Class work

Vladimir Propp and Tvetzan Todorov

Vladimir Propp:
Propp was born on April 17, 1895 in St. Petersburg to a German family. He attended St. Petersburg University (1913–1918) majoring in Russian and German philology. Vladimir Propp believed in something called the 8 character archetypes of a film, this shows what each of the characters role within a film.

Propp's theory:
Propp suggested that every narrative has eight different character archetypes, these character archetypes are:
1.The villain — fights the hero in some way.
2.The dispatcher — character who makes the villain’s evil known and sends the hero off.
3.The helper — helps the hero in the quest.
4.The princess — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. The hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby beating the villain and resulting in a “happily ever after” moment.
5.Her father — gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, and marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father cannot be clearly distinguished.
6.The donor — prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.
7.The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess.
8.False hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.

These archetypes are seen in many films to-date for example; Star Wars, this is a great example of the 8 archetypes, these are;
1. Villain- The Emperor
2. Dispatcher- Obi Wan Kenobi
3. Helper- Han Solo
4. Princess- Princess Leia
5. Her father- Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker)
6. Donor- Yoda
7. Hero- Luke Skywalker
8. False hero- Darth vader (Anakin Skywalker)



Tvetzan Todorov:
Todorov was born in March 1, 1939 in Sofia) he is a Franco-Bulgarian philosopher and has lived in France since 1963, he has written several books and essays about ‘literary theory’, ‘thought history’ and ‘culture theory’.Todorov has also published a total of 21 books, Todorov's historical interests have focused on issues such issues as the conquest of The Americas and the Nazi and Stalinist concentration camps. He was a visiting professor at numerous universities, including Harvard.

Todorov's theory:
Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages:
1. A state of equilibrium (stability) at the start.
2. A disruption of the equilibrium by some action.
3. A recognition that there has been a disruption.
4. An attempt to repair the disruption.
5. A reinstatement of the equilibrium.

This type of narrative structure is very familiar to us and can be applied to many ‘mainstream’ film narratives. This theory can be seen in most films to-date, also this is the basic plot to a film which allows the audience to get satisfaction knowing that equilibrium is restored at the end of the film.

An example of this theory in a film is Taken as Taken begins with a state of equilibrium but then when his daughter is kidnapped it sends the film into a state of disequilibrium which is then solved again as he saves his daughter from the antagonist.