Propp was born on April 17, 1895 in St. Perersburg. He studied at St. Petersburg University majoring in Russian and German Philology. He published his morphology of the Folktale in 1928. Propp was essentially interested in
the narrative of folk tales. He noticed Folk tales were similar in many areas. They were about the
same basic struggles and they appeared to have stock characters. He identified
a theory about characters and actions as narrative functions. Characters, according to Propp, have a narrative function;
they provide a structure for the text. His character types can be applied to almost any story, be it in literature, theatre, film, television series and games. He essentially portrayed film as a fairytale.
His Theory:
Characters that perform a function
The Hero – a character that seeks something
The Villain – who opposes or actively blocks the hero’s quest
The Donor – who provides an object with magical properties
The Dispatcher – who sends the hero on his/her quest via a message
The False Hero – who disrupts
the hero’s success by making false claims
The Helper – who aids the
hero
The Princess – acts as the
reward for the hero and the object of the villain’s plot
Her Father – who acts to
reward the hero for his effort
Actions as functions of narrative
Preparation
A community/kingdom/family is in an ordered state of being
A member of the community/kingdom/family leaves home
A warning is given to the leaders of the community or a rule
is imposed on the hero
The warning is discounted/ the rule is broken
The villain attempts to discover something about the victim
of the broken rule
The villain tries to deceive the victim to gain advantage
The victim unwittingly helps the villain
Complication
A state of disorder
The villain harms a member of the community/kingdom/family
One of the members of the community/kingdom/family desires
something
The hero is sent to get what is desired
The hero plans action against the villain
Transference
The hero leaves home
The hero is tested or attacked/ he meets the test and is given
a magical gift or helper
The hero reacts to the donor
The hero arrives at the place he can fulfil his quest
Struggle
There is a struggle between the hero and the villain
|The hero is branded
The villain is overcome
The state of disorder is settled
Return
The hero returns
The hero is pursued
The hero escapes or is rescued
The hero arrives home and is not recognised
A false hero claims rewards
A task is set for the hero
The task is accomplished
Recognition
The hero is recognised
The false hero or villain is unmasked
The false hero is punished
The hero attains the reward (princess/ kingdom)
Tzvetan Todorov
Tzvetan Todorov (born March 1, 1939) is a Franco-Bulgarian philosopher. He has lived in France since 1963. He's spent his career writing books and essays about literary theory, thought history and culture theory. Tzvetan Todorov simplified the idea of
narrative theory whilst also allowing a more complex interpretation of film
texts with his theory of Equilibrium and Disequilibrium. There are five stages the narrative can progress through:
-
A state of equilibrium/status quo - all potentially opposing forces are balanced.
-
A disruption of that order/equilibrium by an event
-
A recognition that the disorder has occurred
-
An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption
- A return or restoration of a NEW equilibrium
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