Todorov's 5 Stages
Tzvetan Todorov
5 Stages
Todorov identified that traditional stories follow a formula of beginning , middle and end.
He breaks the chronological narrative into 5 stages:
1.
The story begins with equilibrium - everything is balanced and as normal.
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Something disrupts the equilibrium, this could be an event, action, character etc.
The characters aim to restore normality and return to the equelibrium. This could involve an adventure or quest of some kind.
The story reaches a climax, this is the high point of the narrative, where all previous plot points converge.
The narrative concludes with a resolution and the characters return to the equilibrium.
Strauss' Binary Oppositions
Levi Strauss
Binary Oppositions
Strauss proposed the idea of binary opposites. A binary opposite is basically what is says on the tin - a word and its exact opposite. In a narrative these oppositions can appear as good vs evil, young vs. old, men vs. women etc.
Although seen thought most narratives, binary opposites can perpetuate negative stereotypes. For example, with men vs. women, the man would typically be portrayed as a strong and valiant knight going to rescue a frail damsel (the woman).
In more modern narratives, multiple binary oppositions can be present alongside each other.
Propp's Character Types
Vladimir Propp
7 character types
Propp proposed the idea of "spheres of action" and that characters serve 1 of 7 specific roles within a narrative. one character can be involved in several spheres, or one sphere can apply to multiple characters
1.
Villain: This character causes misfortune for the other characters in some form. At some point, the hero will fight or struggle with the villain in an attempt to restore good.
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The Hero: there are 2 types of hero - the seeker and the victim. The seeker is someone selfless that's going to sacrifice their own equilibrium in order to save a character/object from the villain (ie. knight saves princess form dragon). The victim is a character that suffers directly from the actions of the villain at the start of the narrative (ie. dragon burns down knight's village, knight seeks revenge).
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The False Hero: txt