Narrative is consisting of or characterized by the telling of a story.
One of the narrative theories is Tzvetan Todorov. He discovered that folk tales and fairy stories all follow a similar structual pattern. This is known as the classic Narrative pattern.
The classic narrative pattern works like this:
Equilibrium= all is in order "normal, and happy
Disruption= A disruption to ther equilibrium by the means of an event/action
Recognition= there is recongnition that a disruption has taken place
Repair= An attempt to repair the damage caused by disruption
New equilibrium= The problem is solved and we return to a new type of equilibrium
Here is a example of this.
'Artic monkeys-Leave before the lights are out' music video:
Equilibrium- A man walking on the street
Disruption- Shoe falls from the building, woman is about to suicide
Recognition- Picks up the shoe and goes up the top of the building
Repair- The man takes her to a cafe
New Equilibrium-She goes back to the top of the building and repeats.
Another Narrative theorists is Vladimir Propp. He is a Russian critic who examined 100s of examples of folk tales to see if they shared any structures. While looking at 100s of folk tales he identified 8 charcter roles.
The 8 character roles are:
1. The villain(s)
2. The hero
3. The donor-who provides an object with some magic property
4. The helper-who aids the hero
5. The princess (the sought for person) - reward for the hero and object of the villain's schemes
6. Her father- who rewards the hero
7. The dispatcher- who sends the hero on his way
8. The false hero
