Key Narrative theories

Propps 8 recurring character types

propps as well as proposing that narratives can be broken down into 31 basic functions  .valdimir propp in his study of fairy tales which continues to influence literary and media studies today he argued that there are essentially just seven basic character types or archetypes
1. the villian - struggles against hero
2. the donor -prepares hero or gives hero a magical object
3. the magical helper - helps hero in the quest
4.the princess or the prize - the hero deserves her throughout the story but is un able to marry her because of an unfair evil usually because of the villiantje heros story is often ended when he marries the princess there by beating the villain
5. the princess and her father-gives the task to the hero identifies a false hero marries a hero often sought for during narrative .propp noted that functionally the princess and her father can not be clearly distinguished
6.the dispacher -character who makes the lack of known and sends hero off
7.the hero victim - reacts to the donor and weds the princess
8.false hero -takes credit for the heros actions or tries to marry princess

these roles could sometimes be distributed among various characters .

Todorovs 5 part narrative formula

todorov is associated with the theory that every narrative can be broken down into 3 basic stages situation ,conflict,resolution or equilibrium ,disequilibrium and new equilibrium.cruitially your prontagonist is not the same as the out set but has been changed in some way from events . todorov actually posited fivve stages we usuallu refer to as being the 3 part model.

1.a state of equilibrium at the outset
2.a disruption of equilibrium by some action
3.a recognition that there has been disruption
4.an attempt ro repair the disruption
5.reinstatment of equilibrium

Levi-sruass: Binary opposites and Dramatic conflict

when we consider the use of stereo types it is often how binary opposition is at play:how describe a stereotypical poor or working class person for example is broadly the opposite of how wed describe a middle or upper class person for example is broadly the opposite of how we'd describe a middle class person. 

    scenes within dramas often reflect a use of this idea with clashing pairs  (male ,female, rural, urban , rich,poor,hetrosexual,homosexual,good,bad,dominant,submissive etc)of opposites ,in other words binary opposites ,sparking conflict or tension.

    there is a philosophical argument underpinning this idea:when the world around us (so not just fictional texts) id organised  and categorised through pairs of binary opposites there is generally a powerful or good side:men are powerful ,women submissive, the poor unintelligent,the wealthy intellectual (a stereotype seen very clear in Tess of the D'urbevielles.)

 to summarise the very existence of binary opposites contains a value judgement in itself with one side of the equation being negatively cast as the other or simply wrong lacking in some way.