Narrative Construction

Overview of Narrative Construction

  • Narrative construction refers to how stories are built and communicated in media products.
  • This concept plays a central role in the understanding of media language, examining how narrative structures and techniques are used to create meaning.

Components of Narrative Structure

  • The most common narrative structure is the linear narrative, which follows a clear beginning, middle, and end sequence. Events are presented in chronological order.
  • Non-linear narratives disrupt the regular chronological order of events, presenting them in a mixed or reversed sequence.
  • A multi-strand narrative interweaves multiple stories within a single media text. These separate strands may intersect or run parallel to each other.

Russian Formalist Vladimir Propp

  • Vladimir Propp’s theories contribute to our understanding of narrative construction.
  • His work, ‘Morphology of the Folk Tale’, identifies a series of 31 narrative ‘functions’, or roles, that characters can fulfill within a narrative structure.
  • He also suggests that all characters can be categorised into one of seven roles or ‘spheres of action’, such as ‘the hero’, ‘the villain’, or ‘the helper’.

Todorov’s Three-Part Structure

  • Tzvetan Todorov, another influential theorist, proposed a simple three-part narrative structure:
    • Equilibrium (a state of balance)
    • Disruption (something disturbs the equilibrium)
    • Resolution (order is restored, establishing a new equilibrium)
  • Todorov’s model helps to analyse the conflict and resolution present within most narratives.

Claude Levi-Strauss’ Binary Oppositions

  • Levi-Strauss identified ‘binary oppositions’ as an essential feature of narratives.
  • These are pairs of opposing factors, such as good and evil, or old and young. These oppositions help to create tension, conflict, and drama within the narrative.

Role of Narrative Construction in Media Language

  • Narrative construction significantly contributes to the overall meaning of any media text, whether it’s film, television, print or digital media.
  • Use of different narrative techniques, sequencing of events, and character roles greatly influences the audience’s interpretation of the media product.
  • The understanding and decoding of these structures is a core skill within media studies.

Criticisms and Limitations

  • Some criticism is levelled at the oversimplification of narrative structures by theorists like Propp or Todorov.
  • Others argue that not all narratives fit into the ‘binary opposition’ model proposed by Levi-Strauss.
  • These theories are often critiqued for their heavy emphasis on classic Hollywood cinema, which means they may neglect other narrative styles and the diversity of global media narratives.