Narrative Theory Evaluation

Propp’s character types were well known for working within traditional literature due to how long ago the theory was formed and the fact that the structure of literature was all much more set in stone during this era. My book is based on traditional literature, so immediately I might jump to the conclusion that Propp’s character types will apply accurately to the book. This is somewhat correct, in that all of my character’s fit into the character types, but the problem I have with the theory is that my characters could all potentially fit into more than one type, and fit into the same types as one another. The Princess clearly fits into the hero character type due to the fact that she is the protagonist who is followed throughout the novel, and the character who manages to break the alien’s curse. Although she does fit specifically into this character type and no others, the fact that she is a princess, and that there is another character ‘type’ called princess leaves me slightly confused due to the fact that I’d presume if she’s called a princess then she’d belong in the princess character ‘type’. This of course is down to the fact that when Propp created the theory, gender roles were often assigned within books, meaning that the princess would often be the prize type character, rather than being the hero. Having said this though, it’s not like I’ve purposely reversed the gender roles in order to modernise my narrative, in the original fairytale the princess still acts as the protagonist. In terms of the other characters, the Prince/Alien could be seen as fitting into multiple different character ‘types’. On one hand, he could be seen as the helper, as he aids the princess on her journey by retrieving her ball, thus allowing her to progress through the storyline. Another ‘type’, which he fits into however, is the ‘princess/prize’ due to the fact that he is presented as a reward at the end of the book. This goes back to my point about reversed gender roles within my book, and further helps me to disprove Propp’s character types theory. In terms of the king, he could also fit into more than one character ‘type’. One might argue that he acts as the dispatcher, due to his role in gifting the princess with the ball, thus triggering her to go and play with it, but in this way he could also be viewed as acting as the donor. To add to all this, he also could be deemed as being the ‘father’ role, due to the fact that he is in fact her father, despite his role contrasting a lot with what ‘the father’ role supposedly consists of. The fact that 2 out of 3 of my characters overlap between different roles, really urged me to believe that the theory really isn’t applicable to my book. Furthermore, the reversed gender roles in my book go against one of the key elements that the theory proposes. If this wasn’t enough, my book lacks any form of hero or false hero, which Propp suggests are key elements within the structure of any book, so by not having either of these characters I can notice that his theory is severely flawed. On the other hand, each of my characters do apply to a character type, so It would be ignorant to suggest that the ‘Propp’s character types’ theory is completely irrelevant to the book.

The equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium are all clearly identifiable within the narrative of my book. The equilibrium spans from pages 1-2 of my book, and consists of the princess living lonely and bored within her castle. Despite her not being particularly happy, this is her equilibrium. It’s a day-to-day

event for the character, living in her castle, and nothing is out of the ordinary for her. To reference a TV show that consists of a similar equilibrium, ‘Breaking Bad’ starts it’s storyline with Walter White being a chemistry teacher before he is diagnosed. Although his life is fairly dull and he views himself as an underachiever, it is what he’s used to, and everything is going as it otherwise would be in his life. The disequilibrium of my book is essentially the point when the King gifts her with the magic ball. Although this might not seem like anything spectacular or graphic, it triggers the set of events that then unfold into the narrative of the book (between pages 3-11). Similarly, in ‘Breaking Bad’, the disequilibrium starts within the first episode, when Walt is diagnosed with cancer. The series of events that follow throughout the series are then a reaction of this. The new equilibrium of my book is essentially the princess living happily ever after with the prince (page 12) . Similarly to most other fairytales, the new equilibrium is a perfected version of the old equilibrium, with the Princess’s dull life being transformed into one of happiness and joy. The new equilibrium of ‘Breaking Bad’ really isn’t comparable to that of my story, due to it’s dark nature. To reference a similar fairytale which uses a similar happily ever after marriage type equilibrium, in the book ‘Cinderella’, Cinderella lives happily with her newly wed Prince. It is very rare in any form of children’s literature that the new equilibrium will be one of a dark nature, and this applies especially to fairytale stories.

I don’t believe that Claude Levi Strauss’s theory on binary opposition applies directly to my story. It states that in order for a story to be structured, there needs to be two opposing forces working against each other in which drive the narrative (for example good vs. bad or law vs. criminal). To give an example of how this theory applies to a story, in ‘Breaking Bad’, the force of Walter White and his criminal intentions (criminal force) is held back by the DEA (Hank and his colleagues) (Law force) and their intention to find and stop the legendary ‘Heisenburg’. Without Hank and the DEA, the narrative would not be able to progress into such depth in the way that it manages to achieve, and this is a great example of the theory in practice. My story throws a spanner in the works due to it’s less conventional narrative structure. What I mean by this is that there are not really two opposing forces working against each other in the way that there are in ‘Breaking bad’. Despite this, if the theory is looked at in a more vague and abstract light, I could argue that the princess’s good values and the princess’s bad values work against each other as binary opposites in order to drive the narrative. To break down what I mean by this, her bad morals which tell her that she shouldn’t like or play with the alien, mean that it is harder for the prince’s curse to be broken (thus making the princess’s more negative morals one of the driving forces). The princess also has good morals, which allow her to see through the fact that the alien Is ugly, and to break his curse. This works as the other force, and works against her bad morals in a battle throughout the narrative. Although this might not be what be what Claude Levi Strauss meant directly he invented his theory, I believe that my story could still vaguely apply to it when extensively analysed.

