Genre & Narrative Research

Vladimir Propps theories of narrative functions are seen widely in almost all movies. I will be using the example of star wars. Luke Skywalker lives with his aunt and uncle. Here his mainly his uncle gives him many chores to do around the house. This makes him feel distressed as he feels this is stopping him achieving his dream of doing bigger things. The first point of Propps’ narrative functions ‘a member of the family leaves home i.e. the hero is introduced, here we see one of Propps’ narrative functions happen right before us. This happens in many movies, harry potter leaves to become a wizard, Frodo Baggins leaves to destroy the ring and money other movies. Another one of Propps’ narrative function works in this film, which is the appearance of the helper. The helper is conventionally older and much more wise, however unable to carry problem themselves usually due to age, this can be seen in many movies, in harry potter Harry has Dumbledore, in Lord of The Rings Frodo has Gandalf, in the Matrix Neil has Morpheus. This narrative function also appears in star wars; Luke Skywalker goes to find the old Obi Wan Kenobi to help him on his quest. One very common narrative function Propps states is, ‘ the hero is given some kind of weapon of power’, in harry potter he is given the wand, in the matrix he is given the pill, in the Lord of The Rings he is given the ring and in Star Wars Luke Skywalker is given the light sabre. One of Propps’ narrative functions also states that a member(s) of the heroes’ family will be injured or killed. This happens in star wars when Luke Skywalker goes home to find his house burning, his aunty and uncle both dead.
Vladimir Propp developed a flow diagram to represent narrative functions:
Equilibrium  Disruption  Resolution  Restored Order  New Equilibrium
For example in star wars we see Luke Skywalker leading a normal average life this is the base equilibrium. He goes on to becoming a fighter pilot, in defense against the death star, disruption is always in the form of a monster in this case Darth Vader, who we know is a monster, he is masked. The next step is resolution; resolution is usually achieved by the death or capture of the monster, in the case of star wars the retreat of the ‘disruptor of peace’, Darth Vader. Due to the retreat of the monster order is restored. A new a equilibrium is attained which is similar to the base equilibrium but different in many ways, considering nothing can be the same anymore, as loved ones have perished along the way and/or been affected badly in the process of getting to the new equilibrium. However in sequel movies like star wars we are given a false sense of equilibrium, as peace is achieved in that particular sequel but the main source of the problem has not been dealt with, so the monster is going to come back.




Levi-Strauss, a French Anthropologist, considered how story telling is used as a means on coping with the fundamental contradictions and irresolvable difficulties of a society. Each culture therefore produces, its myths; a story which is not true, but something which is repeated so many times it becomes part of a cultures reality or ‘common sense’. This theory can be seen suggested in almost all movies. The hero almost always leaves home. This proves Levi-Strauss’ point of a story repeated becomes part of a cultures reality or common sense. The hero is shown to leave home, but after leaving home he encounter many difficult obstacles, this reinforces the ideology of few in the western culture. Teenagers go off to university or employment; they are fully adults at 18 and make a big step in life. The function of showing that in film reinforces this ideology of independence.

Levi-Strauss said that story elements which give meaning will usually appear in pairs. For example a story will typically be organised into binary opposites. For instance in star wars we see hero vs. villain, Luke vs. Darth Vader, yet another binary opposite would be good vs. evil.
Roland Barthes another theorist developed five generic codes which he proposed are linked together in production of all kinds of stories. Therefore he suggested that all stories use the same five codes and that all genre signifiers can be grouped under them to create narrative. After looking at Barthes’ theory questions would arise such as ‘if all films are the same, why do we separate them in terms of genre?’. The answer is films use these five codes but how the use them is altered. Genre can be specified using for example Barthes’ 4th code the referential code. Here mis-en-scene is a referential code. There for the way of using mis-en-scene helps us specify to what genre a movie fits in with.