Narrative Theory

Narrative Theory

Narrative theory refers to how the stories within media texts are organised and how the audience views them. There are elements of narrative which are effective in the organisation of the narrative.

Elements of Narrative:

• Time: The time element refers to how much time the storyline covers within a film. A good example of this is A Space Odyssey as the film starts 50,000 years into the past and then fast forwards to the future so it covers a large amount of time.
• Closure: The closure element refers to the ending of the film, whether the problems have all been resolved or if there are any remaining questions that need to be answered.A normal Hollywood film would finish their film with closure, however, a film that ends with unanswered questions leads to the possibility of a sequel, and so the audience would be interested in knowing the unanswered questions, and so would watch the sequel.
• Enigma: Enigmas are questions or problems that characters within texts would need to overcome in order to gain closure. It is important for films to contain enigmas as it keeps the audience interested and wondering what will happen next and how the characters would get through the problems.

Linear and non-linear Narratives

Linear narratives are stories that follow the chronological order. This means that there are no flash-backs or any means of past events that could occur, the story simply shows from beginning to middle to end. Most Hollywood films follow a Linear narrative as they have a clear start and an obvious ending, and so it would be easy for audiences to follow.

Non-Linear narratives are stories that does not follow the chronological order and events do not occur in the correct order. A good example of this is "Run Lola Run" as it constantly flashes back so that Lola can start her mission again and correctly help her boyfriend with nobody dying. 

Todorov Theory

Todorov's theory was about the way he views media texts, and this structure is highly popular in the structure of media texts. These are the four stages:

1. Equilibrium: Everything is calm, peaceful, normal and the characters experience no problems.
2. Disruption: Something happens which disrupts the equilibrium and causes problems for the characters.
3. Resolution: This is when the main character resolves the problems.
4. The New Equilibrium: This is the ending of the media text, where everything is normal, however, it would not be the same as the first equilibrium.

Barthes Theory

Barthes theory was that texts could have many different meanings. He described texts in three ways:

• Open Texts: This is where there are numerous threads to pull. The film has no positive ending and so allows people to interpret the ending in their own ways.
• Closed texts: This is when there is only one obvious thread to grasp. The film has an ultimate ending, and most films have closed endings, where everything is resolved.
• Polysemic Texts: These are texts which can be read in a number of ways. There can be different meanings and different ideas which the audience can form about how they viewed the text. 

Propp's Theory

Propp viewed media texts and analysed them by the use of fairytales. Propp discovered that most films contained the eight different kinds of characters that had their own roles in the texts:

• The Protagonist (hero)
• The Antagonist (Villain)
• The Provider (Donor)
• The Helper 
• The Father
• The Dispatcher
• The Princess
• The False Hero

One good example to compare to is James Bond:

• James Bond
• Goldfinger, Jaws etc.
• Q
• There is always a woman (nicknamed a Bond Girl) who meets him and will help Bond on his missions.
• Q
• M
• The woman who Bond falls in love with
• A secret agent who is secretly working with Bond's enemy, such as Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale.

Stan

Todorov's theory can be applied to Eminem's music video for "Stan" which presents a very good narrative behind the lyrics. Stan is presented as an obsessive Eminem fan, and he tries to write Eminem a letter, however it gets lost in the mail, which is the disruption. His obsession gets worse and he writes a new letter to Eminem, explaining how Eminem never responds and all the while Stan's obsession grows into him falling into a mental state, abusing his wife destroying everything reminding him of Eminem, and ending with him driving off a cliff, killing both his pregnant wife and himself, which shows that there is no resolution or equilibrium. 

Propp's theory can also be applied to "Stan," as the characters can be viewed in the fairytale format. Stan is the protagonist, however he is not the typical hero, whilst his wife would be the princess. Eminem would be viewed as the antagonist in Stan's eyes, however in the end we find out that Eminem was not at fault for the problems. In Stan's wife's eyes, Stan would be viewed as the antagonist for he abuses her.

Barthes theory can also be applied to "Stan" as there are many questions that occur throughout the video, which are answered soon afterwards. These are questions like "Why did Eminem not receive the letters?" and "why is Stan destroying everything reminding him of Eminem?" It is a closed text as we can see the definite ending, however it can also be viewed as an open text ending for the little boy removes his hood and he has dyed his hair the same colour as Stan's and Eminem's, so the audience could wonder what will happen to the little boy? Will he be influenced by Stan?