Wednesday, 12 October 2011

Propps Theory

In the 1920's Vladimir Propp published his morphology of the folk tale. He said that most storys have the same basic struggles and have stock characters.

Characters to Propp always seem to follow this pattern.

The Hero – a character that seeks something
The Villain – who opposes or actively blocks the hero’s quest
The Donor – who provides an object with magical properties
The Dispatcher – who sends the hero on his/her quest via a message
The False Hero – who disrupts the hero’s success by making false claims
The Helper – who aids the hero
The Princess – acts as the reward for the hero and the object of the villain’s plots
Her Father – who acts to reward the hero for his effort

Also he says that the storys are always basic and follow the same storyline.

      Prepartion - A warning is given
      Complication - A state of disorder
      Transference - The Hero leaves home
      Struggle - There is struggle between the hero and villian
      Return - The hero returns
      Recognition - The hero is recognised and recieves award of some type.

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