Narrative Analysis
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Narrative Analysis
Narratology
This term is used since 1969 to denote the branch of literary devoted to narratives analysis, and more specifically to study forms of narration and varieties of narrator. That is, defines what is the basic mechanism and procedures common to all acts of story telling and explain how narratives make meaning. As a modern theory, narratology is mainly associated with European structuralism, though studies of narrative forms go as far back as Aristotle's Poetics. In his Poetics, Aristotle already identified characters and actions as the essential elements in a story. The study of the narrative is a field that seems particularly appropriate for structuralist or semiotic approaches. Narratives can be determined in a range of media like film, cartoon, comic and novel and most of them (myths, popular tales, legends, epics, etc.) usually share basic structural components such as sequence, resolution, rhythm, patterns and reflections.
Vladimir Propp (1895-1970)
Vladimir Propp was a Russian formalist critic who analyzed the basic plot components of Russian folktale to identify their fundamental narrative elements.Modern narrative analysis may be dated from Propp's work Morphology of the Folktale published in 1928. He used concepts from Morphology (study of forms), especially those applied in Botany, in which the object of study (plants) should be divided in order to analyze the relationship among the parts and their relations to the entire object. Based on that Propp argued that it is possible analyze tales in the same logic, dividing it in parts and analyzing their relationship to each other and to the whole. In this work he affirmed that all tales are constructed by selecting item from a basic repertoire that he called functions. Even though Propp admits that can exist exception in the tale???s universe, his functions and especially his characters types can be applied successfully in almost any story, covering any genre such as literature, film, television, and game. In Morphology of the Folktale Propp analyzed a corpus of 115 Russian folktales breaking them into sections, defining criteria and character types in order to examine their narratives. He created a structural model based on the following criteria:
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. All fairy tales are constructed on the basis of one single
string of actions or events called ???function???;
. Function is a significant action or event;
. Function is more important than theme or plot as unit of analysis;
. Functions are independent of how and by whom they are fulfilled;
. The number of functions available to fairytale-tellers is thirty-one, with (codifiable) exceptions;
. Tales are organized in sequences: each sequence is composed of a selection of functions in the appropriate temporal order and constitutes a narrative episode;
. Characters available to fairytale-tellers usually are: hero, false hero, villain, donor, helper, dispatcher, princess and/or her father;
. Not every function appears in every tale;
. All fairytales share the same fundamental structure.
Propp???s functions (Spheres of action)
INITIAL SITUATION
1. Absentation - One of the members of a family absents
himself/herself from home
2. Interdiction - An interdiction [prohibition] is addressed to the hero
3. Violation - The interdiction is violated
4. Reconnaissance - The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance
5. Delivery - The villain receives information about the victim
6. Trickery - The villain attempts to deceive the victim in order to take possession of the victim or their belongings
7. Complicity - The victim submits to deception and thereby unwittingly helps his enemy
8. Villainy or Lack - The villain causes harm or injury to a member of the family ??? A member of a family lacks something or desires to have something
9. Mediation ??? Misfortune or lack is made known; the hero is approached with a request or command; he is allowed to go or he is dispatched
10. Beginning counteraction ??? The hero agrees to or decides upon counteraction
11. Departure ??? The hero leaves home
12. First function of the donor ??? the hero is tested, interrogated, attacked, etc., which prepares the way for his receiving either a magical agent or a helper
13. The hero???s reaction ??? The hero reacts to the actions of the future donor
14. Provision of a magical agent ??? The hero acquires the use of a magical agent
15. Guidance ??? Hero is led to the whereabouts of an object of search
16. Struggle ??? The hero and the villain join in direct combat
17. Branding ??? The hero is branded
18. Victory ??? The villain is defeated
19. Liquidation of lack ??? The initial misfortune or lack is liquidated
20. Return ??? The hero returns
21. Pursuit ??? The hero is pursued
22. Rescue ??? Rescue of the hero from pursuit
23. Unrecognized Arrival ??? Unrecognized, he arrives home or in another country
24. Unfounded Claims ??? A false hero presents unfounded claims
25. Difficult task ??? A difficult task is proposed to the hero
26. Solution ??? The task is resolved
27. Recognition ??? The hero is recognized
28. Exposure ??? The false hero or villain is exposed
29. Transfiguration ??? The hero is given a new appearance
30. Punishment ??? The villain is punished
31. Wedding ??? The hero is married and ascends the throne
Examples
Example 1 - Tale
*The Swan-Geese - Morphology of the Folktale (p.96-98)
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She ran and came upon a hut on chicken legs. It was standing and
turning around.
