Binary Oppositions

Claude Levi Strauss

All cultures, according to Structuralism, are organized around binary oppositions: animal/human, good/bad, rich/poor, man/woman. His theory of binary opposition suggests that all narratives progress due to conflict caused by a series of opposing forces. (He believed that the way we understand certain concepts depend not so much on their meaning but on the opposite word.)

·         Good vs Evil

·         Rational vs irrational

·         Protagonist vs Antagonist

Vladimir Propp

·         Vladimir Propp identified seven character types, or, “spheres of action”:

1. The villain: individual whose task is to disrupt equilibrium
2. The donor: individual who gives the hero something (advice, help, information, an object)
3. The helper: individual who helps the hero in the task
4. The princess (or ‘sought-for-person’): individual who needs help, protecting and/or saving.
5. The dispatcher: individual who sends the hero in his/her quest
6. The hero (seeker or victim): individual who’s quest is to restore equilibrium
7. The false hero: individual who pretends to aid the hero in the quest, but is usually unmasked in the end.

·         Propp's 31 Narratemes

1st Sphere: Introduction: Steps 1 to 7 introduces the situation and most of the main characters, setting the scene for subsequent adventure.

1. Absentation: Someone goes missing

2. Interdiction: Hero is warned

3. Violation of interdiction

4. Reconnaissance: Villain seeks something

5. Delivery: The villain gains information

6. Trickery: Villain attempts to deceive victim

7. Complicity: Unwitting helping of the enemy

2nd Sphere: The Body of the story: The main story starts here and extends to the departure of the hero on the main quest.

8. Villainy and lack: The need is identified

9. Mediation: Hero discovers the lack

10. Counteraction: Hero chooses positive action

11. Departure: Hero leave on mission

3rd Sphere: The Donor Sequence: In the third sphere, the hero goes in search of a method by which the solution may be reached, gaining the magical agent from the Donor. Note that this in itself may be a complete story.

12. Testing: Hero is challenged to prove heroic qualities

13. Reaction: Hero responds to test

14. Acquisition: Hero gains magical item

15. Guidance: Hero reaches destination

16. Struggle: Hero and villain do battle

17. Branding: Hero is branded

18. Victory: Villain is defeated

19. Resolution: Initial misfortune or lack is resolved

4th Sphere: The Hero’s return: In the final (and often optional) phase of the storyline, the hero returns home, hopefully uneventfully and to a hero's welcome, although this may not always be the case.

20. Return: Hero sets out for home

21. Pursuit: Hero is chased

22. Rescue: pursuit ends

23. Arrival: Hero arrives unrecognized

24. Claim: False hero makes unfounded claims

25. Task: Difficult task proposed to the hero

26. Solution: Task is resolved

27. Recognition: Hero is recognised

28. Exposure: False hero is exposed

29. Transfiguration: Hero is given a new appearance

30. Punishment: Villain is punished

31. Wedding: Hero marries and ascends the throne

http://changingminds.org/disciplines/storytelling/plots/propp/31_narratemes.htm

Story vs Plot

For a definition of a story we turn to British literary scholar Richard Bradford who defines a story by citing the work of the Russian theorist Viktor Shklovsky:

Shklovsky (1917) reduced fictional structures to two opposing and interactive dimensions: sjuzhet and fabula.  Fabula refers to the actuality and the chronological sequence of the events that make up a narrative; and the sjuzhet to the order, manner, and style in which they are presented in the novel in question. The fabula of Dickens's Great Expectations (1861) concerns the experiences, in and around London, from the early childhood to adulthood of Pip.  Its sjuzhet involves the presentation of these events in Pip's first-person account [...].  In Dickens's novel, the first-person manner of the sjuzhet has the effect of personalizing the fabula; Pip's description of Miss Havisham and of his relationship with Estella is...influenced by factors such as his own emotion[...] his...habits and his...perspective. [Richard Bradford, Stylistics (London 1997), p. 52.]

A narrative text contains a fabula, also known as story; and a sjuzhet, known as plot. 

·         Fabula (story: what)– the raw materials (such as the literal events and their chronological sequence). 

A text must have some kind of logic, some kind of recognizable sequence and that's what a fabula provides.

In fact some theorists argue that if a story doesn't mirror human behavior in a way a reader can recognize then they won't understand it, and your story is useless.  