In regards to the structure of the narrative of my story, it is of a closed nature. By this I mean that it reaches a conclusion and final ending. The princess living

‘happily ever after’ draws a conclusion to the storyline, and doesn’t leave it open. Closed narratives occur in almost every children’s book (or any fictional book of any type for that matter) due to the fact that children don’t want to be left not knowing what to think, and by giving them a definitive happy ending, they are left satisfied. An example of another children’s book which similarly uses a closed narrative is the novel ‘Charlie and The Chocolate Factory’. In this book, Charlie is gifted the chocolate factory and the story is concluded, rather than being left open. In contrast, soap operas such as ‘Hollyoaks’ are great examples of open narrative structure. The narrative is left open and progressive, and is never drawn to a conclusion at the end of an episode or series. As well as being a closed narrative, my book also adopts a single strand form to it’s narrative. What this means is that there is only one strand to the narrative which progresses throughout, rather than there being multiple strands involving different scenarios and characters. Single strand narratives are commonly used in children’s books such as mine, as they are much more simplistic, and ensure that a child can process what is going on at all times without feeling confused about what’s happening. To give some examples of single strand narratives in other pieces of children’s literature, ‘Goldilocks’, ‘Cinderella’, ‘The Ugly Duckling’ and ‘Theseus and The Minotaur’ are only a handful of the many others. The TV series ‘Game of Thrones’ is a great example of the complete opposite of a single strand narrative, and is what’s known as a multi-strand narrative. The series incorporates a multitude of different stories within the narrative, which are related in ways, but all involve different locations with different characters, doing different things at the same time. This type of multi strand narrative can provide an extremely deep and immersive experience for the viewer/reader, but simply wouldn’t be compatible with the young audience of my book.

The young target audience was an element which I was considering at all times when focusing on the narrative structure components of my book. As I’ve said before, by making the book as basic and understandable, I am able to cater to the needs of it’s young audience and ensure they will be able to accurately follow the narrative. For this reason, I decided that using a linear narrative would be much more appropriate that using a non-linear narrative. A linear narrative is a narrative which happens in order, from beginning to end, rather than jumping around between different moments in time. During my book, at no point are there flashbacks/flash-forwards or time lapses of any type, and the narrative consistently flows from beginning to end without interruption. Linear narratives are found in almost all pieces of literature, but as the film industry is progressing and becoming more competitive, many films are now adopting more non-linear narratives. These non-linear narratives, although certainly not appropriate for a children’s books due to adding much complication, are a great way of deepening a storyline by adding background information on characters, or giving the viewer/reader additional information on a scenario. A great example within the film industry of a non-linear narrative being used in order to completely change the way that the viewer perceives the film, is Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction’. In this film, the first scene takes place after the events of the bulk of the film, just before the events of the final scene. The bulk of the film is then depicting events which happened prior to the first scene. The viewer is unaware of this until the final scene of the film, when it all suddenly comes together. This completely changes

the viewing experience for the audience, and many have claimed that if the narrative had been placed in linear order, it would completely lose it’s value as a film.Due to my young audience, I wanted my narrative to be one that was entertaining and out of the ordinary, by using aliens, space themes and magic. These are all elements, which make my narrative anti-realism rather than realism. This term basically means that elements within a given narrative are not ones that could plausibly be realistic in any way, or happen in reality. Children’s young minds love fantasy, and don’t want to read a book about a man buying a pasty from Gregg’s before work. For this reason I felt that the anti-realism approach (as seen in pretty much every fairytale) would be more appropriate for my audience. An example within my book of where I have used an anti-realist narrative in order to captivate my audience, would be the moment when the Alien’s curse is broken. A ‘curse’ is not real, and could not plausibly happen in reality, thus rendering my narrative anti-realism. Other examples include the blatantly obvious ones, such as the fact that there is a princess walking around on space without a space suit on etc. A great example of a set of films that adopt a similarly anti-realism narrative to my book, are the ‘Star Wars’ films. The narrative of this series possesses anti-realism elements very similar to that of my book, with a space-themed setting, and aliens. Many might argue that using an anti-realism narrative can only be appropriate to children’s literature/films due to the fact that characters and settings within them are often far-fetched, but I would argue that Titles such as ‘Game of Thrones’ manage to utilize unrealistic elements in order to create a more immersive experience, whilst also remaining relevant to an older audience.