Danielle Conneely

Narrative Theory
Tzvetan Todorov was a Bulgarian structuralist publishing influential
work on narrative. He suggested that stories began with an
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 buys flowers
and sits at Hayden grave and starts talking to him. New equilibrium- She starts crying and
lays down the flowers and her 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.
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.

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

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.

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 suggested that every narrative has eight different
character types- Villain fights the hero in some way, Dispatcher being the character who
makes the villains evil known and sends the hero off. The helper who helps the hero in the
quest, Princess or prize who the hero deserves throughout the story but is unable to marry
her due to the villain. The fathers princess who gives the task to the hero, Donor who
prepares the hero or gives the hero help, Hero or victim he reacts to the donor and marries
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
the princess. Then the false hero who takes the credit for the heros actions and
tries to take the princess away from him.
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