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NARRATIVE THEORY A presentation by Haaris Hussain

Narrative theory presentation

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Page 1: Narrative theory presentation

NARRATIVE THEORY

A presentation by Haaris Hussain

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WHAT IS A

NARRATIVE?

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WHAT IS A NARRATIVE?The term “narrative” refers to the telling of a story from a personal point of view. Therefore causing a narrator to be the subject of interest as they are telling a story they have written from their own personal view in order to engage the audience and get them hooked into their own world.

We most commonly see and hear narrative works in:➤ Television programmes➤ Novels and online fictional stories➤ Movies➤ Adverts➤ Newspapers➤ Radio stations➤ Social media➤ Social interaction

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NARRATIVE THEORY IN MEDIA STUDIES➤ Narrative has

approximately existed as long as human beings were on this earth. We know this because of the countless stone age cave paintings we can see today.

➤ Narrative also appears to be an extremely universal aspect of the human race, as we tend to tell stories every day in the hopes of making sense of our world.

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ONCE UPON A TIME…

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ONCE UPON A TIME…Most, if not all of us experience our first story at an incredibly young age, possibly even starting with those magically immortal phrase, belonging to countless fairytales “Once upon a time…”But, what does this phrase really mean? How does it affect us so much?Well, the word “Once” invites us into the narrator’s world that is in fact set in the past.The words “upon a time” states that this story comes from a world of which we know is not our own and in a time that is not the present.If you were to see the following statement in a book, it may seem rather average.“It was a bright, cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen”However, you would seem to get rather confused towards the end and read through it again. You may notice that we are given a rather strange list of problems in this text.➤ a bright, cold day.➤ clocks were striking thirteen

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ONCE UPON A TIME…➤ The words “a bright, cold

day” confuse us as they heavily contradict each other, giving us thought in our heads like: “ How can a sunny day be cold?”. Especially when we see the word bright, which claims that the sun is gleaming down onto the area of interest.

➤ When we see “clocks were striking thirteen” we eventually realise that the highest a clock can strike is twelve. This tells us the story takes place in an alternate version of the reality we live in.

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FILM OPENIN

GS

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FILM OPENINGS

Openings are incredibly important.This is because they are needed in order to grab the audience’s attention and keep them glued to their seats.If an opening is not strong enough, you may lose some of your audience’s attention. Aim high.

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NARRATIVE

THEORY

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NARRATIVE THEORYNarrative Theory analyses the way in which certain media texts communicate meaning about specific events.It can be applied to a range of different media including film, Television, photography and magazines.Narrative analysis of internet based media can be much more problematic, thought it may still be relevant. For example, you could consider how someone’s Snapchat story creates a narrative about their life.

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NARRATIVE

THEORISTS

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VLADIMIR PROPP (1928)➤ Propp was a Russian

theorist who suggested that there are only a limited amount of character types that can share a function.

➤ When an audience member reads a piece of media text, it deploys it’s knowledge of the character types in order to decode the meaning of the text.

➤ Nowadays in film we’re used to seeing characters merged.

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VLADIMIR PROPP (1928)➤ Propp studied folk tales and

proposed that it is, in fact, possible to identify eight character roles.

➤ The Villain➤ The Hero (seeker)➤ The Donor (provider)➤ The Helper ( aids the Hero)➤ The princess(reward for the hero

and target in Villain’s scheme)➤ The princess’ father(Rewards the

hero)➤ The dispatcher(Sends the hero on

his way)➤ The false hero ( lays claim to the

princess but is unsuitable and causes complications)

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TZVETAN TODOROV (1969)➤ Todorov was a Bulgarian

literary theorist who suggested that most narratives start with a state of equilibrium in which life is “normal” and protagonists are happy.

➤ This state of normality is then disrupted by an outside force which has to be fought against in order to restore peace and return to a state of equilibrium.

➤ This can be applied to fairy tales, folk lore fiction, film, television series,etc.

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TZVETAN TODOROV (1969)

➤ Equilibrium>Disequilibrium

>Resolution (New Equilibrium)➤ Todorov suggested that the main

function of the narrative was to solve a problem and to have the characters pass through certain stages of a linear narrative where events follow a chronological order.

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WHAT’S A GOOD FILM THAT FITS TODOROV’S FRAME?➤ Character’s go through their

usual routines.➤ The peace is disrupted as Lord

Farquad’s guards attempt to force order into the town.

➤ Hundred’s of characters bother our main character, Shrek the ogre.

➤ Our Hero is forced to go on a quest at first but falls in love with princess Fiona and saves her from Farquad.

➤ Linear narratives offer simple, yet effective experiences to their audiences, having a powerful impact on how they watch the movie.

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NARRATIVE MIXED➤ Narratives can be closed to one single interpretation and linear

- a series of cause and effect event, like a fairy tale. “Once upon a time…and they lived happily ever after”

➤ They can be factual and used in news with statements such as “In today’s news…” “Now, Garry with the weather”

➤ They can also be “chopped, altered and manipulated”

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ROLAND BARTHES ( 1960’S)➤ Barthes’ narrative theory

claims that a narrative can be broken down into five codes or sets of rules to help the reader make sense of it.

➤ He believed that there are two main codes which are present in most films:

➤ Action code: A code which refers to the events taking place through action. E.g - A fight or chase.

➤ Enigma code: A narrative device that teases the audience by presenting a riddle or puzzle to be solved. This helps to delay a story’s ending pleasurably.

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CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS (1972)➤ Strauss was a french

theorist who gave media studies a number of influential theories that helped us to understand how meaning is established in openings.

➤ Binary oppositions play an important role in this as they create meaning through establishing what something is not.

and… That’s all you need to know.

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Thanks for watching