Danielle Conneely

Narrative Theory
Tzvetan Todorov was a Bulgarian structuralist publishing
influential work on narrative. He suggested that stories
began with equilibrium where the characters are happy and
the atmosphere is positive; this is then disrupted by some
event setting in chain a series of events. Problems are then
solved so that the order can be restored and a new
equilibrium happens at the end.
5 Stages:
Equilibrium where there is a happy and positive
atmosphere
A disruption of the equilibrium
A recognition that there has been a disruption
An attempt to repair the disruption
A new equilibrium starts
In our production Tell Me You Love Me Todorovs theory is incorporated.
Equilibrium- Karina wakes up, messages her boyfriend and starts getting ready to
meet him, the atmosphere is happy and positive. Disruption- Karina meets her
boyfriend Hayden whilst they are out he doesnt respond to her and she starts
receiving looks from passers-by. Recognition- you then realise that Karina was alone
from the start and that the boyfriend isnt with her, she starts coming up to a
graveyard. Attempt to repair the disruption- Karina then arrives at Haydens grave
with flowers and breaks down. New equilibrium- She starts crying and lays down the
flowers and looks at the necklace he gave her and speaks to him more this shows
that she is accepting that he isnt here anymore and that she can get closure.

Ronald Barthes was a French literary theorist, critic and

semiotician. He explored a diverse range of fields and he
influenced the development of schools. Barthes describes
the theory as a text being like a tangled ball of threads it
can be untangled once it has we can encounter a wide
range of meaning. This means that we can start looking at
the narrative in one way, one different viewpoint in many
different experiences.

http://www.slideshare.net/Die-fast-live-pretty/todorovs-narrative-theory - Todorovs Theory

22/09/16
http://www.slideshare.net/alexdabriel/barthes-codes-theory - Barthes Theory 22/09/16
http://www.slideshare.net/Raj1992/claude-levi-strauss1 - Levi Strauss Theory 22/09/16
http://www.slideshare.net/jordan_house/vladimir-propp-14561275 - Propps Theory 22/09/16
Danielle Conneely

5 Codes
The Hermeneutic Code- This code is the voice of truth its the way the story
avoids telling the truth or revealing all the facts in order to drop clues in
throughout to help create mystery.
The Enigma/ Proairetic Code- This code is the empirical code this is the way
the tension is built up through the narrative and the audience is left guessing
what will happen.
The Symbolic Code- This code is the voice of the person its the code that
point any element in a text that suggest a particular meaning by way of
connotation which the story suggests.
The Cultural Code- The voice of science its when you look at the audiences
wider cultural knowledge and morality.
The Semantic Code - This code is the voice of symbols its very similar to the
Semantic code but acts at a wider level putting in semantic meanings into
broader and more detail sets of meaning.
In our production of Tell Me You Love Me Barthes theory is incorporated. The
hermeneutic code is used as our story tells truth when Karinas boyfriend Hayden
doesnt answer her messages or responds to her when she is talking to him it starts
showing that there is a problem wrong. The enigma code is used as the audience
arent sure why Hayden is not responding to Karina and then the audience get
confused when Hayden disappears. This then creates tension as the audience want
to know where has Hayden gone and what has happened. The symbolic code and
semantic code is used as throughout the production Karina is seen wearing a heart
necklace at the end when she at the grave she takes it off and lays it down this
shows the love between Karina and Hayden as she lays it down on his grave
connoting that she loves him and that she now wants him to have this. This can be
shown as her giving her heart away to him as now he has passed. The cultural code
isnt used in our production, as it doesnt fit into our narrative.

http://www.slideshare.net/Die-fast-live-pretty/todorovs-narrative-theory - Todorovs Theory

22/09/16
http://www.slideshare.net/alexdabriel/barthes-codes-theory - Barthes Theory 22/09/16
http://www.slideshare.net/Raj1992/claude-levi-strauss1 - Levi Strauss Theory 22/09/16
http://www.slideshare.net/jordan_house/vladimir-propp-14561275 - Propps Theory 22/09/16
Danielle Conneely

Claude Levi Strauss studied myths and legends all around the
world from that he found out that we as humans make sense of
the world, people and events by seeing and using binary
opposites. He found out that narratives are arranged around the
conflict of binary opposites. By binary opposite it can mean that
certain words dont depend so much on the meaning that they
contain but more on by our understanding of the difference
between the word and its opposite. Examples of binary opposites can be Good Vs
Evil, Black vs White, Male vs Female.
In our production Tell Me You Love Me Strauss theory is incorporated such as Male
Vs Female (Hayden vs Karina), Decreased vs Alive (Hayden being dead Karina
being alive) Strong vs Weak (Hayden being strong as now he is at peace and Karina
being weak as she is in pain and grieving).

Vladimir Propp was a literary critic and a scholar who founded

the idea that a certain type of character was to be used in every
narrative structure. His theory has been influenced many
filmmakers to writing and producing narratives this theory is
mainly used in fairy tales and films made by Disney, Marvel and
Pixar.
Propp suggests that every narrative has eight different character types:
1- Villain fights the hero
2- Dispatcher is the character who makes the villains evil known and sends the
hero off on a quest
3- Helper who joins the hero in the quest
4- Princess who the hero gets throughout the story but is unable to marry her
due to the villain
5- The fathers princess who gives the task to the hero
6- Donor who prepares or gives the hero help
7- The false hero who takes the credit for the heros actions and tries to take the
princess away from the hero
8- Hero- reacts to the donor and marries the princess
Propp theory isnt in our production Tell Me You Love Me as we dont have many
characters and our characters dont have roles or tasks set to them. Furthermore,
the propp theory is normally for fairy tales or childrens films when our production
doesnt fit into that category.

http://www.slideshare.net/Die-fast-live-pretty/todorovs-narrative-theory - Todorovs Theory

22/09/16
http://www.slideshare.net/alexdabriel/barthes-codes-theory - Barthes Theory 22/09/16
http://www.slideshare.net/Raj1992/claude-levi-strauss1 - Levi Strauss Theory 22/09/16
http://www.slideshare.net/jordan_house/vladimir-propp-14561275 - Propps Theory 22/09/16