35) STRUCTURALISM AND MY PRODUCT

STRUCTURALISM

Below are the notes I had copied down in class on the topic 'Structuralism'. I had typed them up onto my blog in a more detailed fashion.

TODOROV'S THEORY OF NARRATIVE ORGANISATION

This theory suggests that narratives have a certain, set structure that always occurs in stages.

Here are the stages:

1. A state of equilibrium where everything is as it should be.

2. A disruption of that order by an event.

3. A recognition that the disorder has occurred.

4. An attempt to repair the damage that has been caused.

5. A return to the new equilibrium.

Todorov argues that narrative involves a transformation. The situation or characters evolve and are transformed through a disruption.

We then had a task to think of a situation where this occurs. This was mine...

I was thinking of this theory in terms of films as its more relevant to my trailer. The film example I used was 'Home Alone'.

1. The family are together, all happy and ready to go abroad.

2. Kevin (the main character) gets left 'Home Alone' while the family go on holiday.

3. The family and Kevin realise this and they panic and worry. Bad events continue to occur, the robbers get involved.

4. The family are trying to get home and Kevin sets booby traps around the house for the robbers.

5. The robbers get injured and humiliated and the family return home to new equilibrium.

VLADIMIR PROPP'S CHARACTER THEORY

Prop argued that there are certain characters that appear in most narratives. The list is below.

1. The villain (struggles against the hero)
2. The donor (prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object)
3. The (magical) helper (helps the hero in the quest)
4. The princess (person the hero marries, often sought for during the narrative)
5. The false hero (perceived as good character in beginning but emerges as evil)
6. The dispatcher (character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off)
7. The hero or victim/seeker hero, reacts to the donor, weds the princess

CLAUDE LEVI STRAUSS' BINARY OPPOSITION THEORY

Strauss argued that we make sense of the world, people and events by seeing binary opposites. This theory states that two opposites are strictly defined and set as one against another. This can be very important in texts such as films.

Examples of binary opposites are...

GOOD VS EVIL                          BOY VS GIRL                       YOUNG VS OLD

^Good V Evil

ROLAND BARTHE'S THEORY OF ENIGMA CODES

Barthe said that 'in the control of the flow of information we are often teased by a riddle that requires us to guess the next piece of information to be revealed.'

• Narrative device which keeps the audience engaged by establishing enigmas or mysteries as the story unravels.
• Common in horrors and thrillers.

HERMENEUTIC CODE

• Refers to any element of story that is not fully explained.
• Full truth is often avoided. 
• Keeps audience guessing until final scenes where all is revealed and closure is achieved.

PROAIRETIC CODE

• Refers to an action or an event that indicates something else is going to happen.
• By witnessing this event the audience can say what that character will do or how the story will continue.

SEMANTIC CODE

• This is an example where connotation is featured.
• Connotation in a text is when the story is given additional meaning over the basic denotation of the words.

My notes on this topic are below...

I then had to think of which of these applied to my product...