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Sunday, 17 November 2013

Narrative Theories

ISL Week 10 


Tzvetan Torodov's Narrative Theory

  • Each narrative has five different points: 
    • Equilibrium - where each story starts with something being happy and normal
    • Disruption - where something happens that causes disruption and creates tension
    • Realisation - the problem is realised by different characters in the narrative
    • Restoration - there is then an attempt to fix the problem
    • Equilibrium - once the problem is fixed, equilibrium is restored, resulting in a happy ending
  • This theory has not really been used in our music video, as it is not appropriate, as our video does not result in a happy beginning or ending 

Claude Levi- Strauss' Narrative Theory

  • Focused on structure in terms of binary oppositions
  • Binary oppositions are a set of opposite values which reveal the structure of texts
  • Examples include Good and Evil - many people associate evil to be the opposite of good.
  • In science-fiction movies, we can see that oppositions are created by the narrative:
    • Earth & Space
    • Good & Bad
    • Humans & Aliens
    • Past & Present
    • Known & Unknown
    • Normal & Strange
  • This theory has been used in our music video to an extent, as the narrative reflects the idea of happy and sad times being portrayed.

Roland Barthes' Narrative Theory

  • Narrative/Enigma Codes
  • Always more than one way to read a media text
  • With each re-reading comes another meaning to the text
  • Encourages audiences to take a writer's approach to a text rather than a reader's approach
  • Most texts are designed for readers, taking a linear form, and takes on a pre-determined form so that audiences are simply reading information. Avoids any sort of media that may allow other connotations to be made
  • The Enigma theory is that any text encourages audiences to make up their own minds about something, and question what is happening
  • This is present in murder mysteries, where the identity of the killer is often not identified until the last moment, allowing the audience to wonder who did it
  • This theory is present in our music video, as the audience are left to wonder where our character is going on his journey, and why he may be going there, until the last moment

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