Narrative InvestigationEda Ozdemir

Narrative InvestigationWhat is narrative? “ a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occurring in time” (Bordwell & Thompson).Narrative theory analyses the way in which media texts communicate meaning about events.

Narrative theory can be applied to range of different media including film, TV, photographs and magazines.

Narrative analysis of internet based media is more problematic, though may still be relevant. For example, you could consider how someone’s Facebook profile creates a narrative about their life.

Theorists• Edward Branigan - Argues that narrative is a way of organising spatial and temporal data into a

cause-effect chain of events with a beginning, a middle and end that embodies a judgement about the nature of events. His key point is that the narrative will embody a judgement – ideology and narrative.

• Vladimir Propp – Proposed that it was possible to classify the characters and their actions into clearly defined roles and functions. He suggests that there are a limited number of character types that share a function, when an audience reads a media text it deploys its knowledge of these character types in order to decode the meaning of the text.

- The Hero (seeks something)- The Villain (opposes the hero)- The Donor (helps the hero by providing useful objects)- The Dispatcher (sends the hero on their way)- The Helper (gives support to the hero)- The Girl (reward for the hero, also needs protection from villain)

• Tzvetan Todorov – Suggests most narratives start with a state of equilibrium in which life is normal and the protagonist is happy. The state of normality is then disrupted by an outside force, which has to be fought against in order to return to the state of equilibrium.