Vladimir Propp

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Is a Russian critic and literary theorist who had looked at over 100 Russian fairytales throughout the 1920s.

His came up with the different roles of the characters such as:

 

• The villain

• The hero

• The donor (helps the hero with a magic object)

• The dispatcher (sends the hero to do a job)

• The false hero

• The helper

• The princess

• Her father

 

Tzvetan Todorov

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Is a Bulgarian literary theorist. He came up with the idea that most narratives will begin with a state of equilibrium, this meaning that the life is normal and that the protagonist is happy. The state of normality is disrupted by a force outside, which has to be fought against in order to get back to a state of equilibrium.

 

Roland Barthes

 

A French semiologist who suggested that the narrative is made up of five different codes. This helping the reader to make sense of it.

 

These five codes are:

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• Action- when a narrative represents a lot of action

• Enigma- A narrative device that plays with the thoughts of the viewers by presenting a puzzle or riddle to be solved. This works well to delay the story’s ending

• Symbolic- Connotation

• Semic- Denotation

• Cultural- A narrative device which is recognised by the audience as being apart of a culture

 

Claude Levi-Strauss:

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Is a social Anthrolpologist who studied myths based around tribal culture. He looked at how stories reflect the values, beliefs and myths of a culture.

He came up with the idea of the binary opposition form. This meaning  a conflict between two qualities or terms.