Wednesday, 5 February 2014

Todorov and Barthes theory (Narrative structure)

He (TODOROV) believed in the equilibrium theory
There are typical character types such as: (usually 8 types)
- Princess
- Villain
- Heroine
- Princess' father
- Helper
- False hero
- Dispatcher
(Most common)

LEVI STRAUSS- Binary opposite
Examples:
Loki and Thor (Good vs Evil) Thor
Sherlock and John (Insane vs Sane) Sherlock
Sam and Lucifer (Weak vs Strong) Supernatural 


BARTHES theory
- he classified narrative theory (how stories were told)
.....
- 5 structures

BARTHES codes:
we respond to media by looking for a solution
enigma (mystery) codes encourage greater engagement
What he meant... Text is a ball of thread and when unravelled we discover a whole range of potential meanings.

He said texts are open and closed
Open means there is no defiant end
Closed means theres a problem, solution and an end

BARTHES codes and meanings:
Proairetic- A plot action that doesn't directly raise a particular question, it is not mysterious its obvious.
Hermeneutic- Something that is unexplained which creates unanswered questions and tension.
Cultural- Cultural codes tend to point to our shared knowledge about the way the world works.
Semantic- Points to any element in a text that suggests a particular, often additional meaning by way of connotation.
Symbolic- Refers to hidden symbols in images such as; colours and settings.

Narrative structures
Open structure (above)
Closed structure (above)
Linear structure- Linear structures are constructs which form a linear chain. For instance, one type of action results in one response, which then produces another certain type of action that results in another response and so on.
Circular structure- This is when a plot starts in one place and after trying to solve the problem the character ends up back in the beginning, where they started, having nothing resolved. 


No comments:

Post a Comment