Theories

Claude Levi-Strauss (1908-2009)

He came up with the theory of binary opposites, for example:

• Good v Evil
• Black v White
• Tall v Short
• Old v Young      etc.

Vladimir Propp (1895-1970)

He came up with the theory of character roles.

• the hero - the character who seeks something
• the villain
• the donor - who provides an object with some magic property
• the helper - aids the hero
• the princess - reward for the hero, often the object of the villains schemes
• her father - who rewards the hero
• the dispatcher - who send the hero on his way
• the false hero - seems to be heroic initially, turns out to be evil or a red herring

A red herring is a character or object that is introduced as seemingly important. it is then left behind/forgotten/not mentioned again, this character then turns out to have no real importance.

Tzvetan Todorov

This theory was that every story has an equilibrium that is disturbed and then restored.

It has a 3 part narrative structure:

1. equilibrium
2. distruption of equilibrium
3. restoration of equilibrium or new equilibrium