·         Sjuzhet (plot: how) The narrator gives the story its sjuzhet when they filter the events through their perspective.  So the sjuzhet encompasses all of the devices that a narrator has at their disposal when they tell the fabula to the reader. 

Narratology

Narratology looks at what narratives have in common and what makes one different from another. (Term coined by Tzvetan Todorov). It is part of a larger discipline called Narrative Theory: it looks at how a narrative is put together, what tropes are a part of narrative, the philosophical underpinnings of narrative, and how readers respond to narrative.

Narratology refers to both the theory and the study of narrative and narrative structure and the ways that these affect our perception. Narrative, from latin narre, which means to make known.

A narrative is a text which tells a story.  According to the Dutch literary theorist Mieke Bal:

“A narrative text is a text in which an agent or subject conveys to an addressee ('tells' the reader) a story in a particular medium, such as language, imagery, sound, buildings, or a combination thereof. A story is the content of that text”.

 [Mieke Bal, Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative (Toronto 2009), p. 5.]

Bal expands the definition of narrative to include a story told in any genre or art form (literature, visual art, music, architecture).  What a narrative must have is a teller and a listener, a performer and an audience. According to reader response theory, a story doesn't actually exist until there's someone to tell it to.

 A story is what is being told within a narrative. 

·         Bal, M. (2009) Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative. Toronto: University of Toronto Press

Assignment # 1: Topic

Language and Culture III – Literary Essay

Choose ONE of the following tasks and develop it thoroughly in an essay.

It should include an introduction, the main body and a conclusion.

Develop the corresponding theory, and account for it quoting from the novel.

1. “Pride and Prejudice” is a novel about women who feel they have to marry to be happy. Taking Charlotte Lucas as an example, do you think the author is making a social criticism of her era’s view of marriage?

2. Define what power is according to the theory of Michel Foucault. Describe the struggle for power between two characters throughout the play.

3. Explain how social class determines the decisions that people make in “Pride and Prejudice”.

4. Explore Austen's portrayal of the women in the novel

5. Explore Austen's portrayal of the women in the novel. In what ways does she sympathize with their plight, and in what ways is she unsympathetic?

6. How are gender roles represented in the novel within Patriarchal Society?

7. How can characters' behaviour or narrative events be explained in terms of psychoanalytic concepts (Id, ego, superego)?

8. How do Elizabeth Bennet's ideas on marriage differ from social ideas? Which characters in the novel share Elizabeth's views of marriage and which characters reflect society's perspective? Expand on this theme.

9. How do Elizabeth's simplicity and independence represent an attack on the conservatism of characters like Lady Catherine De Bourgh?

10. How do the characters in the text mirror the archetypal figures? (Great Mother or nurturing Mother, Whore, destroying Crone, Lover, Destroying Angel)

11. How does “Pride and Prejudice” criticize customs of the period?

12. How is patriarchal society represented through discourse in “Pride and Prejudice”? Choose two characters from the play to illustrate your point.

13. How is the relationship between men and women portrayed?

14. In what ways does Austen show that family and community are responsible for its members?

15. What conflict can be seen between the values the novel champions and those it portrays?

16. What does the work reveal about the operations (economically, politically, socially, or psychologically) of patriarchy?

17. What elements of the text can be perceived as being masculine (active, powerful) and feminine (passive, marginalized) and how do the characters support these traditional roles?

18. Which social class does the novel “Pride and Prejudice” claim to represent?

19. Any other: ____________________________________________________________

Assignment # 1

Objective: write a response to Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Criteria:

• Evidence of understanding of the chosen topic. 
• Evidence of critical and independent thinking.
• Evidence of careful reading of the novel and investigation on the topic.
• Overall coherence of your writing.

Assessment Rubric: (See link)

Recommendations:

• Avoid using "I, we": use passive constructions whenever is possible.
• Avoid short forms/contractions
• Avoid using biased language
• Direct quotations should be accurate: write what the author wrote. You can omit parts of the quotation using (...).
• Use formal language: whatever is traditionally used in spoken language should NOT be used in an academic paper.
• Use "hedging" language (cautions language) it seems that..., it appears to be.... may...might....could...

Power Relations by Michel Foucault

Literary Devices in P&P

Literary Theories and Schools of Criticism

Kings and Queens of England - Part II

A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed