observations cited may be briefly formulated in the following manner: 1. Functions of characters serve as stable, constant elements in a tale, independently of how and by whom they are fulfilled. They constitute the fundamental components of a tale. 2. The numbers of functions to the fairy tale is limited. Freedom with this sequence is restricted by very narrow limits which can be exactly formulated. 3. The sequences of functions is always identical. Since we are studying tales according to the functions of their dramatis personae, the accumulation of material can be suspended as soon as it becomes apparent that the new tales considered present no new functions. 4. All fairy tales are one type in regard to their structures. p. 67: [...] it is always possible to be governed by the principle of defining a function according to its consequences. Scott A. Mellor University of Wisconsin