In the hut sat B??ba Jag??, hag-faced and with a leg of clay.The little brother also sat there on a little bench, playing withgolden apples. His sister saw him, stole up, seized him and carriedhim away, and the geese flew after her in pursuit; the evildoerswere overtaking them; where was there to hide?
(The river, the apple tree, and the stove hide the little girl.The tale ends with the little girl???s arrival home.)
. Functions:
- There lived an old man and an old woman; they had a daughter and a little son. There lived an old man and an old woman; they had a daughter and a little son.
- Be wise, take care of your little brother, and do not leave the courtyard.
- The elders went away The elders went away.
- , and the daughter forgot what they had ordered her to do. She placed her little brother on the grass under a window and ran out into the street and became absorbed in playing and having fun. She placed her little brother on the grass under a window and ran out into the street and became absorbed in playing and having fun.
- The swan-geese flew down, seized the little boy and carried him away on their wings.
- The little girl came back, looked, nut her brother wasn???t there. The little girl came back, looked, nut her brother wasn???t there.
- She ran and ran until she came upon a stove.
- If you eat my little ryecake, I???ll tell.
- Oh, we don???t even eat cakes made of wheat in my father???s house.
- she had not by good fortune met a hedgehog.
- She ran and came upon a hut on chicken legs. It was standing and turning around.
- The swan-geese flew down, seized the little boy and carried him away on their wings. His sister saw him, stole up, seized him and carried him away.
- the geese flew after her in pursuit.
- The tale ends with the little girl???s arrival home.
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Example 2 - Movie
Harry Potter and the Philosopher???s Stone (Simpson,
P.)
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- Harry Potter [Hero] has been orphaned and is forced to live in the home of his cruel aunt and uncle, the Dursleys.
- Harry is told by the Dursleys not to go to Hogwart???s schoolof wizardry
- Harry goes to Hogwart???s school of wizardry
- Unknown to all, Voldemort [Villain] has taken over the body of Professor Quirrel.
- Harry learns that Voldemort has killed his parents.
- Harry embarks on a mission to recover the philosopher???s stone.
- Harry receives (unexpectedly) a top-of-the-range broomstick, a Nimbus 2000.
- Harry is charged with retrieving the ???golden snitch??? in agame of Quidditch.
- Harry uses the Nimbus 2000 in the Quidditch game.
- Harry successfully retrieves the golden snitch.
- Harry and Voldemort join combat.
- Harry has acquired a lightning-shaped scar through an earlierencounter with Voldemort.
- Quirrel exposed as the host of Voldemort.
- Quirrel transformed into dust during the combat.
- Voldemort is defeated.
- Voldemort forced to leave the body of his dead host.
- In the Hogwart???s school competition, Harry???s houseGryffindor is reinstated above their cheating rivalsSlytherin.
- Harry leaves Hogwart???s for the summer recess.
Joseph Campbell (1904-1987)
Joseph Campbell was an American mythologist and writer. He is known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion, in which he analyzed mythological heroes in order to prove that all hero myths are the same, also, all of them follow a psychological and a metaphysical approach. By comparison Campbell established a hero pattern describing 17 common stages of the hero's journey found in a sort of classic narrative. These stages are grouped in 3 main clusters called Departure, Initiation, and Return.
Joseph Campbell first describes the heroic monomyth in 1949 in hisbook The Hero with a Thousand Faces. The notion of CampbellHero???s Journey can be applied to analyze any stories and movies.Take for example popular movies such as the Matrix, Star Wars, andthe Lord of the Rings.
References and Further Readings
Aguirre, M. (2011, October). An outline of Propp???s model for the study of fairtales. Retrieved from http://www.northangerlibrary.com/documentos/AN%20OUTLINE%20OF%20PROPP???S%20MODEL%20FOR%20THE%20STUDY%20OF%20FAIRYTALES.pdf
Oxford Dictionary retrieved from http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100223478
Propp, V. (1984). Morphology of the folktale. Austin, University of Texas Press.
Segal, A. R. (1987). Joseph Campbell: An introduction. New York and London, Garland Publishing.
Simpson, P. (n.d.). Stylistics: A resource book for students. Retrieved from http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/0415281059/about/pdf/stylistics_b5.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell
http://www.jcf.org/new/index.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Propp
http://caminocasebook.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/joseph-campbells-stages-of-the-monomyth-the-heros-journey/ image retrieved from http://www.royalsocietyofaccountplanning.blogspot.com