Narrative

Definition: refers to the way the story of a film is told, as well as the story itself. Also refers to the order in which the action takes place.

Narrative is the organisation of a series of facts, connecting events to produce a beginning, middle and an end. Each texts links to the last, creating a relationship between the beginning middle and the end.

"Story is the irreducible substance of a story (A meets B, something happens, order returns), while narrative is the way the story is related (Once upon a time there was a princess...)" (Key Concepts in Communication - Fiske et al (1983))

-A Circular Narrative is ones which begins at the end then proceeds to tell the story through a series of flashbacks, or one large one, before returning to here it started (the end).

-Episodic Narrative is comparable to how fictional books break up a story into chapters. These chapters often follow on sequentially but sometimes different viewpoints or aspects of the story are told in different chapters and these interrupt or disrupt the chronological flow.

-Linear Narrative is the most simple and commonly used narrative structure. It refers to a story that is told in the order in which the events happen. These are sometimes referred to a 'cause and effect' narratives as the consequences of one event have an effect on something else and things and move along in the linear fashion.

-In a Restrictive Narrative the audience only know as much as the characters do. This way the audience are as confused as the characters, and have to work out the same amount as the characters, allowing the audience to relate.

-In Omniscient Narrative we see events that the characters do not, and we are aware of others plotting against certain characters. This creates suspense rather than mystery because we know lots of aspects of the narrative, resulting in us being left in suspense about how the main characters will find out.

Levi-Strauss looked at narrative structure in terms of binary oppositions. Binary oppositions are sets of opposite values which reveal the structure of media texts. An example would be GOOD and EVIL – we understand the concept of GOOD as being the opposite of EVIL. Levi –Strauss was not so interested in looking at the order in which events were arranged in the plot. He looked instead for deeper arrangements of themes. For example, if we look at Science Fiction films we can identify a series of binary oppositions which are created by the narrative:

Earth / Space

Good / EvilHumans / Aliens
Past / Present
Normal / Strange
Known / Unknown

Vladimir Propp referred to eight main character types, which all had a specific role

-The Hero

-The False Hero

-The Princess

-The Father (Of The Princess)

-The Helper

-The Villian

-The Donor

-The Dispatcher

Todorov's Theory

The Proairetic Code - this refers to the action that take place in a narrative.

The Hermeneutic Code (Suspense Code) - this refers to enigmas or questions that are reposed throughout the narrative. A story will often throw up questions which won't be immediately answered.

Symbolic Codes - refers to the wider and grand themese at play. Good Vs Evil, Strength Vs Intelligence - they rely on opposites.

Semantic Code (Character Code) - refers to the connotative meaning of the micro elements, which are the deeper meanings of what you see.

Cultural Code - refers to the wider context of the narrative and is based on our existing knowledge, beliefs and values. This also refers to the wider knowledge of genres and perhaps when intertextual references are made.